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I am an 18-year-old progressive woman who supports LGBTQ rights, but I no longer support Pride Month: Here is why

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I am an 18-year-old progressive woman who supports LGBTQ rights, but I no longer support Pride Month: Here is why

I’m an 18 year old student from a privileged family. I consider myself a progressive woman. But I no longer support Pride Month.

Since I’ve known about Pride, it has always been in the context of love, freedom and equality. Like anyone with a moral compass, I stood for LGBTQ rights and as a matter of fact, I still do. The thought of participating in a Pride parade seemed perfectly okay because I believed it was a march for equality. It was a natural way to stand up for a marginalised section of our society. I still support equality and dignity for all. I have LGBTQ friends and I will continue to be friends with them.

But from my first participation in Pride, fast forward a few years, and this illusion of Pride Month has fallen apart. As I peel through the layers, needless to say, I am baffled by the turn it took. I realised that one doesn’t have to be the most perceptive person in the world to realise that what is happening now under the label of Pride Month is not about rights.

The Woke madness
The Woke madness

I came across an Instagram reel recently (image above) of a kid dancing with a drag queen in India and my mind instantly drew a parallel with the image on the right. That image is from a ‘children-friendly’ drag show in the USA this month. Literally 2 minutes ago such extremely sexualised exposure to children was not part of Pride but now it is commonplace. In our slide down this slippery slope, the image on the right will be what Pride organisers will want to next recreate in India. This is not about LGBTQ rights; this is the thinly veiled grooming of children by exposing them to nudity and sexually explicit behaviour. This used to be unethical and illegal only yesterday, but now it is everywhere. And the argument put forth by these groomers that kids love drag queens holds no merit. Kids also love eating sand, which doesn’t necessarily mean what kids like is good for them. Exposing vulnerable children to explicit visuals like those of drag shows is bound to leave a lasting negative impact on their minds. The demand to expose kids to drag culture is not only ridiculous but harmful as well.

I did bring this up with a few of my ‘woke’ friends, and the popular response I got was “it’s 2022 bro, you should do better”, what connection does this virtue-signalling statement have with the indoctrination of kids? A lot of people also told me that this is just “my prejudiced opinion”. I’m certain that even a semi-intelligent person can tell the difference between documented incidents and opinions.

As for the few rational friends who agree that pride has been hijacked and is no longer about a genuine struggle for rights and representation refuse to say so out loud because it comes with a 99% chance of being cancelled and called every ‘ist’ and ‘phobe’ in the dictionary. This often leaves me wondering how 18-year-olds in our country got so radical?

Since Pride Month has been imported from the west, looking at the developments around indoctrination of kids in the U.S would mean looking at a fortune-telling crystal ball for us.

What started as a seemingly well-intentioned argument to educate and sensitize children about LGBTQ individuals, so they grow up seeing it as a natural phenomenon has snowballed into absolute lunacy. Stories of teachers discussing their sexual orientation and identity in classrooms have become increasingly common and a fair worry for parents. This blew out of proportion with puberty blockers and gender identity becoming common classroom topics.  

Some parents continued objecting and subsequently, Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed the ‘HB 1557 Parental rights in Education Bill’ informally known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay Bill’. Amongst other things, the bill has been mainly contentious for prohibiting “classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students”.

Read that again, grade 3! It took a House Bill to establish that teachers should not have inappropriate sexual conversations about sexual orientation with children as young as kindergarten to grade 3. One would hope to see this as a sign of sanity making a comeback in schools, but the horror show continues. Here’s a clip of a teacher talking about how to make a switch to ‘subtle’ propaganda after the passing of this bill.

It wouldn’t be far-fetched to ask how far are we from letting this culture influence schools in India. Only last year NCERT’s gender studies department had made an effective attempt to give an opening to gender identity politics through its “Inclusion of Transgender Children in School Education: Concerns and Roadmap”. The manual was subsequently removed after backlash.

For someone who genuinely supports LGBTQ rights, it’s important to establish the stark difference between advocating for rights and grooming children. Why should I be compelled to pretend that exposing kids to a sexualised environment is going to benefit them?

This derailing of pride spells disaster for all, as much as this will harm children it will also harm the progress we’ve made with LGBTQ acceptance and advocacy. The original demand to treat LGBTQ rights as Human rights will take a back seat. As a rational ally, I feel that prominent LGBTQ personalities and activists should lead the charge in this to prevent pride month from being stigmatised and interchangeably used with the grooming of children.      

Silence is compliance.

(NOTE: This article has been written by an 18-year-old girl who wants to be anonymous because she fears being ostracised by her woke social circle after this article).

Grocery store owner and teacher receive ‘Sar tan se juda in 10 days’ threat in Bharatpur in Rajasthan

OpIndia Staff
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Grocery store owner and teacher receive ‘Sar tan se juda in 10 days’ threat in Bharatpur in Rajasthan

Islamists across the country continue to issue beheading threats to people for supporting former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. After the killing of Umesh Kolhe in Amravati in Maharashtra and Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur in Rajasthan, two more people in Rajasthan has received threats of ‘sar tan se juda’. On Wednesday, two notes were handed over to an ambulance driver in Bharatpur in Rajasthan, with threats to two people from his village.

On July 6, when ambulance driver Mukesh Kumar was going to the Pahadi area in Bharatpur, two people on a two-wheeler without number plate stopped the ambulance and threw in two notes asking to deliver them his village. They also brandished a dagger and threatened him of dire consequences if he approaches the police.

When Mukesh Kumar opened the notes, he saw the words ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ written on them, each addressed to two names, Satish Chand and Pramod. The notes said that both will be beheaded with 10 days. Satish is a grocery store owner and Pramod is a govt school teacher. There were cross signs on the names in the notes. The ambulance driver and the two persons named in the notes are the residents of Ranph village in Bharatpur.

Mukesh went to the village after seeing the threat and informed the two persons about it and gave them the notes. He also approached police and lodged a complaint in the matter. Satish and Pramod also approached the police and handed over the notes. The police have provided security to the two persons following this threat. Policemen in plainclothes have been deployed in front of both the houses.

While the threat comes amid numerous threats by Islamists for supporting Nupur Sharma, the exact reason of this threat is not known yet. Satish Chand’s son Mohit Khandelwal said that his father is a simple man and is not social media, and he has not shared any post on any social media platform. Similarly, teacher Pramod also does not have any social media presence.

Reportedly, ambulance driver Mukesh was so scared after seeing the notes that he started to feel ill, and he went straight to the hospital. From there he called his friend Sukhpal and narrated him the entire incident. After that both them went to the village, met the two persons and gave them the notes.

Padma Vibhushan Shinzo Abe: Read how he introduced the idea of Indo-Pacific Quad to our parliament in 2007, and how it materialized under PM Modi

Siddhi Somani
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Padma Vibhushan Shinzo Abe: Read how he introduced the idea of Indo-Pacific Quad to our parliament in 2007, and how it materialized under PM Modi

Japan’s Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead in the city of Nara today while he was delivering a speech at a campaign event. The attacker in his 40s shot twice at the former leader in the western part of Japan. While the world leaders are mourning his death, PM Modi has announced one-day national mourning on Saturday ie the 9th of July. Here we recall Shinzo Abe’s ties with India and Indian PM Narendra Modi.

India has had and always has maintained good, positive, and developing relations with the country of Japan since the very beginning. Former PM Shinzo Abe was small when he used to listen to potential of India-Japan ties from his maternal grandfather, the then Japanese PM Nobusuke Kishi who had visited India in 1957.

Delivering a speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in the year 2011, Abe remembering the old ties had quoted that “a strong India is in the best interest of Japan, and a strong Japan is in the best interest of India.”

Reportedly, the India-Japan economic and strategic ties went on to become so strong that Japan to date has supported around 100 infrastructure projects in India in the sector of power, transportation, shipping, railways, renewable energy, and more. While deepened old ties between the two countries formed a steady base for the overall strategic development, the expansion of the bilateral association was furthered only when Abe took over as the Prime Minister of the country.

Serving two terms as the prime minister of Japan, Abe sought to upgrade the strategic Japan–India relationship by introducing the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) between Japan, the United States, Australia, and India.

Shinzo Abe proposed the idea of Quad to India’s Parliament in 2007

Back in the year 2007, when Abe was the Prime Minister of Japan for a year, he visited India and addressed the joint session of the Indian Parliament. Delivering the speech ‘the Confluence of the Two Seas’, Abe proposed to promote the concept of ‘the Arc of Freedom and Prosperity’ that would be formed along the outer rim of the Eurasian continent.

Putting forth the idea of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue on the table, Abe then said, “By Japan and India coming together in this way, this ‘broader Asia’ will evolve into an immense network spanning the entirety of the Pacific Ocean, incorporating the United States of America and Australia. Open and transparent, this network will allow people, goods, capital, and knowledge to flow freely”.

The then Japanese PM Shinzo Abe addressing the Indian Parliament (Image source- Wikipedia commons)

Further quoting the book ‘Confluence of the Two Seas’ written by the Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh in 1655, the former leader said that ‘the different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their water in the sea’. He also emphasized the importance of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean and their confluence and reiterated the idea of ‘broader Asia’ to form a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific. The idea was seeded in the year 2004 after the United States asked the four countries to form a group for a joint humanitarian relief operation following the Indonesian tsunami.

India under Congress rule was hesitant to revive Quad amid China concerns

Later, this group which was formed for the international relief operation turned vigorous to become a forcibly robust countering clout against the muscular rise of China in the Indo-Pacific. The rise of China disturbed the Quad equation in the year 2007 after Australia reassured China that ‘so-called quadrilateral dialogue’ with India was not something that the country was pursuing. Also, the then Indian PM Manmohan Singh had mentioned in 2008 that the initiative ‘never got going’. Reports mention that India before 2014 has been hesitant about reviving the quadrilateral for a number of reasons, the rise of China being one of those.

Notably, after former Gujarat CM Narendra Modi assumed the office of Prime Minister of India in the year 2014, he first visited Japan in the month of September to upgrade the bilateral relationship to a special strategic and global partnership. Under the leadership of PM Modi, the India-Japan relationship encompassed issues from civilian nuclear energy to maritime security, bullet trains to quality infrastructure, Act East policy to Indo-Pacific strategy. The group which was almost terminated and later rose in prominence over the years gained new traction following deadly border clashes between India and China in 2020.

PM Modi had shared a close personal friendship with Shinzo Abe. As PM, Abe visited India in 2017 with his wife. His graceful acceptance of India’s culture and his call to highlight the strategic potential of the bilateral partnership were received well by the Indian government.

Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad in September 2017

In the year 2021, the Quad leaders including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, PM Narendra Modi, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga, and US President Joe Biden participated in the first physical Quad meeting and issued a joint statement on a wide range of topics from the security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region to partnership on Covid-19 response and relief. The leaders stated that they were dedicated to achieving security and peace in the world, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. They also assured to extend cooperation in the matters of Science and Technology, cyberspace, Climate change, and cooperation on critical and emerging technologies.

The first QUAD meeting in the White House

In the second Quad summit that was held in Tokyo this year, India emphasized developing and strengthening bilateral strategic relations with each of the Quad member countries and pressed to focus on skill development. The summit meanwhile also shaped the agenda for more comprehensive economic cooperation and enhanced security collaborations among the member nations.

‘Without PM Modi, Quad could not have flown’

Recently, Tomohiko Taniguchi, the former Special Advisor to Japan’s then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hailed PM Narendra Modi for his contribution to restoring the focus back to the Indo-Pacific region. In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Guardian, Taniguchi stated that without India, and without PM Narendra Modi, the Quad could not have flown. “There was a degree of hesitancy among the elite community members of Delhi, about India joining a largely US-led camp. It took the courage and straightforwardness of Narendra Modi to have overcome the legacy of non-alignment”, he noted.

He added that the primary reason why Shinzo Abe expanded the geographic horizon from Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific was that he wanted to include India, being aware that the Indian Ocean would be the industrial highway for the 21st century. “Narendra Modi is fully aware of that concept, and has demonstrated vividly to the rest of the Quad member nations that India is very much a responsible partner of the Quad arrangement”, he was quoted.

PM Modi and former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe (Source- Firstpost)

India and Japan are truly natural partners in Asia. Their 70-years-old ties have deep civilization roots, an increasingly shared vision of a Rising Asia and a strong commitment to democratic values. This joint vision of the two countries and their potential to bring peace, prosperity and stability to ‘broader Asia’ was a belief that Shinzo Abe held firm. He truly believed in India’s capabilities when not many were willing to do so. In Shinzo Abe, India had a dear friend.

PM Modi has announced one day of national mourning on 9 July 2022 in honour of the former Japanese PM, Padma Vibhushan Shinzo Abe. A nation remains grateful to its friend from far away in the Pacific.

Uttarakhand: HC allows animal slaughter in Haridwar district’s Manglaur at a legally compliant slaughterhouse for Eid, stays Govt’s blanket ban

OpIndia Staff
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Uttarakhand: HC allows animal slaughter in Haridwar district’s Manglaur at a legally compliant slaughterhouse for Eid, stays Govt’s blanket ban

On Thursday, 7th July 2022, the Uttarakhand High Court allowed the slaughter of animals for Eid al-Adha on July 10 at a slaughterhouse in the Manglaur municipality of the Haridwar district staying a state government notification designating the whole district of Haridwar as a ‘slaughter-free zone’.

A division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice RC Khulbe ordered that during Eid al-Adha, animals can be slaughtered only at the Manglaur municipality’s legally compliant slaughterhouse built through a public-private partnership and urged the municipality to publish the court ruling. They also ordered the petitioner who challenged the government’s decision to guarantee that no slaughtering occurs elsewhere in the district.

On 3 March 2021, the Uttarakhand state government designated Haridwar district’s urban local bodies including two municipal corporations, two municipalities, and five Nagar Panchayats ‘slaughterhouse-free regions’, and terminated permits to operate slaughterhouses. The notification from the urban development department came ahead of the Kumbh Mela. Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs from the area wrote to then-chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, urging that slaughterhouses be prohibited in a ‘religious city like Haridwar’.

Faisal Hussain, a Haridwar resident, petitioned the high court, claiming that animal slaughter was an essential religious practice in Islam and that for the Eid al-Adha festival, animal slaughtering should be permitted at the Manglaur slaughterhouse, which was built last year but could not function due to the district’s blanket ban on animal slaughter.

He contended that Muslims constitute 87.45% of the Manglaur municipality’s population. The location is around 45 kilometres from Haridwar, and if animal slaughtering is permitted in a slaughterhouse in Manglaur, Hindu religious sentiments would not be harmed.

Telangana: School bus carrying 30 students submerges in a waterlogged underpass, locals rescue all kids safely

OpIndia Staff
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Telangana: School bus carrying 30 students submerges in a waterlogged underpass, locals rescue all kids safely

In Mahabubnagar, Telangana, a private school bus got trapped at an underpass after the whole route had become completely submerged in rainfall due to the monsoon. The incident occurred on Friday morning when the school bus travelled between the villages of Machannapally and Kodur in the Mahbubnagar district.

However, with the assistance of residents, all of the children were safely evacuated off the school bus. Children were being picked up by the Bhashyam School bus from Ramchandrapur, Machanpally, and Sugurgaddafi Thanda as it travelled to the Bhashyam Technology School in Mahabubnagar Town. Locals stated that the bus driver crossed the underpass when the water level was high. 

Telangana is expected to get severe to extremely heavy rainfall in the coming days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). A three-day monsoon prediction for the state has been released, showing heavy to very heavy rainfall in a few districts such as Jagtial, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Warangal (Rural), and Warangal (Urban).

For the past two days, heavy rains have been reported in the Mahbubnagar area. With the monsoon active across the state, various areas have received heavy rainfall. Other districts that got significant rain were Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Yadadri-Bhongir, Kamareddy, Jangaon, Rajanna Sircilla, and Jagtial.

The Northwest Bay of Bengal and its surrounding areas are also under the influence of a cyclonic circulation, according to the India Meteorological Department. Telangana is anticipated to see severe to extremely heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and lightning until Sunday, July 10. On Friday, July 8 and Saturday, July 9, the state is also anticipated to see strong gusts and isolated heavy rainfall.

Ten days after the MVA govt fell in Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi finally ‘gets upset’ with Congress, sends an ‘observer’ to state

OpIndia Staff
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Ten days after the MVA govt fell in Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi finally ‘gets upset’ with Congress, sends an ‘observer’ to state

Nearly ten days after Uddhav Thackeray resigned as the CM and the state’s Maha Vikas Aghadi Govt, crumbled, Congress’s senior leader Rahul Gandhi awakened from his deep slumber and realised that he is “very upset” with his party in Maharashtra. Reportedly, the Gandhi scion has now decided to appoint an observer to take stock of the political situation in Maharashtra.

The decision came a day after Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole met Sonia Gandhi on Thursday. He approached the party’s national president with complaints against some leaders, including former chief minister Ashok Chavan, for being absent during the floor test sought by the now Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and cross-voting during the Legislative Council elections.

Notably, as many as 11 Congress MLAs abstained from the floor test on July 4, in which Eknath Shinde received the backing of 164 legislators, while the ousted Maha Vikas Aghadi, of which Congress was also a part, got only 99 votes.

Patole, according to sources, also informed Gandhi about the cross-voting by seven Congress MLAs during the June 20 Legislative Council elections, where the party’s official candidate Chandrakant Handore, a well-known Dalit leader, had to suffer a humiliating loss.

Reportedly, Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal were also present at Sonia Gandhi’s residence when Patole met her.

Sources said that the Congress supremos were stunned by the absence of 11 Congress MLAs during the trust vote. Moreover, they were also upset at Maharashtra leaders for not following directives to oppose the renaming of Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar during the last Cabinet meeting chaired by the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Rahul Gandhi expressed his displeasure about the state of affairs in the state and appointed an observer who would visit the state and assess the political situation in Maharashtra.

Notably, while the Shiv Sena party was struggling to sort the political crisis in Maharashtra, the NCP and the Congress who were in coalition with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had deliberately kept away from the surging heat. The NCP supremo had stated that the ongoing political crisis was an internal matter of the Shiv Sena party and not the NCP. Meanwhile, the Congress party was also busy glorifying the perky and playful facial expressions of its leader Rahul Gandhi who was being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald case then.

Interestingly, the Congress drama was happening when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra was in the middle of a grim crisis, inching towards collapse. Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on June 21 rebelled against the MVA government and demanded a re-alliance of Shiv Sena and BJP. He stated that Shiv Sena was stepping far away from its policies of Hindutva and that it was disrespecting the ideologies of party supremo Balasaheb Thackeray. He also added that the Shiv Sena formed by Balasaheb Thackeray was different from the one that is led by CM Uddhav Thackeray.

On June 29, Uddhav Thackeray announced his resignation as the state’s chief minister and a member of the MLC live on social media, hours before the no-confidence motion on that day. The floor test was cancelled owing to Thackeray’s exit, and the administration was taken over by Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister and Devendra Fadnavis as Deputy Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra.

India slams Germany for its ‘uninformed’ comments on arrest of Mohammed Zubair: Here is how Berlin jailed a journalist for 3 years without trial

OpIndia Staff
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India slams Germany for its ‘uninformed’ comments on arrest of Mohammed Zubair: Here is how Berlin jailed a journalist for 3 years without trial

India on Thursday, July 7, came down heavily on Germany for its recent remarks on the arrest of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, saying the independence of the country’s judiciary is well recognised and that such “uninformed” comments are “unhelpful and should be avoided”.

“In itself, it’s a domestic issue. Let me emphasise that there is a judicial process underway in this case and I don’t think it would be appropriate for me, or anyone else, to comment on a case that is sub-judice,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a press briefing.

“I think the independence of our judiciary is well recognised and uninformed comments are unhelpful and should be avoided,” Bagchi asserted.

India’s strong response came after the German foreign ministry spokesperson said in a media briefing criticized the detention of Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of leftist propagandist portal Alt News who was arrested by the Delhi Police under Section 153, 295 of the Indian Penal Code.

Section 295 deals with deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or reli­gious beliefs while Section 153 concerns wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot.

The arrest came weeks after Mohammed Zubair’s old social media posts mocking and insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses had gone viral on the internet.

Earlier this week, Germany had unsolicitedly and presumptuously commented on the arrest of Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of leftist propaganda website Alt News, who was taken into custody for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus with his offensive comments on Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

“India describes itself as the world’s largest democracy. So one can expect democratic values like freedom of expression and freedom of the press to be given the necessary space there,” an official of the German foreign ministry had said.

“Journalists should not be persecuted and imprisoned for what they say and write. We are indeed aware of this specific case and our embassy in New Delhi is monitoring it very closely,” the official had stated.

The German foreign ministry spokesperson added that the European Union has a human rights dialogue with India and the freedom of expression and freedom of the press are a focus of those discussions.

As Germany lectures India, here’s how it sentenced a journalist 3 years in prison for reporting from eastern Ukraine

While Germany has gone above and beyond to lecture India on morality, human rights and the democratic value of freedom of speech and expression, it is worth bearing in mind that nation’s own arbitrary decision to imprison a German independent journalist living in eastern Ukraine’s renegade Donbas area for three years without a trial and labelling her a Russian terrorist for her pro-Russian reporting.

In a video shared by Press TV on its YouTube channel on July 6, German journalist Alina Lipp shared how she was hounded and persecuted by the German government for interviewing Ukrainian citizens and reporting her findings.

According to media reports, Alina Lipp was reportedly subjected to a criminal investigation in her own native country because she exposed crimes done by Ukrainian soldiers against people in the war-torn nation’s eastern Donbas region. Lipp’s YouTube channel was closed. Her PayPal account was also blocked. The German authorities went on to freeze her and her father’s bank accounts. On top of that, the German prosecutor allegedly seized €1,600 from her bank account without further ado or any notice or explanation.

Speaking to Press TV journalist Johnny Miller, Alina Lipp stated how she was facing criminal charges from the German government and that she had received a letter from judicial officials in her own nation threatening her with a three-year prison sentence.

“The news that I said was that Ukraine is shelling civilians already for eight years, and I also said that this is a genocide and that people here and Donbas support the special operation of Russia. This reporting turned out to be a criminal act for German, so they took 1,600 euros from my bank account and didn’t even tell me about it,” she said, adding how the German authorities froze her and her father’s bank account without providing any prior information.

“They just want to put me in prison for three years. It’s unbelievable. They opened this case because I’m saying and I’m sharing my opinion, so there’s no free speech anymore in Germany,” the local journalist remarked.

According to the Press TV journalist Johnny Miller, Lipp was not even allowed to defend herself at a court hearing.

In videos shared by Twitter user @Robert17022841, the German journalist is heard saying, “The German authorities have now started to persecute me. First, they deleted my material on the Internet. Then they blocked my bank account, then blocked the bank account of my father, and yesterday I got this letter from German authorities that they opened now a criminal case against me. So, these are the documents, and for Germans the support of the Special Operation in Ukraine is a criminal act, for which you can get three years in prison.

In the letter they write on the 24th of February I published a report on Telegram saying the de-Nazification began, and that the people of the Donbas region support Russia in the decision to start this Special Operation, and I was also saying the Ukrainians were killing the people here in Donbas already for several years. Also, they are writing that on the 12th of March I published a video in which I said that Ukraine was doing a genocide in Donbas.

What is interesting in the letter is that they are not going to invite me to a hearing, because ‘this would disturb the investigation. So, they are persecuting me, but don’t want to hear me out.

What is happening to me now can happen to all independent journalists and bloggers, and that’s why I would like to propose to you dear colleagues, that we are going to start to work together more, to support each other against the censorship in the west.“

It is shocking how Germany has the nerve to lecture India on human rights and the democratic virtue of freedom of speech and expression when their own journalists are under threat of government persecution for speaking their minds.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been confirmed dead, reports Japan media

OpIndia Staff
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Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been confirmed dead, reports Japan media

According to officials, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been confirmed dead, reported Japan’s NHK WORLD News. He was earlier shot at earlier while delivering a speech in the city of Nara, near Kyoto.

On Friday, former Prime Minister of Japan Abe Shinzo was attacked by a miscreant who shot him in the city of Nara. Abe was attacked from behind while he was delivering a speech in western Japan. He has been immediately taken to hospital and was undergoing treatment. However, he has now been declared dead.

According to the reports, Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in the city of Nara on Friday to address a campaign event. The leader was delivering a speech at the event ahead of Sunday’s upper house elections when the sound of gunshots was heard. Abe showed no vital signs after he was shot and was immediately shifted to the hospital injured.

According to the eyewitness, the accused arrived from behind at the time when the former PM was delivering the stump speech. “The first shot sounded like a toy. He didn’t fall and there was a large bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the spark and smoke”, the eyewitness was quoted.

Kerala: Government medical college hosts lecture on ‘Gender Politics’ where male and female students were separated with a curtain

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala: Government medical college hosts lecture on ‘Gender Politics’ where male and female students were separated with a curtain

The Thrissur Government Medical College hosted an Islamist conference where male and female students were separated by a curtain. Ironically, gender politics was the topic of the Taliban-style gathering. According to a report by the Organiser Weekly, Abdulla Basil, a controversial Islamist, organized this meeting under the banner of the extremist group Wisdom.

The program was titled ‘The Lives and Ideals Behind Gender Politics’. Lectures on gender politics and discrimination were delivered in this program, which were attended and listened to by both male and female medical students. In these lectures, a curtain was used to separate the female students from the male students. This was revealed by a photograph of the program that quickly went viral on social media. Clearly, this is an adoption of the Talibani model in which male and female students are separated by curtains in classrooms in a similar manner.

The Taliban-ruled Afghanistan was the cause of headlines in September 2021 when classroom partitions or curtains were used to isolate the male students from the female students. Because the decision amounted to gender-based discrimination, the Taliban government had drawn criticism from a variety of social media users.

The program was organized by an Islamic organization in the government medical college. Image Source: Hindupost.in

Abdullah Basil said that the meeting in the medical college was organized to discuss ‘gender politics’. He added that he feels pity for those who can’t digest the standpoint of religion towards gender discourse, which is quite different from that of liberalism.

Male and female students were separated by a curtain. Image Source: Hindupost.in

The incident came to light after an officer bearer of the group that organised the event posted the photographs on social media. When netizens objected to the segregation of students based on gender, the officer bearer defended the act and said that people were just showing their frustration. The group also defended its action saying there was nothing wrong with a curtain being put up segregating the students on the basis of their sex.

In the meanwhile, the College Union of the medical college has distanced itself from the event, saying that the college has no links to the programme. “It is not the stand of our college to encourage such activities. This college always stands with progressive thoughts,” a statement issued by the union said.

Growing Islamic radicalization in Kerala has been a cause of worry in the recent few years. A report from September 2021 led to a rise in suspicions about the existence of Islamic State sleeper cells operating in the state. While following this Talibani practice, Kerala’s state medical education policy has been particular in preaching anti-Indic agenda. In October 2020, Kerala State Medical Education Director Dr. Ramla Beevi issued a diktat stating that the Raksha Bandhan festival will not be celebrated in government medical colleges.

VIT Bhopal: 7 Hindu students penalised for reciting Hanuman Chalisa. Here is what we know so far

OpIndia Staff
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VIT Bhopal: 7 Hindu students penalised for reciting Hanuman Chalisa. Here is what we know so far

About 7 students of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) have been asked to cough up ₹5000 as penalty for reciting Hanuman Chalisa in their hostel rooms.

The incident took place in the Bhopal campus of the institute. As per reports, a group of 20 students had collectively recited the Hindu devotional hymns in their room.

Following a complaint by students of other classes, the college management clamped down on 7 second-year students. A notice was sent, asking them to pay ₹5000 as fine for leading the ‘Hanuman Chalisa recital programme’.

The development was confirmed to Bhaskar by a senior VIT official. He claimed that individuals are at liberty to perform puja in their rooms. The official warned that group events could not be conducted even inside hostel rooms, without seeking prior permission.

The college management has also sought a report from the hostel warden. The second-year students have launched a protest against the decision of VIT Bhopal. They have accused their juniors of ratting them out.

MP Home Minister reassures students

This has promoted even the State government to take cognisance of the matter. While speaking about the development, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra assured the students that the college would not impose any fines on them.

He added that the stance of the State government has been communicated to the college. “No fine will be imposed, we have informed the college. If Hanuman Chalisa is not chanted in Hindustan, then where it will be?… We can make students understand…,” Mishra emphasised.

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