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Video of US President Joe Biden saying ‘I have cancer’ goes viral, White House issues clarification

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Video of US President Joe Biden saying ‘I have cancer’ goes viral, White House issues clarification

Earlier today, videos of US president Joe Biden saying “I have cancer” had gone viral on social media. In the video from Massachusetts, Biden was seen saying “…That’s why I and so many people I grew up with have cancer”.

The US President was speaking about oil pollution in his home state of Delaware. He reportedly referred to the oil slicks found on windshields of cars and stated that was the reason many people (including himself) have cancer. He added, “For the longest time, Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the nation, but that’s the past.”

The viral video triggered massive speculations regarding the US president’s health. However, there were soon mixed opinions. Washington Post’s Glen Kessler stated that the medical report submitted before Biden became President mentioned that he had non-melanoma skin cancers removed. Kessler stated that it is a common procedure.

However, the explanation did not cut well with many on social media, because Biden had not said cancer in the past tense. He was seen saying he has cancer, referring to the present.

People pointed out that even if the president ‘mistakenly’ announced that he has cancer when he does not have cancer, it is problematic anyway and displays his weakness.

White House issues clarification

The White House has issued a clarification after the viral video triggered shocking reactions all over. Hurrying to minimise the damage, the White House stated that the President was referring to past instances of skin cancer removal. Even though the US president asserted that he HAS cancer caused by oil pollution, the White House has stated that the president does not have a current cancer diagnosis and was only referring to a past incident of skin cancer removal.

In April, Biden had said that he has asthma and 80% of the people he grew up with have asthma, for the same reason of oil slick in windshields in Delaware.

The claims of cancer and the unconvincing clarification by the White House have triggered wild speculations about the mental and physical health condition of the US president.

Dutch MP Geert Wilders raises issue of Bangladesh violence against Hindus, Islamist threats against Nupur Sharma in Parliament

OpIndia Staff
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Dutch MP Geert Wilders raises issue of Bangladesh violence against Hindus, Islamist threats against Nupur Sharma in Parliament

Dutch legislator Geert Wilders on Tuesday raised the issue of Islamist violence against Hindus in Bangladesh and India in the parliament of The Netherlands, and sought international attention to support the Hindus. He also discussed the issue of lack of support for ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma who received severe death threats for her alleged ‘blasphemous’ remarks.

Wilders on Twitter shared the document posing 13 crucial questions in support of Hindus, their safety, and security. “My Parliamentary Questions from today about the Muslim violence against Hindus in Bangladesh and India, the lack of support for Nupur Sharma and more international attention and support for Hindu safety and security”, he tweeted adding a hashtag that hinted that ‘Hindus are under attack’.

The list of questions addressed to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Justice and Security includes several recent incidents of attack on Hindus in India and demanded action against the accused. He stated that a Hindu tailor was beheaded by two Muslim men for extending support to Nupur Sharma and also highlighted similar incidents. Wilders demanded the Ministry to opine on the issues and asked the Ministry to take an international stand in the cases.

The Dutch legislator also posed questions regarding increased violence on minorities in Bangladesh. He asked the Ministry to opine on Hindu houses, places of worship, and shops being set on fire in Bangladesh. The two important questions asked by Wilders remained, “Are you prepared to openly condemn the violence of Muslims against Hindus? If not, why?” and “Are you prepared to plead both the governments, India and Bangladesh to work for better protection of Hindus? If not, why?”

To note, Wilders also mentioned that he has been receiving death threats from several Islamists in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh for extending support to Nupur Sharma. “What is your opinion on that? Will the suspects be tracked down and prosecuted? What international steps will you take to this end?”, he asked the Parliament.

On June 14, the Dutch politician extended support to Nupur Sharma saying that he respected and supported Hinduism more than he did Islam. “Cultural relativism is a misleading concept. People are equal but cultures are not. A culture based on humanity and freedom is always better than a culture based on intolerance and submission”, he has tweeted. In another such tweet, he had clearly mentioned that Nupur Sharma had done nothing wrong. “If I can help her in any possible way, I will”, he had added.

Soon after extending support, Wilders received death threats to assassinate him as soon as possible. Sharing multiple screenshots of threats, the Dutch MP had said, “So this is what I get supporting the brave Nupur Sharma. Hundreds of death threats. It makes me even more determined and proud of supporting her. For evil may never win. Never. #IsupportNupurSharma”.

As reported earlier, Geert Wilders has long been vocal against Islamic fundamentalism and radicalism in his country. As an MP he had been opposed to mass migration and had stated inside the parliament that through mass migration, the government was importing “a monster called Islam into the country”.

Rajasthan: NSUI leader Md Shahid Khan pretends to be ‘Manish Sen’, traps a Hindu girl and blackmails her, arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: NSUI leader Md Shahid Khan pretends to be ‘Manish Sen’, traps a Hindu girl and blackmails her, arrested

In Bhilwara city of Rajasthan, another case of grooming jihad has appeared in which Shahid Khan, alias Md Shahid Ghori – a manager in a mobile network company – pretended to be ‘Manish Sen’ to trap a Hindu girl studying in a local college and blackmailed her as he clicked her obscene photos after intoxicating her through a drink. The Bhilwara police arrested the accused Shahid Khan after a complaint was registered at the Kotwali police station in Bhilwara.

According to reports, Shahid Khan who works as a manager in a mobile network company created a fake social media account by the name ‘Manish’ and befriended the victim girl who studies in a local college. After that, he started to blackmail her saying that he has clicked obscene photos of her. Threatening to make the photos public, he took the girl to his room forcefully.

However later she learnt that he is Shahid Khan and not Manish Sen, and fled from the house. After narrating the incident to her family, she registered a case of molestation and blackmailing in the Kotwali police station against the accused Shahid Khan. The police, after arresting the accused, are further investigating how many such girls are trapped and lured by the accused before this case.

The Kotwali police station in charge Mukesh Kumar Varma told, “The young girl studying in the college registered a case and informed us about the case in detail. According to the victim girl, the accused was blackmailing her. He was threatening her saying that he has clicked her obscene photos and videos. The victim told that the accused Shahid Khan forcefully took her to his room issuing similar threats. It was there that the victim girl came to know that he is Shahid Khan and not Manish. The girl told all these things to her parents and then registered an FIR at the police station. The Kotwali police arrested Shahid Khan.”

Reportedly, Shahid had taken the room for rent n the Panchwati area of Bhilwara using the name Manish, and when the landlord was asking for identity proof documents, he was delaying it. During arguments with the landlord over the document, it was revealed that his real name is Shahid, and that’s how the girl also came to know the fact. The landlord was also objecting to keeping the girl in the house.

In the investigations after the arrest, the police concluded that the name of the accused was Shahid Khan. He confessed that he made a fake social media account with the name Manish Sen. He befriended the girl using the same social media account. The police are investigating further in this case. Reportedly, the local public also thrashed Shahid after learning about the case before he was taken away by police.

As per media reports, Shahid Khan alias Md Shahid Ghori has been politically active and is associated with NSUI. During his college days in Pali, Shahid had contested the student elections under NSUI and was even made the joint secretary during 2014-15. He has been an NSUI worker and has participated in many of their events.

Pakistan: SHO asks a male constable to wear hijab for mandatory photo of a female officer with female criminal in Gujrat, suspended

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: SHO asks a male constable to wear hijab for mandatory photo of a female officer with female criminal in Gujrat, suspended

In a bizarre incident, a male police officer in Pakistan was forced to wear a hijab and pose in a photograph featuring a woman suspected of drug peddling. The incident happened at Daulat Nagar Police Station in Punjab’s Gujrat in Pakistan where Station House officer (SHO) Sub-Inspector Aslam Hunjra asked a constable to play the role of a woman police officer.

According to the reports, on Monday, July 18, SHO Sub-Inspector Aslam Hunjra detained three suspects, including a lady, in connection with two separate cases, one involving illegal firearms and the other involving drug trafficking. As per the Pakistan Police Act, a police raiding squad participating in the arrest of suspects in a criminal case is photographed with them, and if there is a woman among those apprehended, the presence of a lady constable is required in such images.

However, when notified that no lady constable was available for the photograph with the suspects, the Daulat Nagar SHO allegedly asked a male official to play the part by donning a hijab to complete the formality. Regrettably, the cop assigned to play the female role appeared tall enough to be recognized in the photo, which ended up going viral on social media, inviting ridicule from netizens.

Following the social media outrage, the issue was taken up by higher police personnel, including the Gujrat district police officer (DPO), who terminated the SHO in question and sought a probe. The examination has been assigned to Gujrat Sadar circle deputy superintendent of police (DSP), who has been given 24 hours to finish the probe and submit a report.

A senior Gujrat police official explained the incident to the local news media saying that most of the female police officers had been deployed to the Sargodha range for security duties during the by-elections in Bhakkar and Khushab, resulting in a scarcity of female officers. He said that the old-school SHO may have treated the problem lightly, placing one of his male colleagues in the role of the lady constable, overlooking his stature, and bringing shame to the unit.

Pakistani journalist who came to spy on India now says he had met Manmohan Singh, never met Hamid Ansari

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani journalist who came to spy on India now says he had met Manmohan Singh, never met Hamid Ansari

In an interview with Dainik Bhaskar, Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza who had claimed he had spied on India and met former Vice President Hamid Ansari five times took a U-turn from his statement. In his previous interview, he had claimed to have spied on India and handed over information to Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI.

Mirza’s statements had unleashed a political storm in the country. BJP Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused Ansari of betraying India in a press conference.

Both Hamid Ansari and Congress claimed that Mirza lied in his interview. Ansari issued a statement refuting the claims. In this process, Ansari threw the then-UPA government under the bus. On the other hand, Congress also claimed Mirza never attended the meeting where he had claimed to have met Ansari. There was another twist when the organizers of the said event issued a statement and clarified how Ansari was unhappy with them as they refused to invite Mirza to the conference.

Mirza, who is at the centre of the controversy, has now taken a u-turn during an interview with Dainik Bhaskar. He claimed he never met Ansari at a personal level, and the documents he talked about during his interview had nothing to do with India. He claimed the documents were related to the allegations raised by a former Soviet spy during a seminar on terrorism in 2010.

Earlier he had claimed that he had met Ansari multiple times.

When Bhaskar’s reporter asked him his views on the controversy his statements sparked in India, he said there was nothing controversial in what he had said. “I am an 80-years-old journalist, and I was made a spy. My life is like an open book. They have a problem with Hamid Ansari, and I was pulled into the controversy unnecessarily.”

He claimed everyone knew he was very vocal, and no agency would allow him to go anywhere and collect information.

On his trips to India, he claimed to have never met Hamid Ansari on a personal level. He said, “I attended a seminar where Ansari was the chief guest. I was a speaker at that event. You can check the old videos of the event to confirm. I praised Atal Ji. There were Hindus and Sikhs in the seminar. Pakistan’s ambassador was also there. I had talked about bringing two countries together.”

He further added following that seminar, another similar seminar was held in Pakistan and journalists from India were invited. He said, “Now, if there is a dispute about the seminar in India, what can I do? This does not happen with us here [in Pakistan]. The way your anchors talk to us, no one behaves with us in a similar way here. I am an anchor myself. For me, this matter is over.”

When asked if he did not meet Ansari, who did he meet, Mirza said, “I can assure you that I did not meet Hamid Ansari on a personal level. However, I did meet Manmohan Singh [then-Prime Minister of India] during that visit. He also inquired about my health. There was no conversation with Ansari, nor did he talk to me about my well-being. He went straight to the stage. At that time, I felt bad about it.”

‘Hamid Ansari is being targeted because he is a Muslim’

During the interview, Mirza claimed Hamid Ansari was being targeted because he is a Muslim and a Congress leader. He said, “BJP is targeting him. It is part of the power politics in India. They are creating an unnecessary dispute. You should see what he said in the seminar. He had said neighbours cannot be changed.”

Speaking about the documents he talked about in his previous interview, Mirza said, “The documents were not related to India but about a Russian woman who accused Pakistan of breaking an agreement. She was an old agent of the KGB (Intelligence Agency of the Soviet Union). I had told her she was wrong.” He further added when he came back and handed over the documents, he was told the allegations were correct, and the US was behind it. India had no links to whatever was there in those documents.

In a message to the people of India, he said, “We cannot change the neighbours. We must live peacefully. Politics is a dirty game. Aurangzeb got his own brother killed. The general public should not get involved in politics. If someone calls me an ISI agent, it will not make a difference to me. It is a different matter that I am just a journalist.”

Nusrat Mirza’s statements that caused controversy in India

On July 10, during an interview, Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza made some sensational statements. During his interview, he mentioned that he used his political connections with the former Foreign Minister of Pakistan Khurshid Kasuri and got an extended Visa for India. During the current interview, he claimed Kasuri was not Foreign Minister when he attended the seminar in India. Though it is true in the previous interview, he never mentioned for which trip he got support from Kasuri.

It is notable that Kasuri was Foreign Minister from 2002 to 2007. According to Mirza, he had visited India in 2005 and 2006 when Kasuri was in office. That means Mirza could have gotten support from him while he was in office to get an extended Visa for India.

Mirza has stated that he had travelled to many cities and had collected information about India to hand over to the ISI.

He then claimed to have met Hamid Ansari during a seminar on terrorism. This statement caused a lot of controversy in India. Hamid Ansari came forward and issued a statement where he claimed to never have met Mirza. “The former vice president of India stands by his earlier statement that he never knew or invited the Pakistan journalist Nusrat Mirza to any conference, including the 2010 conference mentioned by Nusrat Mirza or the 2009 conference on terrorism or on any other occasion,” the statement read.

Earlier, he had mentioned an event that he had attended at Vigyan Bhawan in December 2010. However, the President of the International Council of Jurists and the Chairman of the All India Bar Association, Dr Adish Aggarwala, who was the organizer of the event ‘International Conference of Jurists on International Terrorism and Human Rights, issued a statement and rubbished Ansari’s claims. He also mentioned that a request was forwarded to him from VP’s office to invite Mirza, but he refused to do so, after which Ansari got angry and came only for 20 minutes instead of an hour that Ansari had previously promised.

Two days after drinking polluted water from holy river Kali Bein, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann ends up in hospital with stomach pain, discharged later

OpIndia Staff
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Two days after drinking polluted water from holy river Kali Bein, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann ends up in hospital with stomach pain, discharged later

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Delhi on Wednesday morning after complaining about abdominal pain. Mann complained about pain in his stomach, and after diagnosis, the doctors said the Punjab CM is suffering from an infection.

Bhagwant Mann complained of severe pain in his stomach on Tuesday night at his Chandigarh residence. From there, he was airlifted to Delhi urgently and admitted to the hospital. After spending a day at the hospital, Mann was discharged on Thursday morning. He was accompanied by his newly-wed wife at the time of discharge.

Earlier, on July 17, the Punjab CM had visited Sultanpurlodhi where he drank polluted sewage water directly from the Kali Bein rivulet. At the 22nd Bein kar sewa cleanliness function, Mann was offered a glass of water from the rivulet, and in an attempt to show that the water is clean enough to be fit for human consumption, he drank it directly.

Later on, Deputy Commissioner Ashok Kaura mentioned to the media persons that the sewage water from many towns and villages on the banks of Bein flows into it. He added that he was not present on the spot to advise the CM not to drink it.

Two days later, on Tuesday night, Mann had to be rushed to a Delhi hospital after he suffered from severe stomach pain and the doctors found an infection.

Ahead of Jumma, Congress workers take parts of the country hostage as ED questions Sonia Gandhi: Here are some bizarre statements by party leaders

OpIndia Staff
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Ahead of Jumma, Congress workers take parts of the country hostage as ED questions Sonia Gandhi: Here are some bizarre statements by party leaders

As Enforcement Directorate summoned Congress leader Sonia Gandhi for interrogation in connection with the National Herald case on 21st July 2022, Congress workers started protesting in different parts of the country. The Congress workers staged protests calling ED’s action against its top leadership a ‘political vendetta’. The party leaders gathered for the demonstration at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi and hoisted slogans and rallies extending support to Gandhi. Not only this, but senior Congress leaders also supported protests with their bizarre statements in an attempt to shield their supreme leader.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said, “The kind of personality & aura she (Sonia Gandhi) has and since she is more than 70 years old, ED should have gone to her house for investigation. I want to meet the chief of ED & CBI and tell them what people are thinking about central agencies.”

Congress leader Sachin Pilot said, “There is a misuse of agencies in the country. It’s our right to protest in a democracy, but it is also being crushed upon.”

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said, “There was no need to summon her, they are only harassing her. This is political vendetta. BJP is afraid of her. They want to mentally harass Congress leaders.”

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said, “They (ruling party) want to show how powerful they are. We’ve raised the issue of inflation in Parliament but they’re not ready for discussion. We’re now raising the issue of misuse of central probe agencies.”

It is notable that the National Herald scam is one of the most notable legal cases in Indian history, as the Gandhis are directly accused. The Mother-Son duo of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, along with their aides – Oscar Fernandez, Motilal Vohra, and Sam Pithroda are alleged to have been involved in massive ‘cheating and breach of trust’ in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL). Assets worth crores of rupees had been allegedly transferred for purposes other than originally intended for a paltry sum. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi got unconditional bail in December 2015.

Rahul Gandhi was questioned by ED on June 13 for over 6 hours and his statement was recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had recorded the statements of all those involved in the case, with the exception of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. The agency however had issued summons to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on July 11 for recording her statement on July 21.

Presidential election results planned to divert attention from TMC’s Martyrs’ Day Rally in Kolkata: TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay

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Presidential election results planned to divert attention from TMC’s Martyrs’ Day Rally in Kolkata: TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay

Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay has said that the results of the election for the post of the Indian President were planned on the 21st of July to divert attention from West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s rally in Kolkata. Sudip Bandopadhyay is the Member of Parliament from the Kolkata Uttar constituency in West Bengal.

Speaking at the ‘Martyrs’ Day Rally’ at Kolkata’s Esplanade, Bandopadhyay also said that Sonia Gandhi was also summoned to the Enforcement Directorate today for the same reason, to divert attention from their rally.

Martyrs’ Day rally is the annual event of Trinamool Congress which is organized every year. After being held virtually during the past 2 years due to Coronavirus, the annual event returned to its traditional spot in Kolkata this year. The event is held to commemorate the death of 13 Youth Congress workers killed in a police firing in Kolkata in 1993. Mamata Banerjee was the state president of the Indian Youth Congress at the time of the incident.

Presidential election results to be announced today

The results of the elections for the post of Indian President are set to be announced today, 21 July, as the counting of the votes is underway. The polling for the same took place on 18 July and the winner will be announced later today. NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu and TMC leader Yashwant Sinha are the two candidates in the fray.

The election schedule was announced on the 9th of June 2022 by the Election Commission of India.

Sonia Gandhi summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald case

On July 11, the Enforcement Directorate had asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to depose before it on July 21 in connection with a money laundering case related to the National Herald case. The Congress chief had skipped earlier summons on June 8 after she reportedly tested positive for Covid on June 2, six days before she was supposed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate.

Congress workers are protesting against the ED summons across the country, with several party workers being detained after they created a ruckus in Delhi.

China: Video of tanks on the streets go viral amid protests by people demanding their money blocked in a massive bank scam

OpIndia Staff
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China: Video of tanks on the streets go viral amid protests by people demanding their money blocked in a massive bank scam

Battle tanks arrived on the streets of Rizhao in Shandong Province, reportedly to scare away protestors amid a massive bank scam. Videos that have emerged on social media show tanks rolling up in the streets, with hundreds of onlookers on the side of the street. Dozens of tanks are seen in the video, which have been shared on social media claiming that the tanks are crushing the protests.

The tanks line up on the road, apparently preventing people to go to the branch of Henan Bank on the opposite side. After the scam in several rural banks was exposed, the banks have frozen deposits, preventing depositors from withdrawing their funds, which have triggered massive protests.

For weeks now, thousands of people are holding protests demanding their deposits back. However, as the Chinese govt is known to be not tolerant of protests, they have deployed heavily armed forces to stop the protests, even though the protests are against banks and not against the government. And now, as per claims, tanks are being deployed.

However, some others claiming that the tanks were on the roads for a routine movement, and not related to the protests. Reportedly, there is a navy training base nearby, and such movement of tanks happen every year. Apparently, the people lining up the streets were there to take photos of the tanks, and they are not protesters.

The protests and the crackdown

It is notable that the tanks were seen in Rizhao in Shandong Province, while the protests are going in the nearby Henan province. However, whatever be the reason of the tanks, it is true that the depositors are actually facing harassment and intimidation for staging protests, apart from not getting their own money. Reportedly, the police and authorities asking people not to participate in protests, even threatening that they will lose their jobs if they show up in demonstrations.

Cops are calling people to warn against joining protests, harassing families, and even going to schools to tell the kids to ask their parents to back off from demonstrations.

The scam

The scam was exposed in April this year, when customers of four rural banks, Yuzhou Xinminsheng Rural Bank, Shangcai Huimin Rural Bank, Zhecheng Huanghuai Rural Bank, and Guzhen Xinhuaihe Rural Bank in Henan province, suddenly learnt that they can’t withdraw their deposits. The official reason given was that there was an issue with the system when it was being upgraded, and the accounts were blocked by the system. Another bank in Anhui province, Guzhen Xinhuaihe Village Bank, also faced the same problem, but the number of depositors of that bank is less.

While there was no other official communication for the matter, in May the Chinese authorities announced that they have launched an investigation into several shareholders of Henan Xincaifu Group. And in this probe, it was found that Henan Xincaifu Group had taken control of the five rural banks through “internal and external collusion” and “illegally” collected deposits. While the criminal investigation was going on, the customers were still not allowed access to their money, for over four months.

The probe found that the Henan Xincaifu Group colluded with the employees of the rural banks to collect deposits form people, and used those money to invest in financial products via online platforms. They transferred the money from deposit accounts to the investments by fabricating lending agreements. This scan was going on from 2011. While investments were made in the name of depositors, they were not aware of it, and never received high returns that such investments yield.

However, to attract more customers, the banks were promising higher than usual interest in Chinese banks. Thus, they were able to attract customers from all over the country, not just in the region. This was also a deviation from norms, as rural banks are supposed to cater to local populations only. Henan covered up its illegal activities by tampering with business data, according to the Chinese banking regulator. The company also didn’t pay interest for the money it collected from the banks.

Protest by depositors in Zhengzhou, Henan province

As most of the money collected by the five rural banks were diverted to financial markets, their own assets depleted rapidly, pushing the banks to the brink of bankruptcy. As a result, the banks stopped allowing withdrawals from April this year. The customers have been asked to ‘wait patiently’ to receive their money.

China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said that customers will be paid their principal in batches. However, this assurance came only after series of protests by the affected depositors. In fact, the protestors were assaulted by a group of unidentified people on July 10.

The regulator has started with payment to customers with small deposits, and people with deposits of less then 50,000 yuan (over 5.90 Lakh Rupees) received their money on Friday. However, those with higher deposits are facing issues in registering their claims due to an overloaded system.

While the extent of the scam is not known, thanks to tight control of information by the Chinse govt, media reports estimate that around 39 billion yuan are deposited in the blocked bank accounts.

The visuals of tanks on the streets of China to crush protests is a grim reminder of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989, when Chinese authorities had sent tanks and heavily armed troops to crush protests by students in Tiananmen Square in Beijing demanding democracy and civil rights. As China had completely censored the incident, details of casualties from the massacre is not known, but it is estimated that hundreds of protesters were killed, if not thousands.

National Herald case: Sonia Gandhi finally arrives at ED office to face questions, Congress organises massive protests against Govt

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National Herald case: Sonia Gandhi finally arrives at ED office to face questions, Congress organises massive protests against Govt

On Thursday, as the Congress President Sonia Gandhi appeared before the ED in the National Herald newspaper money laundering case, the Congress workers staged protests calling ED’s action against its top leadership a ‘political vendetta’. The party leaders gathered for the demonstration at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi and hoisted slogans and rallies extending support to Gandhi.

According to the reports, the Congress workers also staged protests in Parliament and requested the opposition parties to join the protest in solidarity. During the protests, the Congress workers and supporters were seen calling the Modi-led government ‘goons’ as they raised slogans saying, “Gundagardi nahi chalegi, Gundagardi band karo (Hooliganism will not be tolerated, stop hooliganism)”.

The Congress leaders and supporters were also seen holding the posters in support of Sonia Gandhi. The slongans printed on the posters accused the BJP led government of misusing the power. “Sach se BJP darti hai, ED ko age karti hai (BJP is scared of truth, so it orders ED to act)”, some of the posters read. The other posters meanwhile showcased clear support to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Reportedly, on July 21, the opposition parties including the CPI(M), DMK, RJD, Shiv Sena, RSP, and more issued a joint statement alleging that the Modi government was misusing the central agencies to deliberately target the opposition party members. “Modi govt has unleashed a relentless vendetta against political opponents through misuse of investigative agencies by targeting prominent leaders of various parties. We will intensify our fight against the anti-people Modi Sarkar”, the letter read.

The joint statement also called the Modi government anti-farmer and anti-Constitution and alleged that the Central Government was destroying the social fabric of the society.

This is a day after Jairam Ramesh, AICC general secretary in charge of media declared that the whole party would protest in support of Sonia Gandhi in “a most telling manner” across the country. “Tomorrow as the political vendetta unleashed by the Modi-Shah duo against our top leadership continues, the entire Congress party across the country will demonstrate its collective solidarity with Smt. Sonia Gandhi in a most telling manner,” he said on Twitter.

A meeting of top party officials was also convened yesterday at Mallikarjun Kharge’s house to plan the party’s response to the ED summons to Sonia Gandhi. “The whole Congress family is standing strong with its president Sonia Gandhi, and a protest against the dictatorial rule of the BJP will be registered throughout the entire country tomorrow,” the party had stated on Twitter on Wednesday.

Reports mention that the Congress leaders and workers have also planned to stage protests outside the offices of the ED in other state capitals. Previously, when Rahul Gandhi appeared before the ED, Congress officials and workers, including party MPs had protested. Massive protests were executed in the states of Maharashtra, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan and more where the protestors had claimed that the Central government was trying to silence the opposition by sending ED notices in ‘fake cases’.

Rahul Gandhi was questioned by ED on June 13 for over 6 hours and his statement was recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had recorded the statements of all those involved in the case, with the exception of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. The agency however had issued summoned to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on July 11 for recording her statement on July 21.

The National Herald scam is one of the most notable legal cases in Indian history, as the Gandhis are directly accused. The Mother-Son duo of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, along with their aides – Oscar Fernandez, Motilal Vohra and Sam Pithroda are alleged to have been involved in massive ‘cheating and breach of trust’ in the acquisition of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL). Assets worth crores of rupees had been allegedly transferred for purposes other than originally intended for a paltry sum. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had got unconditional bail in December 2015.

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