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How the unwarranted hounding of Nupur Sharma would shrink the space for dissent in India 

Amit Kelkar
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How the unwarranted hounding of Nupur Sharma would shrink the space for dissent in India 

“Dissent is the safety valve of democracy”, the next-in-line Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, famously said during his speech in Gujarat in February 2020. But the space for that dissent appears to be rapidly shrinking, spurred by the unwarranted and deplorable hounding of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her comments on Prophet Muhammad.

Islamists, not just in India but around the world, are baying for the blood of Nupur Sharma because she refused to take the insults and barbs hurled at Shivling discovered inside the wuzukhana of the Gyanvapi mosque lying down and chose to confront the detractors with the same irreverence, albeit by quoting their religious scriptures, that they displayed against Hindu Gods and Goddesses. 

Her decision to stand up for her faith proved catastrophic for her political career and mental peace after AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair dog-whistled about her comments to the rabid Islamists, setting off a chain of events that culminated in a continuous volley of threats directed at Sharma and a diplomatic fallout in the Persian Gulf, with many Islamic countries having an abject record of religious freedom themselves rushing to criticise her comments and sanctimoniously seeking an explanation from India.

Facing an unprecedented diplomatic storm, the BJP suspended Nupur Sharma from the party. In the suspension letter, the party’s central disciplinary committee wrote, “You have expressed views contrary to the party’s position on various matters… Pending further inquiry, you are suspended from the party and from your responsibilities with immediate effect.”

Sharma, who found herself stuck at the centre of a seemingly unwarranted controversy, offered an apology as the furore transcended international boundaries and threatened to imperil Indian expatriates living under despotic Islamic regimes in the Middle East. In her apology, she explained how she had never meant to hurt the sentiments of Muslims but was instead opposing the uncalled for ridicule and mockery meted out on Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

However, this was not sufficient for the apoplectic Islamists, who would not placate with anything but Sharma’s severed head. Despite her apology and withdrawal of her statement, Islamists still protested against her. Brimming with rage and anger, they vowed to bring a similar fate to Nupur Sharma that Hindu Samaj leader Kamlesh Tiwari faced in 2019 when Islamists assassinated him for his nearly 5 years old comments on Prophet Muhammad, for which he had already served in jail and slapped with stringent provisions of the National Security Act by the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh.

But, it evidently did not mollify the simmering fury among the Muslim fundamentalists, who decided that Tiwari deserved no less than death for committing the “effrontery” of speaking on their revered Prophet. The same sentiments drive the maniacal threats dished out to Nupur Sharma for simply quoting from the Islamic Hadiths to speak on Prophet Muhammad. 

As Islamists rallied around to target and hound Sharma, Islamic terror outfit Al Qaeda issued a threat to India over remarks made on Prophet Muhammad. In a letter threatening suicide attacks in Delhi, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh, Al Qaeda said, “We shall kill those who affront our Prophet and we shall bind explosives with our bodies and the bodies of our children to blow away the ranks of those who dare to dishonour our Prophet.”

The long Islamist tradition of using violence and intimidation to silence dissent and avoid critical assessment

Silencing criticism and dissent by using violence and extremism is an age-old tradition mastered over centuries by Islamists. Be it the assassination of the author of Rangeela Rasool in the early twentieth century or the brazen killing of the most outstanding Arya Samaji of the twentieth century, Swami Shraddhananda, or the recent attacks on Charlie Hebdo journalists and the horrifying beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty, the methods of Islamists, regardless of time, geography and era remain the same.

For Islamists, having an open discussion of the teachings of Islam or the texts about the Prophet Muhammad is a strict no-go zone. Islamists and their allies in the form of left-leaning liberals would resort to dog-whistling, targeting individuals who would confront them on their Islamic beliefs. Public scrutiny of the Islamic religious texts would attract both—intellectual opposition, as well as crude one—in the form of violence and intimidation as has been witnessed in the Nupur Sharma case where a bunch of left-leaning rejoiced over the unfolding of events that took place in the last few days, and Islamists, who issued vile death threats to the former BJP leader.

Anyone who speaks against Islam or broaches the topic of Prophet Muhammad has to face severe backlash from the liberal intelligentsia, who are quick to ostracise such individuals and brand them Islamophobic bigots. Their counterparts, in the form of Islamists, are emboldened by the manipulative narrative driven by them, dishing out threats against those whom they consider of having indulged in ‘blasphemy’. 

For Islamists, any criticism of Islam, even a well-meaning assessment intended to bring about a positive impact, is considered anathema and blasphemous. Their parochial brains regard Islam as a hermetic faith, whose teachings are infallible and which cannot be subjected to any public scrutiny. Islam, for them, is inviolable, their Prophet, unimpeachable. Therefore, people who do not conform to this worldview are considered fair game by Islamists to threaten, intimidate and even kill. And pointing out this violence in the name of religion, religious head is termed ‘Islamophobia’.

Nupur Sharma controversy shows Islamists have the backing of the Ummah while Hindus are left to fend for themselves

If anything, the Nupur Sharma controversy has revealed the strong support that Islamists in India enjoy from the global Ummah. A bunch of professional dog-whistlers perpetually engaged in whipping up paranoia among Muslims have undermined India’s diplomatic outreach in the Middle East while revelling in the nightmare that New Delhi had to navigate.

However, Hindus in India are not as privileged as the Islamists who have the backing of the global Muslim Ummah. They have to fend for themselves as witnessed in the Nupur Sharma case, where the beleaguered politician is left to take the rap for the unfolding controversy. The indifference toward Hindu sentiments was also evident during the Gyanvapi controversy when several notable personalities, including Saba Naqvi, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, and even The Economic Times, did not face any action for mocking Shivling discovered in the wuzukhana of the disputed structure. 

Hindus don’t have an ‘Ummah’ to amplify their concerns or pressurise the government into doing their bidding. Instead, they have a country replete with Jaichands and dhimmis, who would rather bend over backwards to curry favour with the Islamists than side with the Hindus to protect their religious freedom or for that matter, Freedom of Expression as enshrined in the constitution. 

The dichotomy of reactions elicited from the liberal intelligentsia on the ridiculing of Shivling vis-a-vis their inordinate hysteria on Nupur Sharma’s innocuous deed of quoting Islamic hadiths on Prophet Muhammad has struck a sobering realisation among Hindus about the double standards in the application of the FoS principle.

The space for dissent is poised to shrink as Islamists resort to intolerance and bigotry

The liberals gaslight Hindus by citing Freedom of Speech when they object to indiscreet utterances against Hindu Gods and Goddesses, distasteful jokes on Hinduism and scornful remarks against Hindu beliefs. Moreover, Hindus are sermonised and branded as intolerant and insecure for voicing their protest against insults and barbs that are thrown at their faith.

Of course, this treatment is exclusive to Hindus. When it comes to Islamists, something as bland as making comments derived from Islamic Hadiths attracts ‘sar tan se juda’ threats, with the liberals looking the other way. Furthermore, Hindus are, ironically, blamed for furthering polarisation and exhibiting bigotry. 

Against the current backdrop of unwarranted hounding of Nupur Sharma, it would not be an exaggeration to state that Hindus would be more inclined to jealously guard their faith and Gods than ever before. They would brook no criticism of their religious beliefs, insults to their Gods, or jokes made about their faith. The Islamists have the liberals and Ummah on their side, while the Hindus only seem to have nothing but an unwavering resolve to protect the honour of their faith.  

If there is a marked increase in the incidents of protest launched by Hindus, along with a flurry of FIRs filed by them over derogatory remarks and insults against their Gods, the Islamists and the Left will have themselves to be blamed for the shrinking space for dissent in India. 

Medieval Odisha: A Hindu state that resisted Islamic onslaught for centuries

Nihar Ranjan Nanda
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Medieval Odisha: A Hindu state that resisted Islamic onslaught for centuries

Odisha is usually one of the least talked about states in India. Not surprisingly, when the general history of India is discussed, it usually struggles to get a mention. However, a close study of its history gives us some interesting details in the context of independent Hindu political and military achievements, specifically in the medieval period. It was a proud and powerful Hindu kingdom till the third quarter of the 16th Century, at a time when a great chunk of the rest of India had succumbed to Islamic invaders. This is a humble attempt to depict a general picture of Odisha or Kalinga in the medieval period.

After the fall of Prithviraj Chouhan, the Turks ravaged kingdoms of northern India, swiftly captured the plains of the Ganga basin and reached near the borders of Odisha by around 1200AD. Since then, till 1568, for nearly 360 years the Hindu rulers of Odisha and its people maintained their independence through continuous struggle. There were 2 glorious dynasties that ruled in this period, namely the Eastern Gangas and the Suryavamsi Gajapatis. While discussing Eastern Gangas, famous historian RC Majumdar says,

The [Eastern] Gangas thus achieved the unique distinction of being the only Indian royal dynasty that successfully resisted the Muslim onslaught for more than two centuries and maintained their independence to the very end after the Muslims had conquered the rest of India, literally from Himalayas to Cape Comorin.

Ancient India, P 393, By R C Majumdar

This was a time when dharmic consciousness reached its zenith due to continuous Hindu rule and military success against the Islamic invaders. The Jagannath culture flourished in Kalinga. The Eastern Ganga king Ananga Bhima Deva III declared Jagannath to be the ultimate sovereign of his kingdom and claimed to be his deputy (Routa) ruling under his banner (A history of India, 4th edition, P 186, Hermann Kulke & Dietmar Rothermund).

This had a tremendous impact on the people of the kingdom. Psychologically, the Hindus got spiritual backing to defend their kingdom for the cause of Jagannath without fear of death. Odia folklore and literary works tell the tales of valour and devotion from this era. Later Gajapati Kapilendra Deva called himself the first Servitor of Jagannath and equated any resistance to his royal orders with treason (Droha) committed against Jagannath. As a result, Odisha became a Hindu military state. Referring to that, Herman Kulke the German Indologist and historian says,

There was also another new feature of administration under Ganga rule: the rise of military officers as local magnates. This in a way anticipated the later development in the Vijayanagar empire. An inscription from south Orissa of 1230 contains a long list of such military officers (nayaka), who seem also to have had some administrative functions….The title nayaka was not unknown in earlier periods, but the sudden increase in the number and their importance in several parts of Orissa in the early thirteenth century, and even more so in the fourteenth century, seems to be a clear indication of the militarisation of Hindu states in the late Middle Ages…We may attribute this to the impact of the Delhi sultanate which had been founded only a few decades earlier. If this is correct, it would show that Hindu realms were able to respond very quickly to such new challenges.

A history of India, 4th edition

Similarly, while discussing territorial limit & Hinduness of Odisha, famous historian Sir Jadunath Sarkar notes:

Up to the middle of the 16th century, Orissa had been a purely Hindu country, both in royal house and in its population. A clear light is thrown on the territorial demarcation between the two creeds by the life of Chaitanya, where we read that at the time of that saint’s journey to Jagannath-Puri the last outpost of Muslim rule was Pichaldah on the Mantreswar river, while south of which began Hindu Orissa without a single permanent Muslim settler.

History of Bengal, P 188, Sir Jadunath Sarkar

The said place Pichaldah is presently in the Howrah district of West Bengal south of which was the Gajapati kingdom.

This was a period when temples were being destroyed everywhere, but in Odisha Gajapati Narasimha Deva I (Langula Narasimha Deva) built one of the finest specimens of Hindu artisanship, the Konark Sun Temple which at that time was one of the largest temples in India (225+ feet) high. Other than that, several prominent temples like Ananta Vasudeva, Dhabaleswara, part of Simachalam temple etc were being built throughout the kingdom. This was not happening without any military success.

We have references of rulers like Raja Raja III, Ananga Bhima III, Bhanu II, Narasimha I, Kapilendra, Purusottama etc defeating Islamic rulers in pitched battles. Some even extended their kingdoms at expense of their enemies. In fact, Narasimha Deva I was one of the earliest Hindu rulers to lead an offensive attack against the Islamic invaders marching up to their provincial capital Lakhnauti in Bengal.

Similarly, Gajapati Kapilendra Deva, the greatest Hindu ruler of 15th century India defeated Bengal, Bahamani, Vijayanagar, and Malwa rulers. His empire stretched from Ganga in the north to Kaveri in the south. He held the epithet “Gajapati Goudeswara Navakoti Karnata Kalabargeswara” which means ‘The lord of elephants, lord of Gouda (Bengal), lord of nine crore subjects of Karnata (Vijayanagar) and the lord of Bahamani Kingdom (Gulbarga/Kalaburgi)’. His empire at its peak was the largest Hindu empire of that time.

Herman Kulke while referring to Suryavamsi Emperor Gajapati Kapilendra Deva who ruled in the 15th century said, “Kapilendra deva became the greatest Hindu ruler of his day.”

During this period, Hindus persecuted in neighbouring regions used to take refuge in Hindu Odisha. In his book ‘Four hundred years of Orissa, a glorious Epoch’, AK Panda writes that Gajapati Narasimha Deva I built a Mutt named Sadasiva Mutt in Bhubaneswar where refugees specifically from Bengal stayed. We find another instance during the rule of Gajapati Prataprudra Deva when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu moved to Odisha and many other learned Brahmins (who were persecuted by the Sultan of Bengal) fled to Odisha.

Kosalananda Kavya by Pandit Gangadhar Mishra states one of the Rajput dynasties of north India fled from Islamic persecution and took shelter in the western part of Odisha. Pandit Ramakrishna Bhatta, a learned man from distant Malwa migrated to Cuttack and settled there during the period of Prataprudra Deva. In another instance, when Hindus of Telangana (during the rule of the Bahamani sultanate) were being sold as slaves by a tyrant called Sanjar Khan, Kalinga’s Hindu army marched there and crushed his forces. Similarly, to save the Hindu ruler of Devarkonda (Velamas) Gajapati sent his forces who succeeded in doing so. Muslim Historian Tabataba notes,

The Raya of Odisha from the greed of gain and for the defence of Paganism thought himself bound to help Hindus of Devarkonda

The History and culture of the Indian people, The Delhi Sultanate, P366, RC Majumdar

We even have some references where some Buddhists of the Bardhhaman area of Bengal are said to have fled to Odisha to save themselves from persecution, mentioned in the ‘History of Medieval Vaishnavism in Orissa’ by Prabhat Mukherjee.

Cuttack, the then capital of Odisha around 1500AD became the third-largest city in India and the 12th largest in the world due to the material prosperity and the flow of Hindus from all over India. This political independence due to the military success of the rulers was the reason behind the popularity of the Jagannatha tradition all over India. That is the reason many Hindu temples are still intact in Odisha. Odia language has the least influence of Persian and Arabic among languages of northern India. The Hindu population in Odisha is still around 94%. In fact, the adjoining districts of the neighbouring states where the Gajapati rulers ruled for a longer period still have a good Hindu majority. The long Hindu rule, which was based on the ancient wisdom of Vedanta and Shastras, nourished the arts, and culture of the region could only be maintained by the military success of the Hindu rulers of Odisha, which remained a Hindu state long after neighbouring regions had fallen to Islamic rule.

Kerala gold smuggling case: Day after explosive revelations by main accused Swapna Suresh, co-accused allegedly abducted

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala gold smuggling case: Day after explosive revelations by main accused Swapna Suresh, co-accused allegedly abducted

According to Swapna Suresh, the principal accused in the Kerala Gold Smuggling case, another co-accused PS Sarith was abducted on Wednesday by some unknown persons. Sarith was allegedly kidnapped from Swapna Suresh’s home on Wednesday morning after she told the media that there was a threat to her life. She said the kidnapping happened just minutes after her press conference this morning.

Swapna said, “Earlier you asked what the threat was. Now it is no longer threats, the attacks have started. HRDS India staff Sarith has been forcefully kidnapped from my home by 3-4 unknown people.” She said that Sarith was taken away by some people who claimed to be vigilance officials but they did not show their identity cards.

“They have started their attacks. Can you imagine that? I only spoke a little, did not speak in detail and already they have become scared. This is a signal of that. They are confessing on their own through such dirty tactics,” she further added.

When asked about allegations that PS Sarith was apprehended by state government Vigilance officers, she stated his counsel has already begun legal proceedings, including the filing of a habeas corpus petition, to seek his liberation.

It is worth noting that Swapna has levelled grave charges against Kerala CM Pinaryi Vijayan and his family. Swapna Suresh had gone to a Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kochi to record her secret statement under Section 164. On Tuesday, the recording of statements proceeded. Swapna told reporters following her testimony on Tuesday that a bag containing money was given to CM Vijayan when he was in Dubai in 2016.

Swapna informed the court of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s involvement in the gold smuggling scam, as well as his former principal secretary M Sivasankar, the CM’s wife Kamala, daughter Veena, his additional private secretary C M Raveendran, former bureaucrat Nalini Netto, and former minister K T Jaleel.

The Kerala Gold Smuggling Scam

On July 5, 2020, customs authorities at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport seized gold weighing more than 30 kg and worth around Rs 15 crore. This gold was hidden in diplomatic luggage and air freighted to the UAE embassy.

Customs officers took action after receiving evidence that the luggage was part of a smuggling network attempting to misappropriate the name of a diplomat with diplomatic immunity.

Swapna Suresh is the lead defendant in this case. A private company hired Swapna Suresh, a former employee of the UAE consulate, to work on a project for the Kerala Information Technology Department, which is overseen by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. M Sivasankar, the CM’s principal secretary, was in charge of this department previously.

Notably, Swapna Suresh had already raised severe charges against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and three cabinet members in connection with the gold smuggling issue. Suresh additionally stated to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in October 2020 that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan met with the Consul General of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) many times in 2017.

Ummah over India: From AltNews’ Zubair to WaPo columnist Rana Ayyub to Al Qaeda, how things escalated from defaming India to terror attack threats

OpIndia Staff
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Ummah over India: From AltNews’ Zubair to WaPo columnist Rana Ayyub to Al Qaeda, how things escalated from defaming India to terror attack threats

Since the former spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party, Nupur Sharma, got suspended from the party, a lot of facts have surfaced pointing toward a well-planned conspiracy to defame India and get a target on the ruling party’s leader head. Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal appear to be victims of a sophisticated plan that has been exposed in parts over the past few days. Here is how dog-whistling by AltNews cofounder Muhammad Zubair culminated into terror-attack threats by dreaded terrorist group Al-Qaeda over the alleged derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad.

The remarks by Nupur Sharma

On May 26, former spokesperson of BJP Nupur Sharma participated in a debate on the Gyanvapi disputed structure case on Times Now, where the other panellist from the Muslim community repeatedly abused Bhagwan Shiv. In response, Sharma remarked on Prophet Muhammad by narrating what has been written in Islamic holy scriptures. What she said has often been cited by various Islamic scholars, including hate-preacher Zakir Naik.

AltNews’ Mohammad Zubair’s role in the controversy

So-called fact-checking website AltNews’ co-founder Mohammad Zubair saw an opportunity in what Nupur said, and he used a cleverly trimmed video clip of the debate to target her. Little after the debate, he published a tweet and said, “Prime Time debates in India have become a platform to encourage hate mongers to speak ill about other religions. Times Now’s Anchor Navika Kumar is encouraging a rabid communal hatemonger & a BJP Spokesperson to speak rubbish which can incite riots. Shame on you, Vineet Jain.”

In another tweet, he wrote, “Why do we need Hate Mongers like Yati Narasinghanand Saraswati or Mahant Bajrang Muni or Anand Swaroop to arrange a Dharam Sansad to speak against a community and a Religion when we already have Anchors who can do a much better job from News Studios.” Notably, this particular tweet resulted in an FIR against Zubair based on complaint by Mahant Bajrag Muni.

It is notable that Zubair cleverly snapped the part where a Muslim speaker had used derogatory language for Shivling. The clip starts with Nupur warning him to stop abusing the Hindu religion and its Gods. However, Zubair, in his tweet, insinuated to make it look like only Nupur had used derogatory remarks.

Soon several media houses including international media picked it up to attack India. British online paper Independent also noted in a report that it was Zubair who initiated the first attack on Nupur. In a report, they said, “The video was first flagged by Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News, on his Twitter account.”

Zubair posted the tweet at 11:31 AM on May 27. In less than an hour, at 12:08 PM, Sharma confronted him and asked him not to put up fake videos. She asked him to check the complete video to get the context. She wrote, “Stop putting out selectively edited fake videos. Watch the full video Fact-checker. I had repeatedly requested co-panellists to stop insulting the Hindu religion. Maybe you would want to upload the truth & full video. And Stop inciting communal passions.” However, things were only going to escalate from this point. Zubair had a weapon in his hand in the form of a well-crafted plan and an edited video that he was going to use against Sharma and the ruling party, BJP, at the centre.

By that time, Nupur had already started getting rape and death threats. She published some screenshots of the comments she had received. Notably, even after two weeks, such threats are still coming in, and they are no longer limited to India but also from Islamic countries, including Pakistan.

AltNews’ other co-founder Pratik Sinha also chipped in and rushed to give clean-chit to his partner. In a tweet thread published on May 27, he pointed out that Zubair did not put up the edited video and said he was not responsible for any death threats to Sharma. Both Pratik and Zubair used this opportunity to then ask for donations for their propaganda page.

The entry of Ayyubs

Several left-leaning leaders, activists and opposition parties had by now started targeting Nupur over her alleged defamatory comments. However, things got further escalated with the entry of the Ayyubs. Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub and her brother Arif Ayyub used social media to further fan the online mob against Sharma.

On May 28 around 2:56 AM Rana Ayyub took on Twitter to target Nupur. In a tweet, she wrote, “As somebody who grew up witnessing two of the worst anti-muslim pogroms in India, I think like a journalist, and as a Muslim, I have NEVER witnessed this level of brazen, televised hate. This lady is the national spokesperson of Narendra Modi’s BJP. THE NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON.” Again, the fact was ignored that the Muslim panellist had used derogatory remarks against Bhagwan Shiv first.

On May 28, Arif Ayyub, the brother of financial fraud accused Rana Ayyub took to Twitter and suggested that the Gulf nations restrict their oil supplies to India in order to make Hindus in India suffer. By now, the Islamists are leaving no stone unturned to target Nupur Sharma even though all she did was quote what the Islamic holy scriptures say about Prophet Mohammad.

Quoting the tweet of her sister Rana Ayyub and tagging Saudi based oil company Aramco, UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at 3:20 PM on May 28, Arif wrote, “India runs on Oil from middle-east, a region of Islamic nations. If these nations were to stop their supplies for a month, Indians, of which a vast majority are such Muslim-hating Hindus, would suffer greatly.” Arif and other Islamists soon urged the Gulf countries to boycott Indian products but none of them suggested to stop oil trade with India.

The anti-India ‘toolkit’ exposed

A week after the online mob attack by Islamists and incessant tagging of Gulf countries, when Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was in Qatar, the BJP suspended Nupur Sharma and terminated Naveen Jindal from the party. The duo even issued public apology for their statements and withdrew the same. Things should have calmed down, but even after India’s statement that appropriate action was taken against the party spokesperson, reactions in the form of condemnations kept coming from Islamic countries, including Pakistan, following which India had to issue strong-worded statements.

But the question arises, how Gulf countries were roped into the controversies? Who was behind the campaigns on social media to run hashtags and publish tens of thousands of posts to target Nupur Sharma and, ultimately, the Government of India? The first expose came from The Hawk Eye.

On June 6, Twitter user The Hawk Eye published a series of tweets explaining how a malicious campaign was active against India. The malicious trend took Twitter by storm as the bigoted online mob, consisting mostly of Muslim Twitter users from the Arab world launched a coordinated social media campaign attacking Hindus residing in the Middle East and outraging over the alleged blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.

Whipped up by accusations of blasphemy, thousands of Islamists and their sympathisers around the world, most notably in India and the Arab countries, started trending ‘إلارسولاللهيامودي’, a message written in Arabic, on Twitter to mobilise support and demand action against the BJP leaders for quoting Islamic hadiths on Prophet Muhammad.

According to the Twitter account ‘The Hawk Eye’, a social media page known for conducting independent investigative journalism, the Twitter storm was initiated by an Egypt based organisation called “International Organisation for the Support of the Prophet of Islam” (IOSPI). The first tweet by the dubious body that touts itself as an organisation that fights ‘blasphemy’ against the Islamic prophet was posted on Friday, June 3 2002. This was two days prior to Nupur Sharma’s suspension from BJP.sa

He concluded that the propaganda appeared professional and betrayed the involvement of someone who closely followed Indian news. The tweets aimed to whip up hatred and resentment against India carried several matters, from the hijab ban in schools where it was not part of school uniform to unheard of random incidents with ‘hate’ graphics bearing mostly pictures of PM Modi—an insidious attempt to demonise the central government and brand them as anti-Muslim.

For over two days, the trend did not gain traction as desired by its machinators. Then on Sunday, June 5 2022, it suddenly picked up pace after notable Arab personalities with verified Twitter accounts and news organisations started tweeting about it. Soon thereafter, many people, including those in India, started tweeting about it. At the time of writing the thread, The Hawk Eye mentioned that more than 6.1 lakh tweets were posted, with over 45,000 tweets being posted every hour.

While 76 per cent of tweets were in Arabic, in India, the trend was pushed by none other than AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, PTI and the South Asian index (Pakistan handle), who used hashtag keywords in their tweets.

The second expose by Times Now

In its expose, Times Now revealed that the anti-India campaign was being run from Pakistan. In the malicious campaign, Pakistan used fake accounts, and social media accounts of journalists and politicians to run an anti-India campaign. They targeted Sharma by rallying the Arab world against India. PTI, Imran Khan’s political party, also took on Twitter to post anti-India comments.

Times Now said that Pakistan had spent crores of rupees on the campaign. Hashtags like ‘StopInsulting_ProphetMuhammed’ were used. In Arabic, hashtags like Except_Messenger_of_God_Modi were trending. Anti-India elements like CJ Werleman also tweeted using the hashtag.

Times Now said that the handles used fake locations to ensure the role of Pakistan in the campaign could not be unearthed.

Threat by Al-Qaeda

The latest feather in Zubair, Ayyubs and other anti-India forces’ hats is the threat issued by the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. In the letter dated the 6th of June, the Islamist terrorist group said, “We shall kill those who affront our Prophet and we shall bind explosives with our bodies and the bodies of our children to blow away the ranks of those who dare to dishonour our Prophet.” The letter also goes on to say that Hindutva terrorists are currently occupying India.

The letter further stated, “We say with the help of Allah the almighty, the saffron terrorists should now await their end in Delhi, Bombay, UP, and Gujarat. They shall find refuge neither in their homes nor in their fortified army cantonments. May our mothers be bereaved of us, if we do not avenge our beloved Prophet.” The terror organisation also said how it would strap themselves and the children with explosives and carry out attacks.

Ummah over India

People like Mohammed Zubair, Rana Ayyub and her brother, Owaisi and other politicians and public personalities, not only triggered the Middle East countries to embarrass India on an international platform but even cheered as they did. For them, their faith came before the country. They were happy to see India firefighting a diplomacy situation because their ‘religious feelings’ were hurt. No such discount was given to Hindus when Islamists and ‘liberals’ mocked the Shivling found in the wuzukhana at the disputed structure of Gyanvapi complex.

For the Islamists, it is the religious bond that trumps nation. And under the garb of ‘fighting hate speech’ in India the fundamentalists would gladly sacrifice the nation at the altar of The Book.

In dire need of wheat, Egypt seeks $500 million from World Bank for its food program, to buy 5 lakh tonnes from India

OpIndia Staff
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In dire need of wheat, Egypt seeks $500 million from World Bank for its food program, to buy 5 lakh tonnes from India

The Egyptian Government has asked a monetary help of USD 500 Million from the World Bank to take care of its urgent need for Wheat. With this, the nation hopes to finance the ‘Emergency Food Security and Resilience Support Program’ initiated by the World Bank, which will manage the country’s current needs regarding imports of wheat after the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Ukraine-Russia war has resulted in skyrocketing prices of wheat in the global market because both the countries are major exporters of the food grain, Al-Monitor reported.

Egypt, which is the largest importer of Wheat in the world has been grossly affected by the developments in Ukraine following the Russian invasion that started in February 2022. While the country imports over 62% of its total annual wheat needs, 85% of it are taken care of by Russia and Ukraine combined. The Programme document between the World Bank and Egypt recorded that the Ukraine war has triggered major risks to global food and nutrition security, ‘including a pronounced spike in the prices of key food staples and skyrocketing prices of fuel and fertilizers.

Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation has entered into a deal with the World Bank which has seen an increase in the demand from many countries in the world to get loans approved following the unstable geopolitical advances. Dr Merza Hasan, Executive director of the World Bank told Egyptian daily Akhbar el-Yom recently that the nation will soon obtain approval for the loan that is being negotiated with the World Bank.

Global supply chain disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic followed by the Russia-Ukraine war largely affected Egypt’s food import bills. Rising fuel prices and import duties have added to the country’s burden of importing wheat in the context of global inflation. While Egypt’s position in the global food security index has a possibility of dropping down, its population largely depends on food upon the Food Subsidy System run by the Government of Egypt.

Egypt to buy Indian wheat

Egypt has signed an agreement with India to purchase wheat. Speaking to WION recently, Egypt’s ambassador to India Wael Hamed had stated that Egypt will stand by its deals after reports surfaced that the country is refusing to accept a consignment over quarantine concerns. The country has a deal to buy half a million tonnes of wheat from India. Earlier a shipment of 60,000 tonnes of wheat was given the go-ahead by Indian authorities.

In the last week of May, India imposed a ban on its wheat exports following a devastating heat wave that caused ruptures in the wheat harvests of the country. However, India committed to providing Wheat to its traditional buyers and signing bilateral contracts with countries in dire need of grains.

Recently, Egypt’s Supply Minister, Aly El-Moselhy met with the Indian ambassador to Egypt in Cairo to discuss a potential swap agreement to acquire 5 lakh tons of wheat through various shipments. 


Snip, snip, snip: AltNews cofounder Zubair shares selective portions of a debate, had earlier dog-whistled against Nupur Sharma

OpIndia Staff
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Snip, snip, snip: AltNews cofounder Zubair shares selective portions of a debate, had earlier dog-whistled against Nupur Sharma

Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News, has been once again accused of sharing edited footage of a news debate on Twitter. Zubair posted an edited tape of a news debate on the channel India News and questioned why the anchor invited fellow panellists to insult religions.

Zubair was called out by Anchor Pradeep Bhandari of India News who was the host of the debate. Bhandari pointed out by saying that the clip shared by Zubair is heavily edited and he is an agenda-driven liar.

Sharing an original short clip of the show, Pradeep Bhandari wrote, “Mohammed Zubair @zoo_bear You are an agenda driven liar. I challenge you & your entire team of ‘fact checkers’ to prove that this clip from my show isn’t heavily edited. Instead of putting out spliced & diced clips, grow a spine & speak out against Al-Qaeda’s terror threat!”

The tweet was a quoted reply to Mohammed Zubair’s tweet. “See the number of panelists, Most of them are self proclaimed Godmen. You can also see a BJP MLA from UP listening to what Ilyas Sharafuddin says. Why are Self Proclaimed ‘Nationalist’ anchors having such debates where there panelists say bad about other religion?” Mohammed Zubair tweeted along with the video.

The actual video is a part of a 5-hour long debate on India News. It was streamed live on May 24. The Show was Janta Ka Mukadma in which the show host, Pradeep Bhandari, was discussing the applicability and nuances of the Places of Worship Act, 1991. It is from this video Zubair took out some portions and clubbed them to make another clip which he posted on Twitter.

How Zubair edited the clip

If the clips shared by Bhandari, Zubair and the full show is watched, it can be seen that Ilyas Sharafuddin, one of the panellists in the show, had made several comments insulting Hinduism and Hindu gods at different times during the unusually long TV debate. However, Md Zubair picked audio of those comments, added to the video of the continuous clip, compiling them into one single clip. Therefore, the clip shared by Zubair gives an impression that Ilyas Sharafuddin was insulting Hinduism continuously on the show without being interrupted or countered by the host of the other panellists. But the fact is, the comments were made at different points of time. If the clip shared by Zubair is watched carefully, it can be seen that the the audio and video does match in some parts, because the audio was picked from different times to create the video.

It is notable that recently, Zubair shared another short clip of a news debate of former BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma making remarks about the Islamic prophet and dog-whistled his followers leading to rape and death threats to the BJP leader.

Following the remarks, many FIRs were filed against Sharma, and open vows for her murder were made. Following her comments, some Islamist organisations even set a price on her head. Al Qaeda, the notorious Islamic terrorist organisation, has also written a letter threatening suicide strikes in Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat in order to “fight for the honour of the Prophet.” This threat was issued by Al Qaeda in reaction to statements made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

Following the uproar, the BJP distanced itself from her remarks and suspended her membership. The BJP informed Sharma in its suspension letter that she had voiced opinions opposite to the party’s on a number of issues, which violated the party’s constitution.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple gets a golden makeover: Gold plating of temple shikhara and door frames completed, restoration of outer artistic walls underway

OpIndia Staff
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Kashi Vishwanath Temple gets a golden makeover: Gold plating of temple shikhara and door frames completed, restoration of outer artistic walls underway

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple in the state of Uttar Pradesh has got a complete golden makeover as the gold plating of the lower portion of the temple Shikhara and the door frames concluded on Tuesday.

According to the reports, 23 kgs of gold was used to decorate the lower portion of the temple Shikhara. However, the process of restoration of the outer artistic walls is underway and will take some more time.

Earlier in March this year, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple was decorated with 37 kgs of gold. The gold was used to decorate the inner walls of the sanctum of the temple. This is after an anonymous donor had donated 60 kgs of gold to Kashi Vishwanath Temple out of which 37 kgs of gold was utilized for the purpose on March 1, 2022.

A special team from Gujarat and Delhi was called for glittering the inner portion of the temple. Reportedly, the balance of 23 kgs of gold was to be used for covering the lower portion of the temple Shikhara.

An anonymous donor had donated 60 kgs of gold to the Kashi Vishwanath temple months before the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in December 2021. The temple authorities had then decided to finalize the plan of gold plating the inner walls of the sanctum sanctorum and the lower portion of the main temple.

The project of gold plating the temple had begun in three phases. The walls were first covered with a coated plastic layer, then with the copper sheets, and finally with the gold sheets. According to reports, temple authorities had planned to undertake the project 6 years ago. An estimate of Rs 42 crores was also approved for the purpose. But the plan was put on hold since the IIT (BHU) at Varanasi had said in its report that the age-old temple was not capable of bearing the load.

Pertinently, this is the second time major work being done to gold plate the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Earlier in the 18th century, Maharaja Ranjeet Singh of Punjab had donated one ton of gold for specifically covering two of the temple Shikharas.

It is pertinent to note that Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year expanded the Kashi Vishwanath Temple area from 2,700 sq ft to 5 lakh sq ft under the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor project worth Rs 900 crores. The BJP-led government established direct connectivity between the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and River Ganga through Jalasen, Manikarnika, and Lalita ghats.

A committee of 10 people was working in two shifts to execute the gold plating project which completed on June 7. Now, with the completion of the gold-plating, the project of restoration of the artistic wall has begun in the premises. According to the reports, the artistic walls will be restored after the removal of the harmful enamel paint. The project aims completion by the end of June 2022.

‘US could have benefited in Afghanistan if Gilgit-Baltistan was in India and Balochisatan was independent’: Republican politician Bob Lancia

OpIndia Staff
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‘US could have benefited in Afghanistan if Gilgit-Baltistan was in India and Balochisatan was independent’: Republican politician Bob Lancia

Bob Lancia, US Congress candidate for Rhode Island, has said that the United States’ failed exit from Afghanistan had much to do with not having India as a partner. The former Navy chaplain has expressed that ‘things could have gone differently’ had America partnered with India during its withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Republican politician said that US would have to depend on “unreliable and double game playing Pakistan”, if Balochistan was independent and if Gilgit-Baltistan was in India.

Bob Lancia is a member of the Republican party and a former Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. He is contesting in the elections for the United States House of Representatives elections scheduled in November this year from Rhode Island,

Bob Lancia took to Twitter to focus on India’s strategic location and geopolitical prowess as a player in ensuring the interests of South Asia on the global map. He said that if Balochistan was an independent country, US could have used it for supplying US forces in Afghanistan instead of depending on Pakistan. Lancia wrote, “As Col. Ralph Peters pointed out in his Congressional testimony, an independent Balochistan would have provided the US direct access to Afghanistan for supplying our troops without having to rely on Pakistan who was obviously playing a double game.” It has been testified that arms supplied by the US for Afghanistan could be used by Pakistan’s internal players to create instability in Kashmir.

Bob Lancia added that instead of nurturing Pakistan’s deep pockets an Independent Baloch province would have helped the US to retrieve Afghanistan in the longer run. He said that the US didn’t take much cue from India in analysing the situation. The Republican further said that US toops could have been provided supplies from India also if Gilgit-Baltistan was part of India. He opined, “if the Gilgit-Baltistan region was under the control of India, the US troops in Afghanistan could have received supplies directly from India, a friendly democracy, rather than depending on unreliable and double game playing Pakistan.”

“Indian controlled Gilgit-Baltistan would also be a major blow to America’s number one rival, China, and China’s belts & roads initiative, by denying China direct access to ports on the Arabian Sea,” he wrote. The Gilgit Baltistan region which is currently occupied by Pakistan forces connects the Islamic republic with China, the communist empire with expansionist dreams of its own.

According to Lancia, had the region belonged to India, it would have blocked China’s belt-and-road project directly linking Pakistan. Moreover, this would have helped the US in receiving its military supplies directly in India which were to be used for the Afghan mission.

Soon after the US started withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in March 2020, cities after the other started falling under the rule of Talibani terrorists. The Islamic group occupied Kabul on 15th August last year, following capturing major cities in quick succession in weeks before that day. Taliban has taken over most of the provinces in Afghanistan and has established its government over the people. After the US’s murky withdrawal from Afghanistan was complete, President Joe Biden defended it saying that US’s mission in Afghanistan was never about nation-building or creating unified, centralized democracy but was always about preventing a terrorist attack on US soil.

The USA had invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda. The Afghanistan war lasted 20 years with the US finally giving up the country before the Islamist regime of the Taliban.

American woman who led all-women battalion for ISIS, planned bomb attacks with ‘maximum possible violence’, pleads guilty to terrorism

OpIndia Staff
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American woman who led all-women battalion for ISIS, planned bomb attacks with ‘maximum possible violence’, pleads guilty to terrorism

On Tuesday, Allison Fluke-Ekren, a Kansas woman who had left the United States to be a part of the terrorist movements in the Middle East pleaded guilty to aiding the ISIS terrorist organization by leading an all-female military battalion for them. She also confessed to plotting several terror attacks on American soil.

According to the reports, Allison Fluke-Ekren also known by the name Umm Mohammed al-Amrik (42) provided more than 100 women and girls including the ones aged as young as 10-years-old with military training on behalf of the ISIS. She also confessed to the Federal prosecutors that she had plotted attacks on a university and a shopping mall in America.

“To conduct the attack, Fluke-Ekren allegedly explained that she could go to a shopping mall in the United States, park a vehicle full of explosives in the basement or parking garage level of the structure, and detonate the explosives in the vehicle with a cell phone triggering device. Fluke-Ekren allegedly considered any attack that did not kill a large number of individuals to be a waste of resources,” the Department of Justice was quoted.

The department further noted that Allison Fluke-Ekren who is the mother of at least 7 children had left the United States in the year 2008. She landed in Egypt before moving to Libya in 2011. Then in the very next year, she was moved to Syria to be a part of ‘violent jihad’ as the terrorist group Ansar al-Sharia had ceased conducting attacks in Libya.

The documents by the Department of Justice also reveal that Allison’s husband was also affiliated with the terrorist organization named Ansar al-Sharia and was killed in an airstrike in 2016. Allison’s husband had stolen the government documents from the US Special Mission after the 2012 terrorist attack on the American compound in Benghazi. The couple had then drafted a report for terrorist leaders after analyzing government documents seized during the attack.

In the years to follow, Allison Fluke-Ekren eventually led a woman’s center in Raqqa on behalf of the Islamic State. While she provided medical services, childcare, and educational services about ISIS teachings, her main job was teaching women and children to use AK-47s, grenades, and suicide vests.

A criminal complaint was filed against the Fluke-Ekren in the year 2019 but was not made public until she was brought back to the United States in January of this year. “We didn’t intentionally train any young girls”, Allison Fluke-Ekren said in the court on June 7 claiming that she did not know that some of the trainees were underage. According to the reports, Fluke-Ekren will be sentenced on October 25 and would face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Sri Lankan photographer who clicked image of ex-PM Rajiv Gandhi being assaulted by a sailor in Colombo passes away

OpIndia Staff
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Sri Lankan photographer who clicked image of ex-PM Rajiv Gandhi being assaulted by a sailor in Colombo passes away

Sena Vidanagama, a 76-year-old Sri Lankan photojournalist, passed away on Wednesday. Vidanagama was most known for the iconic photograph of a former Sri Lankan naval officer attacking former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with his rifle butt during a Guard of Honor ceremony in Sri Lanka on July 30, 1987.

The picture by Sena Vidanagama.

Sena Vidanagama worked as an official photographer for a variety of global news agencies, including the AFP French News Service. Viganagama, who was born in Matara, Sri Lanka in 1945, had his images extensively disseminated both locally and abroad.

What happened on July 30, 1987?

On July 30, 1987, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was attending a Naval Cadet Assembly at President’s House in Colombo when he was attacked with the butt of a rifle by a Sri Lankan Sinhala Navy soldier. PM’s guards rescued him and captured the perpetrator promptly before the situation worsened.

The attacker, Wijemuni Vijitha, Rohana de Silva, was a Sri Lankan sailor who was present as Rajiv Gandhi observed the Sri Lankan Honor Guard. Rohana was enraged by India’s alleged backing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). To that aim, he slung his ceremonial rifle over the back of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s shoulder. However, PM stooped and escaped the entire force of the strike.

Rohana was tried in court and sent to six years in jail. He was released two and a half years after receiving a presidential pardon. Later in an interview with the Daily Mirror, Wijemuni expressed his rage and explained why he attacked Rajiv Gandhi.

He said, “I was waiting at the guard-of-honour I was restless and angry over what India and prime minister Gandhi had done to our country. But it was too late as the accord had already been signed. This made me angrier and I thought I must do something to avenge the disaster caused to our country. I was thinking about how India was helping the LTTE with money, arms and military training. The idea to attack with the rifle struck my mind when Rajiv Gandhi was about two or three feet away from me.”

The recording of the incident

Prem Prakash, a seasoned journalist and the ANI Chairman, also filmed the attack on Rajiv Gandhi. According to ANI’s Smita Prakash, who shared about the incident on Twitter, Prem Prakash was the one who captured a video of the incident while reporting from Sri Lanka. According to Smita, the PMO was supposed to disavow the occurrence, but it had already made headlines in Sri Lanka.

The video clip was also taken by Indian authorities in Sri Lanka at that time. However, it was eventually returned to Prem Prakash when the Prime Minister stated so.

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