A plea has been filed before the Mathura Court to bar the defendant Muslims from destroying any religious inscriptions, artifacts, or symbols present inside the disputed Shahi Eidgah Masjid at the Krishna Janambhoomi site. The plea requests the Court to maintain the status quo at the structure during the long summer vacations of the Court.
The plea alleges that after the Gyanvapi episode in which alleged Shivling and other Hindu religious symbols have been reported to be found, the defendant parties in this dispute will make every effort to destroy the Hindu religious symbols and inscriptions at the Shahi Eidgah. Therefore, the court should ensure the status quo remains during the summer holidays of the court.
The plea has been filed in the senior division court of Mathura district by Manish Yadav, the main plaintiff in one of the 3 cases filed over the disputed Eidgah Masjid structure. The other two suits are filed by Lucknow resident Ranjana Agnihotri as the next friend of child deity Shri Krishna Virajman of the Katra Keshav Dev temple and another suit filed by five other plaintiffs through advocate Mahendra Pratap Singh.
The plea states, “The summer vacations are about to commence and defendants will make every effort to destroy the evidence. The evidence of Hindu religious symbols and remains need to be preserved in the interest of justice.”
Further, the plea says, “The plaintiff has come to know that it has become clear from the Navbharat TV channel’s Pathshala program that religious artifacts in the alleged Idgah, ancient rock writings, and religious and mythological symbols were illegally suppressed. The Gyanvapi case is going on in Varanasi and is getting publicized a lot in the media and Shivling, Kamal, and Chak in Gyanvapi have also been found in the alleged Gyanvapi Masjid, due to which the respondents have been furious.“
Citing these facts, Yadav has said that there could be attempts to destroy evidence at Eidgah Masjid in Mathura as well during the court holidays so the court needs to ensure the status quo is maintained.
Mathura Krishna Janmabhoomi land dispute case
According to the petitioners, a part of the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple which was spread on 13.37 acres of land was demolished and the Shahi Idgah mosque was constructed. They have demanded the removal of the mosque and the return of the land for the temple.
Tampering with physical evidence at Gyanvapi mosque
On May 24, during a debate on the disputed structure at Gyanvapi, the Hindu side lawyer Vishnu Jain said that the Shivling was willfully desecrated by the Muslim side to install a fountain-like structure. He added that a 63cm hole was drilled in the Shivling to make it look like a fountain structure.
Jain said the said structure was still present in the storage room and the Muslim side tried to remove it but CRPF had stopped them.
The Kerala police on Thursday traced the details of the minor boy who was seen raising provocative slogans against Hindus and Christians at a rally organised by the radical Islamic organisation Popular Front of India at Alappuzha, Kerala.
According to the reports, a police team from Alappuzha had reached Kochi to collect information regarding the minor boy and his parents after he was seen making hate speech against non-Muslims sitting on the shoulders of another PFI worker in Alappuzha recently. The police are tracking the minor’s parents to take action against them for instigating him to deliver such provocative slogans.
A video had gone viral recently in which a boy was seen making hate slogans at the ‘Save the Republic’ rally conducted by PFI on May 21. In the video, the boy is seen raising the slogan, “Hindus should keep rice for their last rites, and Christians should keep incense sticks for their last rites. If your live decently, you can live in our land, and if you don’t live decently, we know Azadi (freedom). Live decently, decently, decently.”
Meanwhile, the Kochi City police have shared the details with the Alappuzha police where a case was registered in connection with the incident, said a police officer investigating the case.
Kochi Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju said that they have accessed more details about the minor, which he said cannot be divulged at the moment. The police have also hinted about a conspiracy, suggesting that the minor was trained to chant slogans.
“We have launched a detailed probe to identify the people who trained the boy to deliver such provocative slogans,” said a police officer.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Police have arrested Ansar Najeeb, the person who carried the minor child on his shoulders. During the interrogation, Najeeb claimed that he did not know who the child was but carried him on his shoulders just out of curiosity. PFI Alappuzha district president PA Navas was also booked in connection with the incident.
As the videos from the event went viral, the police had taken cognisance of the incendiary sloganeering. In its statement, the police said that they were examining the videos.
Incendiary slogans were made at the PFI rally in Kerala
Reportedly, a mob of over 1,000 PFI supporters and members had hit the streets, engaged in threatening, abusing and calling for violence against Hindus and Christians. The mob warned Hindus and Christians of dire consequences if they did not live peacefully in the country. The mob threatened that they have not forgotten the Gujarat Riots of 2002 and cautioned the Sangh Parivar not to mistake Kerala for Gujarat.
“Be ready for your death rituals if you won’t live in our land quietly. Be ready with rice flakes to fill your mouth if you won’t live quietly (For Hindus ). Be ready to burn amber in your home if you won’t live quietly ( For Christians). Because we are coming, we are your death. We won’t go to Pakistan or Bangladesh, you have to live here as we say, or else we know how to make you live quietly, we will kill you even if we are attacked. We take pride in being a martyr, we salute them. We know how to ask for ‘Azadi’ if you don’t live quietly. So be prepared for your death,” the PFI members shouted in Malayalam.
Furthermore, the mob also vowed to conduct ‘Sujood’ ( kind of prayer ) in the disputed building of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya again. Also, they have decided to continue ‘Sujood’ in the disputed structure called ‘Gyanvapi Mosque’, which is built on the ruins of a temple in Varanasi. They said they were not leaving for Pakistan or Bangladesh, and if they did so, they would take the Sangh Parivar along with them.
“Will do Sujood in Babri Masjid again. We will do Sujood in Gyanvapi too. Insha Allah Insha Allah…Reminding you Sanghis..Won’t leave for Pakistan, won’t leave for Bangladesh. We will go to 6 feet down under instead. Sanghis, listen to us before we go, If we go, we will “take” you also with us,” said the protesters who attended the PFI demonstration.
The threat calls ended with the famous ‘Intifada Assalam”, the Islamist salute to the people who have been killed in political murders recently in Kerala. It is worth noting that the Intifada Assalam salutes were used in Iraq in 1952 before the horrifying spate of mass murder, rioting, and killings gripped the country. The same pattern continued till 2015, during the Syrian and Lybian civil wars. The calls for intifada have become a common sight in PFI rallies in Kerala nowadays.
PFI claims slogans were targetted at RSS
Amidst this, PFI state president CP Muhammad Basheer claimed that the slogan was directed against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and not against the Hindus. He further said that his party would continue fighting and resisting RSS terrorism.
The PFI leader had claimed that they gave out printed slogans, but the programme attracted a large number of people, which was beyond the organisers’ expectations.
“One group of people was sloganeering with a boy below 15 years. He was chanting the slogans, and the slogan was basically against the RSS and against the terrorism of RSS. But one or two lines were not in accordance with the policy and the culture of PFI and democratic society. It was totally against RSS. Using this instance, the people who hate Muslims or do not like the work of PFI are actively involved in the propaganda to tarnish the image of the organisation”, Basheer claimed.
The PFI has claimed that when workers associated with the organisation noticed the slogans, they stopped them.
“Many raised slogans against Hindutva terror. This boy also raised slogans. We regret the few lines of the slogans and will look into it. His slogans were not against Hindus or Christians but against Hindutva terrorists planning genocide,” PFI spokesperson Rauf Pittambi had claimed.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has given a clean chit to Aryan and 5 others accused in the Cordelia drugs case, stating that the evidence against them is not substantial to press the charges. The agency, however, added that a complaint is being filed against 14 others involved in the case under the NDPS Act provisions.
A 6,000-page charge sheet has been filed by the anti-drug agency, which includes the names of 14 accused after drugs were found on a luxury cruise liner off the Mumbai coast last year.
Aryan Khan, who had been arrested following the raids, has not been named as an accused.
Aryan Khan drug case
A high-profile party was organised onboard the Cordelia Cruises’ Empress ship in early October 2021. Based on a tip-off, the NCB officials had boarded the cruise ship after disguising themselves as passengers. Once the ship sailed off the coast of Mumbai, the rave party began and several passengers began consuming illicit drugs. The NCB officials swung into action and detained 7-8 individuals, who were seen taking drugs.
On October 3, 2021, Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant and other 6 people were detained from a luxury cruise liner where a rave party was going on. As per reports, cocaine and ecstasy pills were found on Khan and others with him.
The Court had then held that a prima facie case is made out against Khan and other co-accused. “Investigation is of prime importance and the presence of the accused is needed for detailed investigation. It is useful for both the prosecution and the accused to prove their innocence,” it said.
However, on October 28, the Bombay High Court granted Khan and two others bail in the case.
Municipal Corporation Roorkee is conducting a drive against encroachments these days. The municipal corporation on Thursday launched a drive to remove encroachments as part of the scheduled program. During the eviction drive, a shopkeeper fell down from a tin shed, after which the people present there got agitated. They started throwing stones and sticks at the workers of the municipal corporation. Even the driver was beaten up by anti-social elements by climbing onto the bulldozer. The municipal team returned after the incident. The municipal corporation is filing a complaint against the unidentified assailants.
A day before i.e. on Wednesday, an encroachment was removed from BT Ganj market. On Thursday, as part of the pre-scheduled anti-encroachment drive, the municipal team arrived at old tehsil Machhi Bazar with a bulldozer. The corporation started removing the encroachments from one end of the road. However, most of the shopkeepers in Machhi Bazar had already removed the encroachments themselves after getting notice for the same. The team moved towards Rampur Chungi removing the remaining encroachments with a bulldozer.
First the illegal encroachments were removed from the right side of The Sapna Talkies Road. After this, the team started removing the encroachments from the left side of the road from one end. The bulldozer stopped to remove the encroachment from outside a shop. During this time, the shopkeeper of that shop climbed on the tin shed in front of the shop and started unloading goods kept there. But the tin shed was weak, which suddenly broke, causing the shopkeeper to fall down and hurt him. Seeing this, the crowd present there suddenly got agitated, and some anti-social persons from the crowd started throwing stones and sticks at the bulldozer. Some of them climbed onto the bulldozer and started beating the driver. However, at that time the bulldozer was not even being used, it was standing still waiting for the shopkeepers to move away. The shopkeeper had fell on his own as the shed was weak, it was not struck by the bulldozer yet. Somehow the policemen present there pacified the crowd and saved the members of the eviction team.
Police have detained a few youths on the spot. Seeing the angry crowd, the municipal team returned leaving the drive incomplete. The bulldozer driver sustained injuries in the assault. Assistant Municipal Commissioner S P Gupta, Naib Tehsildar Pitam Singh, Tax Inspector Ravindra Panwar, Mridul Kumar, Vipin Sharma, and others were present on the occasion.
Roorkee Municipal Commissioner Vijaynath Shukla said, “Those who vandalized the bulldozer and beat up the driver will not be spared. A case is being registered against the unidentified assailants in the case. There was a constant asking for the removal of encroachments on behalf of the corporation. When the encroachment has not been removed, a drive has been taken up to forcibly remove the encroachments. The young man who had fallen from the tin shed, at that time the bulldozer . Unnecessarily some anti-social persons have tried to vitiate the atmosphere.”
Justice DY Chandrachud of the Supreme Court said on Thursday that articles, written on his judgement, which held that the GST council’s recommendations are not binding on the Parliament and state legislatures, had “intrigued” him.
Justice Chandrachud was referring to the ruling in Union of India vs Mohit Minerals, which concluded that the GST Council’s recommendations could not bind the legislative authorities of the Union and States. Both the Union and the States have simultaneous legislative rights on GST, according to Article 246A of the Constitution.
“246A treats state and centre as equal. Article 279 says state and centre cannot act independent of each other. This also points towards competitive federalism,” said Justice DY Chandrachud.
19.05.2022 | Hon’ble Supreme Court’s one more wonderful Judgment out.. UoI v. Mohit Minerals !! Interesting observations by Justice DY Chandrachud that 246A treats state and centre as equal. Article 279 (1/2) #India#Tax#gst#SupremeCourt#incometaxpic.twitter.com/8Hl6VZur5C
— Office of Shree Tax Chambers (@prabhakarks2017) May 19, 2022
According to a report by Livelaw, Justice made this statement while addressing Senior Advocate Harish Salve about a petition filed by Jindal Mining Group against the State of Odisha’s GST demand. “I am intrigued by the articles being written on the different facets of the judgment…Articles are being written on aspects like cooperative federalism etc. I hope you have read the judgement,” he told Salve, adding that “Ultimately we ruled on the aspect of composite supply.”
The court noted that the GST Council’s unequal voting structure – the Centre has 1/3 of the votes and the States have the remaining 2/3 – can be an outlet for “political contestation” between the Centre and the States, especially if different parties are in power.
Justice DY Chandrachud: 246A treats state and centre as equal. Article 279 says state and centre cannot act independent of each other. This also points towards competitive federalism. #GST#SupremeCourt
The interdependence of democracy and federalism is apparent. Although the Indian Constitution mandates a bigger amount of power for the union to avert instability, the relationship between the two constitutional bodies is not always cooperative, said the court, adding “…therefore, the GST Council is not only an avenue for the exercise of cooperative federalism but also for political contestation across party lines. Thus, the discussions in the GST Council impact both federalism and democracy.”
Legendary British comedian Ricky Gervais released his latest comedy special ‘SuperNature’ on Netflix earlier this week, and ever since the release of the comedy special, activist internet has been out for his blood. True to his comedy nature, Ricky once again gave a masterclass in irony and in the process offended everyone with his jokes on religion, God, Satan, and Baby Hitler. However, the jokes that got the internet up in arms involved transgenders, an alleged “no-go” area for comedians.
The creator of ‘The Office’ did not hold back while joking about transgenders as he made fun of these “new women with beards and c*cks”, and the transgender community and their ‘allies’ did not like it. The internet was full of people attacking Ricky for being transphobic and homophobic, and some even went as far as to say that Ricky Gervais isn’t funny. One of the highest-paid comedians in the world and the creator of one of the biggest hits in comedy history apparently stopped being funny because he made a joke about transgenders.
We watched the Ricky Gervais "comedy" special on Netflix so you don’t have to. It’s full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes. He also spouts anti-gay rhetoric & spreads inaccurate information about HIV. 1/4
After the backlash, Ricky Gervais has come out and clarified that the target of his jokes was exactly this sort of trans-activism. Explaining his decision to do those jokes, Ricky said, “My target wasn’t trans folk, but trans activist ideology. I’ve always confronted dogma that oppresses people and limits freedom of expression.”
Further, the Afterlife creator said, “It was probably the most current, most talked about, taboo subject of the last couple of years. I deal in the taboo subjects and have to confront the elephant in the room.”
Notably, another legendary comedian Dave Chappelle has been facing attempts to get him ‘canceled’ over the past 2 years for daring to joke about transgenders. Chappelle even faced an onstage attack during his last comedy performance from someone who was offended by his trans jokes.
These cancelation attempts aren’t new to the British comedian. After the first time he hosted Golden Globe Awards, Hollywood and the American press was so shocked that they deemed his showbiz career over, he went on to host the show 4 more times.
On May 27, Friday, the Jammu and Kashmir police gunned down the two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terroists who had killed the Kashmiri actress and singer named Amreena Bhat in Kashmir’s Budgaon district on May 25.
The slain terrorists have been identified as Shahid Mushtaq Bhatt and Farhan Habib. Both were associated with the Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. They had killed the TV artiste on the instruction of LeT Commander Lateef., informed IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar.
The police further said that 1 AK-56 rifle, 4 magazines, and a pistol were recovered from the terrorists during the encounter, which had begun the previous evening.
Both killed newly joined local #terrorists identified as Shahid Mushtaq Bhat R/O Hafroo Chadoora #Budgam & Farhan Habib R/O Hakripora #Pulwama. They had #killed TV artist on the instruction of LeT Cmdr Lateef. 01 AK 56 rifle, 4 magazines and a pistol recovered: IGP Kashmir https://t.co/VeoHZRkdEO
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) May 26, 2022
The police on Thursday had informed that both the terrorists were trapped on the night of May 26 in Avantipora in the Pulwama district. They later confirmed that they were killed in the wee hours of Friday, May 27.
According to the police, the slain LeT terrorist Shahid Mushtaq Bhatt was a resident of Hafroo Chadura in Budgam. The other terrorist Farhan Habib was a resident of Hakripora in Pulwama. The two had recently joined the LeT.
Notably, Kashmiri TV actress Amreena Bhat was killed by two LeT terrorists outside their home in Budgam’s Chadoora area in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, May 25. Her 10-year-old nephew was also injured after being hit with a bullet. Both of them were immediately rushed to the hospital, but Amreena succumbed to the injuries. Her nephew is currently undergoing treatment.
Islamists abuse Kashmiri actress Amreena Bhat for insulting Islam, celebrate her death
A day after the actress was killed, India Today journalist Pooja Shali revealed how the Kashmiri actress, before and even after her death, had been receiving a lot of hate from the people of her own community for allegedly insulting Islam. She was being targeted for her work by the people of the Muslim community. In fact, after her murder, many radical Islamists were even seen celebrating on social media.
I scrolled through Amreena Bhat’s Instagram profile. Fun, harmless Videos, lip-syncing to film songs. Spreading happiness. Conservative dressing.
Then, read the comments. Threatening, demeaning, shaming her. Soon was shot dead, at home. Itna bhi bardasht na hua. #Kashmirpic.twitter.com/GZOoy85NHA
On May 26, the India Today TV anchor took to Twitter to share screenshots of the abusive messages Amreena Bhat had received on her Instagram handle, before and even after her death. In one message sent to Amreena four weeks ago on her Instagram handle, one user Aseef Bashir wrote in Hindi, roughly translating to “Aunty, understand, you have been defaming the name of Muslims.”
One Emmu Imran wrote, “Have some shame, you mad woman. What will become of you if you don’t fear Allah, you ill-mannered woman.”
In another screenshot shared by Pooja Shali, one Musharraf Altaf Wani lauded Amarina’s killers after she was shot dead, “Glad to hear that unknown gunmen have killed Tiktok Girl. I’m proud of those unknown gunmen.” Meanwhile, Aman Rauf wrote, “Overall, you deserved what you got. You should at least know you are not doing right.”
Likewise, another Instagram user going by the handle 33_Daniyal also applauded Amreena’s killers. Besides, she also attracted some abusive comments targeting her work owing to her Muslim identity by Islamists like Shenfu Malik, Shaukat etc.
Amreena Bhat was very popular on social media. With around 26.8K followers on Instagram, she would make reels and musical videos. Her last reel on a Bollywood song had a strap on it. It reads: “Love you MA”.
Despite the existence of stringent laws, grooming jihad cases continue to emerge from various parts of the country. In one such recent case, a Hindu woman from Delhi was abused, physically assaulted, and forced to convert to Islam after refusing to marry the accused, Saif Ansari.
According to the reports, the Hindu lady was locked for more than 8 months in the Paharganj area of Delhi, Gurugram, and Rohitas, Bihar and was gang-raped several times by the accused, his father, and other male relatives. The accused also recorded video every time the victim was assaulted and used it to blackmail her into converting to Islam.
“Saif Ansari forced a hindu girl to convert and eat beef, made video to blackmail her” pic.twitter.com/NAAo2LedcV
The incident dates back to 2021 when accused Ansari approached a 26-year-old Hindu woman at the Gurugram metro station. The woman who was employed in a private company used to travel from Delhi to Gurrugram daily for her job. Ansari, however, was employed on a timing counter at the nearby bus station. He used to see the woman travel every day and had been keeping a keen watch on her.
One day, he approached her and asked for small help. He told her that his friend had recently lost his job due to the COVID circumstances and that he was looking for an employment opportunity for him. He requested the victim to look for an opportunity in her office. The duo exchanged their phone numbers and Ansari initiated the chat to further propose to her for marriage. The lady gently replied that she was not interested in the proposal as she was a Hindu.
Despite denying keeping in touch, the accused continued to pursue her and keep a watch on her. On September 6, 2021, Ansari deceptively invited her for lunch and fed her foul food. He told her that he was returning to his native place in Bihar and that he wanted to see her for one last time. He fed her with Biryani, intoxicated her through food, and abducted her. He took her to a hotel in Delhi’s Paharganj area and raped her. He also lit a cigarette, used it to physically abuse her body parts and recorded a video of the horror episode to blackmail her to accept Islam.
Ansari then spirited away the lady to Bihar where his father Shahid Ansari and other male relatives raped her. After a week or so, the accused took her back to Gurugram and locked her in his paternal aunt’s house. In Gurugram too, the victim was continuously raped by Ansari and his relatives. His paternal aunt threatened her to convert to Islam and forcefully fed her with beef.
On May 13, the victim managed to slip from the spot and contacted the Gurugram Police. She narrated the entire horror to the Police who then registered an official complaint against the accused and his relatives. Accordingly, an FIR has been registered against accused Saif Ansari, his father Shahid Ansari, paternal aunt, uncle, and other relatives who harassed the victim.
According to reports, Saif Ansari is already married and has a notorious image in his village in Bihar. The villagers while talking to Dainik Bhasker stated that Ansari has a habit of cheating on innocent girls and that he had also trapped a Hindu girl in the past. He has been living in Delhi for the last one-and-a-half year and is married.
Recent cases of Grooming Jihad
It is important to note that this is not the first time that such a case of Grooming Jihad has been reported. Last month, a minor girl was raped, blackmailed and exploited by a man named Kasim who had allegedly claimed to be Rahul. Kasim had allegedly lured the girl into a relationship online by identifying himself as ‘Rahul’. He belonged to the same neighbourhood as the victim and had gradually gained her confidence, eventually raping her and making obscene video clips to blackmail her further.
In Mumbai, a 23-year-old man named Mohammed Ansari was arrested in connection to the brutal murder of an 18-year-old NEET aspirant girl named Sonam Shukla. The victim had gone missing after she left her home for tuition. As per the police, the teenager did not attend her tuition classes and instead went to one of her female friend’s houses before leaving the place. The 19-year-old had gone to the residence of Mohammed Ansari, a graduate student and a bakery owner, where he killed her over a heated argument with her.
The Haridwar police had arrested a youth named Sadiq who posed as a Hindu to befriend a minor girl and raped her thereafter. According to the FIR filed in the case on April 10, 2022, Sadiq had introduced himself as Ratan Tyagi to lure the Hindu girl. He then threatened her with her intimate pictures and sexually assaulted her.
Besides this, there are several similar cases of Love Jihad, where Muslim men have lied about their religious identity to trap innocent non-Muslim women to forcefully marry and sexually abuse them. OpIndia has documented several such cases over the last few years.
In the recent case, an FIR has been registered against Saif Ansari, his father Shahid Ansari, paternal aunt, uncle and other relatives who harassed the victim and the case has been transferred to Paharganj Police Station for further investigation.
An OnlyFans creator recently revealed that she managed to get her Instagram account restored only after agreeing to have sex with a few employees of Meta Inc, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook.
In a podcast recently, OnlyFans creator Kitty Lixo disclosed that her Instagram account was taken down by the platform for alleged “sexual solicitation”. Lixo said that to get her Instagram account back, she had to contact several Facebook employees and have sex with them before they agreed to take a look at her request.
During a conversation with podcaster Adam Grandmaison, popularly known as Adam22, Lixo detailed how her account was restored. The OnlyFans creator said that Instagram had deleted her account three or four times in the past. After several failed attempts to get back on the platform, Lixo decided to sleep with her friend who works at Instagram to get her account back.
“One of my friends works on Instagram, he is a friend, so I started sleeping with him to get my Instagram back,” she said, adding, “And he did, which was very nice of him”. In her conversation, Lixo also said that her friend put in an internal review.
“The first guy I hooked up with putting in an internal review and told me it was for sexual solicitation, and then he appealed it because there was no solicitation on the page—my [Onlyfans] link is in a Linktree in my bio, which is what most girls do,” Lixo said.
However, her appeal got denied, but her friend working at Instagram reopened a new case.
“After opening a new case, he eventually got a person who actually said, ‘No, we didn’t shut down your account because of solicitation it was because your account was hacked,’ and then I reset everything. So there doesn’t seem to be a lot of uniformity in decision-making internally,” Lixo said in her conversation.
Later, one of the Instagram employees explained the whole review process to her. “My friend taught me the process basically of when you get your Instagram account shut down and which departments work on which things,” Lixo said, adding that the integrity department looks after the review processes.
Lixo also said that she began stalking people working at Instagram’s Integrity department on LinkedIn and started following them on Instagram through her backup account. “And we met, and I slept with a couple of them and was able to get my account back like two or three more times,” Lixo said.
After all the struggle, the OnlyFans creator eventually managed to get her account restored. “So as long as someone keeps trying in that department, they will eventually get their account back,” the content creator added.
On May 21, Rahul Gandhi spoke at the event ‘Ideas of India’ in the United Kingdom organized by Bridge India. Resorting to his usual scaremongering, Rahul Gandhi asserted that a civil war in India would not surprise him because the country was extremely unstable. He stated that India is in a horrible position and that a political revolution is required.
To substantiate his contention, he stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party has “poured kerosene around the country” and that a single spark is enough to blow the country up.
“We have a massive level of polarisation, huge unemployment. We have the backbone of employment broken, and we have a massive concentration of wealth. We are going to have social problems, and they’re coming. There’s no doubt about it,” he further said.
He even supported the US interfering in internal matters of the country. Gandhi was then asked about the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking about human rights violations in India in a press conference. To that, Rahul replied, “I’m glad that the United States has woken up to this idea.” Tweaking the course of his answer, he said that the US is not needed in order to make us realize the issue. “It has been quite a long time to sense it,” he stated.
Meet the sponsor ‘Logically’
As per Bridge India’s website, Logically was one of the main sponsors of the event. The founder and CEO of Logically Lyric Jain were one of the speakers at the event.
Source: Bridge India
On May 11, Logically published a report where they claimed that Indian right-wing influencers and the Indian Government fell for the alleged “Russian propaganda” that Ukraine mistreated Indian students. Several reports showed that Indian students were mistreated in Ukraine and had to face racial and physical abuse. In fact, families of Indian students evacuated from the neighbouring countries under Operation Ganga had themselves spoken to the media, telling that they were abused, and discriminated against by the Ukrainian authorities.
The portal claimed that Russian Embassy in India propagated that the Indian students were held hostage and the Indian Government, media, and influencers went with the narrative. It also targeted Indian media for speaking up about the alleged US assisted Biolabs in Ukraine. Logically alleged, the Russian Embassy in India was used to spread the alleged misleading information that was widely discussed in media as well as on social media platforms in India.
In reality, the US government had themselves admitted that they had Biolabs in Ukraine, the initial claims by some media houses that the Biolabs were “propaganda” had been soon busted.
Logically and its problematic portfolio
However, columnist Surya Kanegaonkar and Twitter user Abhijit Mitra have raised questions about the left-leaning platform. In a series of Tweets, Kanegaonkar explained how the platform is problematic specifically due to the fact that it not only spreads misinformation but also provides doxxing services.
Kanegaonkar pointed out an article titled ‘AI Biases and the Global South’ on Logically’s website. The article talked about how ‘Artificial Intelligence’ used by tech giants is often biased. What caught out eyes are two sections of the article. The first was where they had quoted so-called fact-checking website Alt News’ founder Pratik Sinha who is known for his drastic anti-Modi views. Sinha was quoted saying there was a need for “local fact-checking bodies” in countries with “authoritarian governments”.
At first, the quote sounds genuine but then comes the real propaganda. Sinha was quoted again saying, “In countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh with semi-authoritarian governments, you need to be friends with the Government to do business. There’s a lot of hate speech in India and these people are not being de-platformed as quickly as they should.”
The doxxing services
Under the ‘Services’ section on the website, there is a section where they openly offer doxxing services to anonymous accounts. It reads, “Our investigations team uncovered the identities of bad actors leveraging online anonymity to avoid accountability and spread harmful content with impunity and without recourse.”
More worryingly, @Lyric_Jain offers a doxxing service. For those who are willing to pay and are perhaps politically aligned, the service is designed to reveal the identities of anonymous handles. Claiming Covid is a bioweapon is apparently enough to invite an “investigation.” pic.twitter.com/cU3Phnx7gY
In clearer words, if you feel someone anonymous on social media is bad for your company, throw in some money and Logically will happily trace the account, making it dangerous for the anonymous user to exist. Hypothetically, such services can be used by bad actors themselves to uncover anonymous users uncovering their ‘illegal’ businesses. There is no mention of where one would Logically draw a line. It is just mentioned as a ‘service’.
Claims of safeguarding ‘democracy’
Logically claims that its aim is to “protect democratic processes by monitoring, detecting, attributing and countering election harmful content and activity.” But what if their client defines bad actors as the people opposing them without considering if they are right or wrong? There is no public list of clients who take services from Logically. Kanegaonkar said, “Their job, much like the US’ Disinformation Governance Board, is meant to “safeguard” democracy. With the help of AI, they aim to control the flow of content that Logically and its clients deem as “disinfo campaigns.” Where’s the transparency of their client list and process?”
Their job, much like the US’ Disinformation Governance Board, is meant to “safeguard” democracy. With the help of AI, they aim to control the flow of content that @LogicallyAI and its clients deem as “disinfo campaigns.” Where’s the transparency of their client list and process? pic.twitter.com/mUos5nojWO
Logically India has been accused of running a disinformation campaign against Union Ministries. The account follows the usual regime change agents, including Mohammad Zubair of Alt News, Rana Ayyub of Washington Post (Amazon, which owns Washington Post, also funds Logically), News Laundry, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Barkha Dutt, and The Quint, and many others.
It doesn’t end there. Sagar Kaul, their head of India operations has a rather colorful social media presence. He’s been liking the posts of Geelani’s granddaughter and those of Kashmiri “journalists” and activists who are known to have pushed false news repeatedly. Comprador. pic.twitter.com/kvKHpg4I1B
Kanegaonkar also shared screenshots of Logically India’s Vice President Sagar Kaul’s Twitter, where he had liked ‘posts of Geelani’s granddaughter and those of Kashmiri “journalists” and activists who are known to have pushed false news repeatedly.’
Normalizing Bengal post-election violence
In May 2021, they published a report titled ‘Stop The Steal, West Bengal Style: Disinfo Narratives Around Political Violence’ in which they tried to blame the BJP for misinformation after its workers experienced waves of violence post-poll.
While asserting that post-poll violence is common in Bengal, Logically said, “As swathes of fake images and videos of the violence gained traction on social media, hashtags such as #PresidentsRuleInBengal, #BengalBurning and #ArrestMamataBanerjee trended on Twitter. The flood of misinformation and disinformation amplified by pro-BJP handles appears carefully crafted and coordinated to portray the state’s grip on law and order as lacking, hence justifying the invocation of the President’s rule in the state.” They clearly blamed BJP leaders for the misinformation.
Interestingly, in 2020, the Indian Government had awarded Logically in AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge under the News section.
