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New York State Assembly bills remove references calling Hindu religious symbol Swastika ‘anti-semitic’ and ‘fascist’: Here is what we know so far

OpIndia Staff
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New York State Assembly bills remove references calling Hindu religious symbol Swastika ‘anti-semitic’ and ‘fascist’: Here is what we know so far

On Friday (April 29), the Hindu American Foundation informed that the New York Senate and State Assembly dropped the reference to Hindu Swastika as an ‘anti-Semitic’ and ‘fascist symbol’ in their bills titled, ‘S7680’ and ‘A9155’.

The Bills made references to the Capitol Seige of January 7, 2021, when supporters of former US President Donald Trump stormed into Capitol Hill which houses both the Senate and the House of Representatives over allegations of election fraud.

The contentious bills claimed that the Trump supporters had carried ‘Swastikas’ during the incident. “The attackers carried white supremacist symbols including the flag known as the ‘Confederate battle flag’ as well as anti-Semitic and fascist symbols including swastikas,” read the transcript of New York Senate bill ‘S7680’.

Hindu American Foundation (HAF) had informed that the New York Senate and State Assembly dropped the deliberate misappropriation of Swastika as a hate symbol after 4 months of continued deliberations with the legislators.

“HAF’s Anita Joshi and Shereen Bhalla worked tirelessly providing solid arguments and building strategic relationships in making this happen. We thank the NY State Senate and Assembly, and the sponsor leads for their efforts – Bichotte Hermelyn and Liz Krueger,” it said in a tweet.

Hindu American Foundation further thanked the Jewish Allies for their support. “Despite the horrific history of Nazi Germany, we thank our Jewish allies for their generosity in helping us end the false identification of the Hakenkreuz with the #Swastika,” it added.

The Swastika, a Hindu sacred emblem, finds its roots in the Vedas. The term comprises of two words, ‘su’, which means “good,” and ‘asti,’ which means “to be.” In other terms, Swastika implies bliss. The symbol can be traced back 6,000 years to rock and cave drawings.

“It is a common misconception that Hitler used the Swastika symbol. But Hitler himself never used the word “Swastika” to refer to his symbol. He called it “Hooked Cross”(“Haken Kreuz”),” wrote True Indology in Swarajya.

Although the Hooked Cross has been a sacred symbol of Christianity for centuries and Hitler was a devout Christian, evangelists had deliberately associated the Swastika with the Nazis to withhold the fact that “Nazism originated in Christian Socialism.”

Earlier in 2013, the American Jewish Committee, one of the country’s oldest Jewish advocacy organizations, released a leaflet clarifying the distinction between the Swastika used for millennia by Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cultures and the Nazi symbol.

When Hindus were outraged over the compulsory teaching of Swastika as a hate symbol

In January 2021, New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky introduced a bill in the New York Senate that mandatorily required schools to teach ‘Swastika’ as an example of a hate symbol to grades 6 to 12.

This push by the Democrat State Senator had resulted in outrage, with a change.org petition demanding an amendment of the bill amassing more than 40,000 signatures. The AsaMai Hindu Temple & Community Center, Hicksville, NY was also a signatory to the petition.

In 2019, Kaminsky introduced a bill titled S6648, which conflated the terms ‘Swastika’ and ‘Nazi’, without any consideration for the sentiments of various Dharmic religious communities. At that time, it was opposed by the American Hindus Against Defamation (AHAD), an initiative of the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA).

PFI members created a hitlist, more than 100 BJP and RSS activists were shortlisted: How the list was found during RSS activist’s murder investigation

OpIndia Staff
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PFI members created a hitlist, more than 100 BJP and RSS activists were shortlisted: How the list was found during RSS activist’s murder investigation

More than 100 BJP and RSS activists’ names in Kerala have been shortlisted for murder by members of the radical Islamic organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) members, reports Janam TV.

According to the reports, the Kerala police investigation into the murder of RSS activist SK Sreenivasan has revealed that PFI members had shortlisted names of at least 100 BJP and RSS leaders prior to the murder of Sreenivasan. The list included the names of BJP state general secretary C Krishnakumar and BJP youth leader Prasanth Sivan. The deceased Sreenivasan was also on the PFI’s list.

The mobile phones of the PFI members accused in the Sreenvisan murder case were accessed by the Kerala police, who found such a list on their phones.

During the investigation, the accused PFI members also disclosed that they wanted to attack the BJP and RSS leaders as retaliation for the alleged killing of PFI member Zubair. Reportedly, the PFI senior leadership also had knowledge of such attacks on the BJP leaders.

The accused in the Sreenivasan murder case – Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Rizwan, Riyassuddin, and Sahad also confessed that a team of PFI members had come to Palakkad for the same purpose. The PFI leaders had asked them to execute the BJP and RSS leaders within 24 hours.

Apparently, Sreenivasan was the latest victim as PFI members could easily execute him at the last minute.

Meanwhile, the Kerala police have taken the PFI threat list seriously. The police are on high alert to prevent another untoward incident in the district.

RSS leader Sreenivasan murdered by PFI activists

In a gruesome incident, a senior Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) leader was hacked to death in broad daylight in Kerala’s Palakkad on April 16.

Sreenivasan, a former Physical Education instructor of the RSS, was murdered by a group of 5-6 PFI activists who arrived on three bikes. They hacked him to death inside his shop in the Melamuri area of Palakkad with sharp weapons. According to eyewitnesses, the attackers were armed with machetes and attacked him several times, inflicting multiple fatal injuries.

He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead. Sreenivasan is survived by his wife and a daughter. The police reached the crime scene and began an investigation.

A few days later, the Kerala Police arrested four members of the Islamist organisation Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of PFI, for murdering an RSS leader in Kerala’s Palakkad district last week. The accused have been identified as Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Rizwan, Riyassuddin, and Sahad.

As Hindus get attacked in Jahangirpuri, How ex-bureaucrats write another rant to PM Modi alleging ‘hate against Muslims’

Suyash
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As Hindus get attacked in Jahangirpuri, How ex-bureaucrats write another rant to PM Modi alleging ‘hate against Muslims’

They owe loyalty to their masters above the nation. They serve them throughout their tenure and preserve their interests. Great ecosystems are not built by narratives alone, but by narrative-builders who sustain them. With every letter written to tell the democratically-elected Prime Minister over what needs to be done, our retired bureaucrats continue to wear their entitlement on their sleeves. This is only one of the ways they keep themselves relevant, while some occupy a chair at a private university in Sonipat.

Be it the award-wapasi posturing or the open letters from the leftist guilds, the toolkit whenever activated, intends to pursue three motives – to insinuate the narrative of ‘Muslim persecution in India’, whitewash hate crimes against Hindus and hence gherao the public institutions who refuse to function in the way convenient to their ‘idea’ of India. Last time in 2019, when a collective of over six hundred left intellectuals, artists and thinkers (many of them who owe their allegiances to the Congress and its regionalist tentacles) signed a letter urging the nation not to re-elect Modi for Prime Minister; the nation in return, unequivocally elected him with higher margins.

The recent letter

Now in yet another move, over a hundred ex-bureaucrats have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to condemn the “politics of hate” allegedly practised by state governments under BJP’s control. The former civil servants have started whining over the anti-encroachment drives across states in India terming them as a “frenzy of hate-filled destruction in the country with Muslims and other minorities at the sacrificial altar”.

The signatories include former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, ex-foreign secretary Sujatha Singh, former Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung, former home secretary G K Pillai and former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s principal secretary T K A Nair among the 103 others.

The letter said that the escalation of hate violence against the minority communities, ‘particularly Muslims,’ in the last few years and months across BJP-ruled states of Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi (where the union government controls the police) – has acquired a frightening new dimension. The former bureaucrats believe that the threat is so ‘unprecedented’ that the constitutional morality and conduct as well as ‘unique syncretic social fabric’ – “which is the greatest civilizational inheritance and which our Constitution is so meticulously designed to conserve is likely to be torn apart.”

The letter demanded the PM to express his concern on the issue saying that his silence ‘in the face of this enormous societal threat’ is ‘deafening’. The entitled bureaucrats mentioned that while appealing to the Prime Minister’s promise of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’, they hope that in the year of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the PM will – “call for an end to the politics of hate that governments under the BJP’s control are so assiduously practising,” with their letter.

The reality

The onus of incidents of communal clashes has been intentionally and rather conveniently rested upon the Hindus. Since the civil servants of yesterday bask in the limelight as public intellectuals of today, it is imperative that we study their assertions closely. Claims like these, laid with idiomatic expressions should be in consonance with the ground reality; only if the intent is not to spin a narrative with rhetoric. The underlying evidence that lies beyond the diplomatic push is rather exhaustive.

If only the recent attacks on recent Hindu festivals are to be considered, then let us look at what happened when Hindus were celebrating ‘Nav Samvatsar’ while taking out a procession in a Muslim-dominated area in Rajasthan’s Karauli. A Muslim mob attacked the residents on the auspicious day of the Hindu new year. A resident in the locality has noted, “On that fateful day of April 2, around 15:30 hours, Muslim shop owners closed their shops entirely and left the locality.” The angry mob, enraged by the procession threw the shopkeeper, Chandrashekhar Garg and his father out of their store and his business was looted and vandalised.

Reportedly, 43 people, including policemen, were injured in the mob attack while the rally was celebrating ‘Nav Samvatsar’ passed through a Muslim-dominated area. Rajasthan, which is a Congress-ruled state became a victim of Islamist violence of the worst kind. What followed, was CM Ashok Gehlot’s tepid response which tried to cover up the issue. Our eminent bureaucrats have single-handedly kept ‘Rajasthan’ out of their list of states where ‘minorities’ and constitutional morality were under threat.

Then came the upsurge of violence during Ram Navami where in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone, a Hindu religious procession was once again attacked while it passed through a Muslim-dominated area. Here, it was the ‘songs played during the procession’ a reason enough why the Muslim residents pelted stones during the Shobha Yatra. The Islamists who were involved in the attacks apparently threatened Hindu women with rape and abduction. Women were terrorised with threats like, “Where is your Ram? If he is not here then come out. We are here to abduct you. We will take your Seeta Maiyas with us. We will take your women, sisters, and daughters.”

In Khargone, a Shitala Mata Mandir was also attacked, and the idols of Hindu deities were broken. On April 16, on the day of Hanuman Jayanti a procession that passed through another Muslim dominated area of Jahangirpuri, a Muslim crowd kept pelting stones and glass bottles at the procession. Local residents have maintained that Jahangirpuri is a hub of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Delhi. The day saw similar stone-pelting attacks in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool and Karnataka’s Hubli.

After the violence spurged in Jahangirpuri, The NMDC started its anti-encroachment drive amid a heavy police presence. Several houses in the locality had built extensions on the road, reducing a 30-feet wide road to a mere 10-feet narrow street. The NDMC officials also razed down illegal structures of a mosque from which the stones and empty wine bottles were pelted on the Hanuman Jayanti. These structures, including a number of roadside shops, were constructed by encroaching the road. 

Also, white announced financial assistance to the victims of the Khargone riots MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan asserted that rioters greeted with bulldozers, not flowers. Subsequently, the Khargone administration took strict action against the miscreants who had pelted stones at the Ram Navami procession on Sunday. The illegally constructed buildings were bulldozed with JCBs by the administration. 

The game of letters

It is difficult to imagine that the people who were then responsible for running the country, have now resorted to making assertions completely devoid of facts. Hindus, all over the country were victimised during Hindu festivals. Mainstream media sympathetic to the erstwhile Congress establishment tried hard to establish the victims as ‘perpetrators’ for daring to enter ‘Muslim areas‘. The Hindu population in the neighbouring Islamic republics of Pakistan and Bangladesh is on the verge of getting wiped out. The Hindus in India are meeting the same fate when they venture into the no-go Muslim-dominated mini Pakistani pockets in the country.

Yet, our former diplomats are ready to craft a narrative of Muslim persecution in India. If at all, the Indian state faces any challenge in the internal security, it is underlined by radical Islam and not the counteractive roadside political reaction by the Hindus. As the opposition continues to fail politically and socially, the diplomatic footsoldiers keep continuing to serve their cause even after retirement. While Muslim appeasement was practised as a policy in Congress rule, ‘Muslim victimhood’ has become its offshoot while it is in opposition today.

As Sreemoy Talukdar writes in the Firstpost, “The dire warnings of ‘pogrom’, fulminations against ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and elaborate constructs of a ‘lost idea of India’ are chiefly cynical expressions of political frustration at BJP’s domination of national politics. Most liberals and Islamists, for whom BJP is an anathema, find the Opposition a divided and defunct political force not worthy of investing hope.” Hence, the quint of cards in the hands of these newly-turned armchair activists include monopoly over violence, victimhood, vilification, vengeance and verdict.

Try hard as they may, but gradually India, in consonance with its civilizational consciousness is confident to put its Hindu identity on its sleeves. Pluralism is not a tenet, but an overflowing tradition over the years which inspires the young democracy that is India today. The relevance of the old order hounds the apostles of the ‘founding fathers’. They may keep revolving from sitting beside a fireplace inside a Lutyens bungalow to a bookstore in Khan Market and to a literature festival in Jaipur, possibly drafting yet another letter to the Prime Minister and a narrative for the nation.

Australia: ‘Khalistan Day’ billboards with image of Bhindranwale come up in Melbourne, removed after massive outrage by Indians

OpIndia Staff
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Australia: ‘Khalistan Day’ billboards with image of Bhindranwale come up in Melbourne, removed after massive outrage by Indians

On Wednesday 27th April 2022, Indians in Melbourne were shocked to see posters and billboards displaying pictures of terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. As the Indians in Australia were outraged, the ‘Khalistan Day’ posters featuring Bhindranwale were removed. According to a report by The Australia Today, a lot of Indians in Australia and especially the Hindus called Victoria police and local council authorities to inform them of these billboards glorifying terrorism and terrorist. The particular billboard is owned by the media company Civic Outdoor. Indians in Australia wrote a mail to the company asking to remove the poster.

In a mail written to the CEO of Civic Outdoor, they said, “We want to draw your attention to your company’s digital advertising billboard with the picture of a terrorist and the words “Khalistan Day” prominently displayed on the Ring Road, Melbourne. Some details about the Khalistan Day event at Craigieburn Sikh Gurudwara/Temple are also in the advertisement. Displaying such advertising is unbecoming and also gives a platform to extremist views. In case, you were not aware, the Khalistan movement is a terrorism-fuelled movement seeking to create a separate country for its supporters which is to be supposedly named Khalistan.”

Informing the company about Bhindranwale, the mail said, “The billboard displays an image of an individual “Jamail Singh Bhindranwale”, who is classified as a terrorist by not only the Indian government but also foreign governments and several international agencies. “Bhindranwale” symbolizes the terrorism fuelled movement of Khalistan against the Indian republic. Such displays show that secessionists who like to divide India and create Khalistan are strongly working in Victoria. And, unfortunately, your company, through this advertisement, is abetting the cause. Moreover, these acts pose a real problem for peaceful Australia and all Indians who live here and present a national security risk.”

It further said, “Furthermore, this is not the first time this particular Sikh temple has been involved in such events. On 19-20 February, Anti-Hindu, Anti-India, and pro-Khalistan banners were prominently displayed on the temple premises, which were later removed on the Intervention of authorities including the local council and police. Such displays of terrorizing intents that aim to inflict an emblematic re-emergence of the Khalistan movement are strongly condemned. Sikhs are an integral part of the Indian community worldwide and only a small venomous sect of people aggravated by terror forces funded by a geopolitical nexus indulge in these activities. We vehemently oppose such groups and their representatives who fuel communal tensions in peaceful Victoria and multicultural Australia at large. The advertisement also contravenes the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act. Racial and religious vilification is unlawful under the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Victoria).”

The mail concluded by saying, “You are requested to stop the digital advertisement immediately and to ensure that such advertisements are not displayed in the future.”

The company received hundreds of such emails from all across Australia requesting the management of the company to remove the billboard as it deeply hurts the entire India-Australian community. One of the prominent Twitter Handle ‘Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Group’ tweeted, “Bhindranwale billboard was seen in Melbourne, Aus. Amar Singh of Turban 4 Australia, a Khalistani group, was awarded Citizen of the Year, Federal MP Alex Hawke tweeted in support of Khalistanis. GOI should make this an issue before any FTA’s are signed.”

As a result of the outrage, this poster and the picture of terrorist Bhindranwale on the billboard were removed. Sandeep Dankhar, an Indian in Australia, tweeted, “Controversial poster of Bhindranwale is removed from a major billboard site in Melbourne after outrage from Hindu community! He was a name of terror in Punjab during 70-80s & was responsible 4 killing of 1000s of Hindus n Sikhs.”

Land belongs to ‘self-manifested’ God: Kashi Vishwanath Mandir challenges UP Sunni Waqf Board’s claim that the temple is Waqf property

OpIndia Staff
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Land belongs to ‘self-manifested’ God: Kashi Vishwanath Mandir challenges UP Sunni Waqf Board’s claim that the temple is Waqf property

On Thursday, Advocate Vijay Shankar Rastogi continued his argument on behalf of the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir and other Hindu parties, in a suit seeking the removal of the Gyanvapi Mosque and restoration of the original land to Hindus. Before the bench led by Justice Prakash Padia, Advocate Rastogi challenged the U.P Sunni Central Waqf Board’s claim that the disputed property upon which the Gyanvyapi Masjid stands today is a Waqf property.

Advocate Vijay Shankar Rastogi who has been appointed as ‘the next friend of Lord Vishweshwar’ argued on behalf of the deity that the Waqf Act is only applicable to Muslims. Rastogi also pointed out that the temple or the lord (Vishweshwar) had never been served any notice regarding Waqf Board’s alleged claim that the property is a declared Waqf property. He argued that in the absence of such notice, the Act will not be applicable to the other party.

Challenging the Waqf board’s claims

Quoting from Section 6 (1) of the Waqf Act, 1954, Rastogi said, “(In the act), the term “any person interested therein”, includes any person to whom a reasonable opportunity had been afforded to represent his case by notice served on him. How the property of a person who does not have an interest in Waqf or is not benefited from Waqf (in this case the Lord) can be attached?” Rastogi asked. He argued that the property belonging to non-Muslims cannot be attached without the service of notice.

Further, Advocate Rastogi argued that according to section 5 of the Waqf act, 1995, if the property of Gyanwyapi Mosque is to be assumed to be registered as a Waqf property, it needed to be registered again. Since there is no document of record to show the registration of the property as Waqf, the argument by the Waqf board does not hold much water. “The Sunni Waqf Board had illegally and arbitrarily registered the property of the temple as the property of the mosque, hence it is void,” he asserted.

On Hindu religious nature of the disputed property

Furthermore, Advocate Ajay Kumar Singh said that there was no permission ever granted to offer Namaz in the temple. Rastogi interjected and clarified the issue of whether to call the land a mosque or a temple. “Some people call the disputed property a mosque, some people call it a temple, how will it be decided? – The religious character of the property will be considered for this,” he ascertained. He observed that the religious character of the temple was never changed, only the structure of one part of it has changed.

Rastogi then referred to the judgment in the appeal filed in 1937, filed by one Deen Mohammad for a granting declaration that the disputed land was Waqf without impleading any member of the Hindu community. The applicant had sought a declaration that he and other Muslims had the right to pray specially Alvida prayers and to exercise other religious and legal rights on the disputed property. The judgement given by the lower court had held that Hindu deities including ‘Gauri Ji’, ‘Bir Bhadeshwar Ji’ and ‘Abhi Mukteshwar’ were recognized to be residing inside the disputed property.

“The boundary wall that surrounds the Gyanwyapi Masjid from all the sides is much older than the Masjid and was earlier part of the boundary wall temple,” he further noted. After hearing the arguments from Advocate Rastogi, the bench decided to adjourn the hearing till May 9, 2022.

‘Hindus have to settle with just one wife or they are abandoned like Anandiben’: Masood Hashmi kicked out of TV debate for disrespecting UP Governor Anandiben Patel

OpIndia Staff
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‘Hindus have to settle with just one wife or they are abandoned like Anandiben’: Masood Hashmi kicked out of TV debate for disrespecting UP Governor Anandiben Patel

Political analyst Masood Hashmi of the Muslim Ittihad Foundation was kicked out of a debate on India TV hosted by anchor Meenakshi Joshi for disrespectfully mentioning Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel on 27th April 2022. The debate was going on the topic of the Uniform Civil Code. Muslim scholar Maulana Sajid Rashidi, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shahzad Poonawala and political analyst Shivam Tyagi were the other panellists involved in the discussion.

When asked why the All India Muslim Personal Law Board opposes the uniform civil code even before it is drafted and presented before the parliament, Masood Hashmi said, “Hindus say that we poor Hindus can marry just once and in case we have a fight with our wife we have to go to the court for separating. So I welcome the Uniform Civil Code that allows Hindus to keep four wives at a time.”

Masood Hashmi’s ridiculous argument did not stop here. He went on to disrespect Uttar Pradesh’s Governor Anandiben Patel. He said, “The real problem with Hindus is that they feel that a Muslim can have four wives but we have to settle on just one. And then they have concepts like Devi and Basi and Dasi. Or they are abandoned just like Anandiben. If you have a problem with just one wife, go on, marry four. Who is stopping you from doing that?”

He further said, “Hindu society has a problem with just one wife too. As Anandiben could not handle the marriage she was left out. Unlike her, Modi Ji is enjoying, but unfortunately, Anandiben is left out.”

BJP spokesperson Shazad Poonawala condemned his remarks and said that such remarks on the honorable Governor are not tolerable. Anchor Meenakshi Joshi immediately expelled Masood Hashmi from the debate saying, “Any kind of disrespectful remarks for a person holding a constitutional post or his family members is not welcome. India TV does not have any place for someone who makes such remarks.”

This is not the first time that Masood Hashmi is kicked out of a TV show for making such controversial remarks. Earlier on 23rd September 2021, while debating about Muslim youths converting Hindu young girls forcefully, Masood Hashmi had said on a show aired by Zee Hindustan, “Hindu parents get their daughters hitched to Muslim men. Because Hindus take dowry while Muslims don’t. So, they tell their daughters to marry Muslim men over Hindus.”

Rohit Ranjan, who was hosting that show, interrupted Hashmi and asked him to get out of the show. While expelling Masood Hashmi from the show, he had said, “People with such crooked thoughts are not welcome anywhere. Who are you to question the Hindu religion?”

FCC commissioner shoots down ‘absurd’ demand of George Soros funded group to block Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition

OpIndia Staff
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FCC commissioner shoots down ‘absurd’ demand of George Soros funded group to block Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition

On 27th April 2022, a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rejected the demand to block Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr shot down the demand terming it as ‘absurd’, which was raised by a left-leaning group Open Markets Institute which is funded by investor George Soros. The Commissioner clarified that the FCC has not such authority to block the deal, and that’s why termed the demand as ‘absurd’.

Open Markets Institute is an anti Big Tech group which fights against alleged monopolies by social media giants. It claimed that Elon Musk purchasing Twitter will be a direct threat to free speech in America. The group also claimed that as Musk already owns the Starlink satellite broadband network, he should not be allowed to own Twitter.

Open Markets Institute (OMI) had published a statement on 26th April 2022 in which it said, “Twitter’s board agreed to sell the corporation to Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla and SpaceX. The Open Markets Institute believes the deal poses a number of immediate and direct threats to American democracy and free speech. Open Markets also believes the deal violates existing law, and that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have ample authority to block it.”

It further said, “The most obvious problem is that the deal would give to a single man – one who already wields immense political and economic power – direct control over one of the world’s most important platforms for public communications and debate. As has been true from the Founding, the American people have an absolute right to ensure the full openness and neutrality of all essential public infrastructure.”

They added, “Yesterday’s deal also violates the law at a more technical level. Mr. Musk already controls one of the most important internet platforms in the world – in the form of the satellite communications system Starlink.” The group said that as US government already prevents mergers between existing “essential platforms”, the deal should be blocked. The group said, “as we would now expect the U.S. government to block a takeover of Twitter by Google, Facebook, Comcast, or Verizon, the same rules apply to the owners of Starlink”.

The OMI statement added, “Elon Musk’s effort to buy Twitter is not the only threat to free communications and debate in the United States. The size, scope, and business models of Facebook, Google, and Amazon also pose a wide variety of often extreme threats to American democracy and the basic rights of citizens. That’s why law enforcers and Congress should view this deal as an opportunity to firmly reestablish clear bans on any manipulation of communications by essential platforms, and to eliminate all business models that rely on such manipulation.”

Brendan Carr, a Trump-appointed FCC commissioner, shot down this claim signed by OMI Director Barry Lynn as absurd, saying that FCC has no such authority. Carr said in a statement on Wednesday 27th April 2022, “The FCC has no authority to block Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, and to suggest otherwise is absurd. I would welcome the full FCC making it clear that we will not entertain these types of frivolous arguments.” He also added that it is particularly frivolous to ask the agency to do so in the name of protecting free speech and open debate.

While talking to the Fox Business, Brendan Carr said, “It does not surprise me to see that some interest groups are planning on throwing the kitchen sink at this transaction in an effort to derail it. Of course, the FCC has no authority to block this transaction. And while I am not in a position to speak for the DOJ or the FTC – the other agencies that were identified in that Open Markets Institute release – I am not aware of any basis upon which any federal agency can block it. But I defer to those agencies to speak to the scope of their authorities.”

Brendan Carr concluded by saying “Suffice it to say, it is far from clear that the groups objecting to this transaction are going to do so because they’re interested in the neutral application of competition and antitrust laws – these efforts look like a move motivated by a desire to prevent the free exchange of political views on Twitter.”

It is notable that Open Markets Institute is one of the groups funded by billionaire investor George Soros. His organization Open Society Foundation had provided a $180,000 two-year grant in 2018 to the Open Markets Institute for work around web platforms. Open Society Foundations acting Co-Director of U.S. Programs Laleh Ispahani earlier said in a statement, “Mr. Soros’s speech reflected rising concern about the effects of a handful of giant internet platforms having so much influence, and we’re certainly examining new ways we might address those concerns in ongoing conversations not just in the U.S. but among our foundation colleagues globally.”

According to the Open Society Foundation, the sole purpose of investing in the Open Markets Institute is reimagining pathways for algorithmic accountability of platforms and organizations that produce and distribute content, such as search and recommendation engines and social media.

International Toolkit activated again: Mehdi Hassan, footballer Mesut Ozil, Padma Lakshmi demonise India over ‘Muslim persecution’

OpIndia Staff
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International Toolkit activated again: Mehdi Hassan, footballer Mesut Ozil, Padma Lakshmi demonise India over ‘Muslim persecution’

As the holy month of Ramzan has marked escalated violence on Hindus on their festivals, the rampant campaign against Hindus in India has spread on a global scale. Recently, British-American Journalist Mehdi Hassan, TV presenter and Chef Padma Lakshmi and German Footballer Mesut Ozil have made unimaginable assertions against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while being openly complicit in being propagandists over so-called narrative of ‘Muslim Persecution in India’.

Mehdi Hassan

On April 26, British-American Journalist Mehdi Hasan tweeted his MSNBC editorial report saying, “Putin. Orban. Le Pen. We talk a lot in the West about the rise of far-right authoritarians and yet we never mention India’s Narendra Modi and his BJP. I did a deep-dive into India under Modi & new warnings of an anti-Muslim genocide.” The report alike his previous ones, carries his tirade against India and PM Modi saying that Modi is hell-bent on re-creating the “lost Hindu kingdom” one likes to call “Hindu Rashtra” and is “far-right” and “supremacist”. 

In the video he equated Hindu Nationalism in India (a nation which was divide on religious lines) with White Supremacy in the West, which is an ideology based on race. Later, he made false assumptions on historical figures like Gandhi, Nathuram Godse and Golwalkar with an agenda to equate Hindutva with Anti-sematism. In the past, he has claimed that non-Muslims live like animals and equated homosexuals with paedophiles, for which he has later apologised.

Padma Lakshmi

TV presenter and writer Padma Lakshmi, who often flouts her Indian origin “Sickening to see the violence against Muslims celebrated in India. The widespread anti-Muslim rhetoric preys on fear and poisons people. This propaganda is dangerous and nefarious because when you consider someone less than it’s much easier to participate in their oppression,” she alleged.

Later, she insinuated, “Fellow Hindus, don’t succumb to this fear-mongering. There is no threat to Hinduism in India or anywhere else.” Such a statement from Lakshmi is itself a reflection upon Hinduphobia that co-exists with denial of Hindu human rights from people like her.

When Padma Lakshmi asserts that true spirituality doesn’t include any room for sowing hatred of any kind, maybe she should realise that has been Hinduism, that has practised plurality while accepting people from all communities inside its civilizational fold even after facing catastrophic attacks from invaders.

Mesut Ozil

Today, German soccer player Mesut Ozil tweeted, “Praying during the holy night of Lailat al-Qadr for the safety and well-being of our Muslim brothers and sisters in India. Let’s spread awareness to this shameful situation!” The Arsenal Footballer asked “What is happening to human rights in the so-called largest democracy in the world?” with a hashtag ‘Break the Silence’.

With Ozil, it seems the international tookit for Muslim victimhood has started. He tweeted a picture of Muslims praying inside Delhi’s Jama Masjid on a Ramzan evening – which is itself shows how the Muslim community has prospered and continues to celebrate its festivals safely in India. Ozil has been vocal about his association with Turkish Prseident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and was caught in controversy after posing for a photograph with the dictator in 2018.

Other ‘Toolkits’ that made to the news

The monicker ‘Toolkit’ which has become a shorthand for a coercive action, targeting or online lynch-mob to a threaten a person or institution was first popularised by infamous global climate activist Greta Thunberg. She had inadvertently revealed the sinister global campaign against India after she shared a ‘Toolkit’ in a tweet during the Framer’s protests in India in 2021.

The document shared by Greta Thunberg listed a series of actions that people across the world could take to pressurise the Indian Government over the cause of agitating Farmers. Earlier, celebrities and politicians including Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, Mia Khalifa and Canadian MP Jagmeet and others had come forward in support of the farmer protests. But the document shared by Greta has made it clear that it is part of a larger conspiracy to cause unrest in India.

Later, in May 2021, A new Congress toolkit was circulating on social media that contained ways to craft a deliberate narrative to paint the Kumbh Mela as a “super-spreader” while maintaining a carefully crafted silence over massive Eid gatherings. The toolkit asked to “Collaborate in advance with friendly journalists on social media to immediately amplify these messages,” directed to its workers.

Shekhar Gupta’s The Print blames ‘lower caste’ Hindus for Jahangirpuri violence to whitewash stone pelting on Hanuman Jayanti procession

OpIndia Staff
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Shekhar Gupta’s The Print blames ‘lower caste’ Hindus for Jahangirpuri violence to whitewash stone pelting on Hanuman Jayanti procession

On Tuesday, Shekhar Gupta’s portal ‘The Print’ whitewashed the crimes unleashed by the Islamist mob in North-West Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on April 16 on the Hindu participating in the Hanuman Jayanti procession.

In an article published on April 26, the Print tries not only to absolve enraged Muslim mobs that pelted stones at the Hindus participating in the procession but also blamed ‘lower-caste’ Hindu migrants from Bengal for the violence that erupted in Jahangirpuri.

The article is written by alleged journalist Tanushree Pandey, who is notoriously known for directing far-left protestors to give directed TV interviews and manipulating the Hathras victim’s parents. Tanushree Pandey, who was caught twice in the past for propagating lies to put out a left-wing narrative on various incidents, has yet again tried pushing propaganda against Hindus by blaming them for the violence that erupted during the Hanuman Jayanthi procession in Jahangirpuri.

In the report, Tanushree Pandey attempts to implicate innocent Hindus by asking them leading questions. Pandey, who is known to invent facts to substantiate her claims, also puts out unverifiable information by saying these young Hindus were seen “brandishing hockey sticks, swords, and even guns” on the day of the violence.

According to Pandey, the area where violence broke out is home to Bengali Hindus, who are mostly from lower castes.

In the report, Pandey also claims they were mainly ‘mobilised’ by the local Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) shakha, allegedly run by Suken Sarkar, who is among 25 people arrested so far in connection with the Jahangirpuri violence. Suresh Sarkar, brother of Suken, convinced kids from the locality to join the rally, Pandey claimed in her report.

The Print report also claimed that Suresh Sarkar made these ‘lower caste’ Hindus clear they were long oppressed due to their caste, but the Jahangirpuri violence was a way to assert their credentials as part of a pan-Hindu identity against a common enemy – Muslims.

“It’s good that the clashes happened… otherwise, how would Hindus be awakened?” Sarkar is quoted as saying by Tanushree Pandey.

“Now, he says he is ready to carry on the good work — preparing the next generation to fight, and even kill if the need arises, in the name of their religion,” the Print report claimed to portray Hindus as the perpetual aggressor in the communal clashes that occur across the country.

Further, Pandey concocts conspiracy theories suggesting the local residents, many from the marginalised communities, have derived a sense of agency and power by joining the forces of Hindutva. She also quoted a young man named Sagar, who is allegedly studying Class 10, to substantiate her grand theories to absolve Muslims from their crime and depict Hindus as the aggressor in the violence that took place in Jahangirpuri on April 16.

“He carried a sword in the rally, he says, because, “Muslims also carry swords and other weapons with them during Muharram… why shouldn’t we?” When asked where he learned this, he says his uncle Suken Sarkar, who has been running the shakha for more than ten years, had said so,” the Print report stated.

Again, in her story, Tanushree Pandey claims that teenagers influenced by Hindutva groups had participated in the rally with pride.

“Bangladeshi Muslims started snatching our swords, and we ran from there. I feel bad that I ran. We were taught in the shakha to be brave and never be scared of Muslims, as we Hindus have to protect our country from them,” the Print quoted another Hindu person.

As per the Print, the radicalisation of Hindus in Jahangirpuri is because of a “steady diet of videos, memes, forwards, and saffron pop that promote not just Hindu muscularity but a fear of Muslim virility”.

Fearmongering against Hindus, Tanushree Pandey continued her vitriol by claiming there is a sense of urgency among Hindus to unite castes to “save” the country from a burgeoning population of Muslims.

“No one questions the “facts” of this content nor the militant nationalism that some TV channels and films promote,” Pandey cried in her report as she gave a clean chit to Muslims and blamed ‘lower caste’ Hindus for Jahangirpuri violence.

Tanushree Pandey and her saga of concocting evidence and ‘directing’ TV interviews

This is not the first time Tanushree Pandey has been involved with something like this. During the protests against the CAA, Tanushree Pandey was caught directing and coaching far-left students even before the actual interview. In the video, the journalist was seen to be having extensive discussions regarding the events that transpired at the University and, at one point, had a prolonged hush-hush conversation with a left-wing protestor during the JNU violence in December 2019.

In the video, it was seen that the two of them were having a conversation off the record where an attempt is deliberately made to have a hush-hush conversation so that the content of it is not audible to the observers. Furthermore, in the video, it appears that it is not journalism that was happening but propaganda with active collusion between the journalist and the Vice-President of JNUSU.

A year later, Tanushree Pandey, who was at the India Today, was also caught directing the witness to give unfavourable statements against the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government. A telephonic conversation between Pandey and the brother of the Hathras victim – Sandeep, had gone viral, in which Pandey was heard trying hard to convince Sandeep to send her a video statement of his father alleging that he was under immense pressure from the administration.

Throughout the conversation, Tanushree Pandey appeared insistent on coaxing out a very specific statement from Sandeep, while the latter remains non-committal on his statement and appears hesitant to toe the line that the journalist wants him to toe.

Sandeep had also confirmed the journalist’s allegations of pressure and, on other occasions, said that his father was not very clear on whether he was pressurised or not.

Tanushree Pandey was heard saying to Sandeep that she has learnt from somewhere, though do not specify where an attempt is being made to blame the death of the sister on her family. She lied to the victim’s parents to manipulate them and get a pre-decided statement to build a narrative against the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh.

Perhaps, Tanushree Pandey tried to pull a similar stunt this time as well to show that it was Muslims who were victims and not the Hindus, and the latter was responsible for the Jahangirpuri violence.

Hindus were attacked by Muslims from behind, pelted stones from the mosque

On April 16, Muslim mobs attacked the Hindu procession from inside the mosque and on the streets on the Hanuman Jayanti. The Islamists attacked Hanuman Jayanti Shobha Yatra from behind in Jahangirpuri, Delhi.

A video that the victims shot showed that a violent Muslim mob had attacked Hindu devotees passing through the street near the mosque during the recent Shobha Yatra in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area. In the video, it was seen that the Muslim mob attacked the Hindu devotees from a mosque.

Hindu devotees were marching with the procession on the streets of Jahangirpuri on Saturday. As they celebrated the festival with chants, religious slogans and flags, a Muslim mob attacked them with stones and glass bottles. Shots were fired too.

So far, 40 people have been arrested by the Police in the case, including prime accused Ansar and Aslam. There have been allegations that Ansar is an Aam Aadmi Party member.

Good cop-bad cop, Mamata claims Bengal means business, her MP Mahua Moitra picks up fights with corporates

OpIndia Staff
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Good cop-bad cop, Mamata claims Bengal means business, her MP Mahua Moitra picks up fights with corporates

On Thursday, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra picked up a fight with sporting goods retailer Decathlon India and accused them of violating privacy laws and consumer laws. She visited the store at Delhi’s Ansal Plaza to buy a pair of trousers for her father and refused to give in required details during the process of billing.

“Want to buy my dad trousers for ₹1499 in CASH at Decathlon_India Ansal Plaza and manager insists I need to put in my mobile number and email ID to purchase,” she tweeted on April 28 while she was at the store.

The TMC MP said that she was displeased by the insistence of the store manager to provide her mobile number to the store. She also stated that she had been shopping with the brand in the UK as well but was never asked for her mobile number. “I always buy stuff in the UK from Decathlon UK and they NEVER ask for mobile number only for the email if one wants a paperless receipt. So clearly only the Indian arm wants to fool customers here. Not nice Decathlon India”, she tweeted.

However, the store manager later put his mobile number and helped Moitra by issuing the bill in his name. Though impressed by the gesture of the store manager, Moitra continued to share her displeasing experience at the store.

She revealed that the manager helped her after she had received a text from one of the lawyers of the Supreme Court. The text read, “Do not give your mobile number to the store. Ask them to reconfigure their system. They have all configured their systems in a way as to trap the customer. They need to change their systems. Tech and data oligarchs want to enslave us”.

It is important to note that Moitra engaging in petty fights with the businesses in India could hurt the ‘Bengal is Business’ image posed by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on several occasions. Recently, the state held India’s first business summit after the COVID-19 period. The CM had invited all the prominent businessmen including Gautam Adani, Ambani, Sajjan Jindal, and Kumar Mangalam Birla to the two-day event.

Reportedly, the state of West Bengal has received investment proposals worth ₹3.42 lakh crores during the two-day business summit. “I am extremely happy to announce that we have received investment proposals worth ₹3,42,375 crores during the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) 2022. This business summit is expected to generate around 4 lakh jobs. It was a remarkable success,” Banerjee had said while speaking on the last day of the sixth BGBS. The summit has been a flagship industrial event of the Mamata Banerjee-led administration.

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