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Lallantop, Live Hindustan and others spread fake news claiming UP cabinet minister’s PRO had shot at Asaduddin Owaisi’s car

OpIndia Staff
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Lallantop, Live Hindustan and others spread fake news claiming UP cabinet minister’s PRO had shot at Asaduddin Owaisi’s car

Liberal media have fallen flat on the face yet again when they presented a cabinet minister’s PRO as the one who had shot at Asaduddin Owaisi’s car. After realizing this blunder, some of the media portals have apologized for the same. Lallantop from the India Today group and Live Hindustan were among the media houses that had published the fake reports.

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi was attacked on Thursday while returning from Meerut where he had been for election campaigning. As the news of arresting the alleged culprits emerged, some news portals hurried to reveal the identity of the accused with an eagerness to find the BJP connections they might have. The accused have been identified as Sachin Pandit and Shubham. Sachin Pandit lives in Badalpur area of greater Noida.

Rushing to publish the news on Sachin Pandit and his background and his alleged connections with the top BJP leaders including the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, some portals went on to publish the photographs of a different person with UP CM Yogi Adityanath, to show that the attacker is close with top BJP leaders. However, the photographs they use features Nitesh Singh Tomar, who happens to be the PRO of Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, the cabinet minister for Panchayat Raj in the Uttar Pradesh government.

Live Hindustan published Nitesh Singh Tomar’s photo as Sachin Pandit.

Nitesh Singh Tomar has tweeted the screenshots of the denigrating news reports published by these websites and has urged the Uttar Pradesh police to take action against the same. He has said “I am Nitesh Singh Tomar, PRO of cabinet minister Shri Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary. A malicious attempt is being made to malign my image by circulating my photo in the name of Sachin Hindu. I condemn those who do this in election times. UP Police, please take action against those who do this.”

With this tweet attached are the screenshots of various news websites including the Lallantop and the Live Hindustan.

Nitesh Singh Tomar was defamed as Sachin Pandit alias Sachin Hindu on the Lallantop website.

After Nitesh Singh Tomar tweeted this and tagged UP police in his tweet, the Lallantop website edited the news report adding an apology in the end. The Lallantop has written in its apology “Sachin Pandit has shared a picture of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on his Facebook account. In this, CM Yogi is seen honouring a young man. Some users on social media have shared this picture by calling this young man Sachin Pandit. Whereas the young man seen in that picture is not Sachin Pandit. Even in this news of The Lallantop, the young man who was earlier seen with Yogi was told as Sachin Pandit, for which we are sorry.”

The Lallantop later said that they are sorry.

Reading such misleading news on these websites, journalists came forward to peddle their own anti-BJP agenda. Pankaj Chaturvedi had posted in his tweet “This is Sachin Hindu who shot at Owaisi’s vehicle right in front of the CCTV camera. Are you now getting why the same people have made this picture viral? Polarization is the only way left for them to return to power.”

Journalist Pankaj Chaturvedi who relied on liberal news websites also went on to defame Nitesh Singh Tomar.

However, Pankaj Chaturvedi has later deleted the tweet without any open apology.

As per the Facebook account of actual accused Sachin Hindu, he is also a BJP supporter, however, it is not confirmed whether he is a member of the party or not.

While it is true that Sachin Hindu had posted two photographs of Nitesh Singh Tomar with Yogi Adityanath, the argument that media houses mistook Tomar for Sachin for that reason is doubtful. Because, if the media houses found the photo on Sachin’s Facebook account, they also must have come across Sachin’s actual photos, and Sachin and Nitesh Tomar do not look similar to mistake the one for another. Moreover, photographs of Sachin after his arrest has also been published, and therefore it is not believable that the media houses mistakenly assumed Nitesh Tomar to be Sachin Hindu.

Six CMs changed, but Hari Shankar Tiwari remained in office: The SP leader who was the first mafia don to win polls from jail

अनुपम कुमार सिंह
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Six CMs changed, but Hari Shankar Tiwari remained in office: The SP leader who was the first mafia don to win polls from jail

In Purvanchal politics, there has been one person who has built his influence in the government of every political party and has stayed influential in the area for a long period. Not only that, but he has also promoted several members of his family to positions of power, including MLAs and MPs. Uttar Pradesh ganglord turned politician, and now Samajwadi Party member Hari Shankar Tiwari is the name of the man who moved from crime to politics, and if there was another centre of power in Gorakhpur besides Gorakhnath Math, it was his sprawling mansion, ‘Hata.’ (Tiwari’s house as referred by local people).

Hari Shankar Tiwari dominated UP politics for a long time, other family members also held important positions

Hari Shankar Tiwari competed for and won the Chillupar Assembly Constituency as an independent candidate in the 1985 elections. Following that, he ran for Congress and won in 1989, 1991, and 1993. He won for the fifth time on the ‘All India Indira Congress (Tiwari)’ ticket. In 2002, he won the same constituency for the sixth time in a row on the ticket of the ‘All India Democratic Congress.’ In 2017, he secured a BSP ticket for his son Vinay Shankar Tiwari and made him an MLA from this seat.

Meanwhile, his second son, Bhishma Shankar Tiwari, was elected as an MP from Sant Kabir Nagar on a Samajwadi Party ticket. From 2009 until 2014, he served in the Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament. Hari Shankar Tiwari’s repute has been that of a notorious gangster. Tanda, Chillupar is where he was born and raised. He earned the title of being the first gangster to win an election while sitting in jail. He used to be regarded as Uttar Pradesh’s most powerful “Brahmin face”, and had founded the ‘All India Democratic Congress’ with other politicians in 1997.

Whether it was Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav or Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta or Rajnath Singh, or even Mayawati, he served in all of these regimes as a minister. Ganesh Shankar Pandey, his nephew, rose through the ranks of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council to become Chairman.

Let’s go back in time to when Purvanchal was considered an epicentre of gang wars. Hari Shankar Tiwari’s career in politics began in the 1980s. For years, he remained the only constant in the ever-changing UP political landscape. However, in the 2007 and 2012 elections, he was defeated in his stronghold.

Beginning of crime in Purvanchal and gang war between mafia

This was the time in Purvanchal when the task of identifying youths and bringing them into the world of crime began. The more energetic and dynamic the youth was, the more likely he ought to be recruited by a mafia group. Harishankar Tiwari claims that he had no choice but to enter politics when then-Chief Minister Veer Bahadur Singh imprisoned him after filing a fake case against him. He was already a member of the Congress and had worked with Indira Gandhi previously.

In the 1980s, he was charged with 26 different crimes. Murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion, and hindering government activity were among the offences, Tiwari was involved in. However, until today, Tiwari has not been convicted in any of the cases filed against him.

In Purvanchal, the 1980s were a time when tenders were released for a wide range of development projects, and criminals contended for them. Hari Shankar Tiwari gradually began to take over the entire Purvanchal’s contracts.

He made his own rule to rule over every department, from railways, coal supply, and mining to liquor. His clout was such that he established a ‘Robinhood’ image among the masses. Despite allegations after allegations kept re-surfacing against him, Tiwari continued to reach the assembly by winning again and again and becoming a minister.

He is now 85 years old and has not competed since his defeat in 2012. In Gorakhpur’s Jatashankar neighbourhood, he owns a fort-like home. Most decisions in Purvanchal were made by holding a court in his ‘Hata.’

There was a time when it was said that the fortune of whichever political party Tiwari associated with changed. His clout spread from Ghazipur to Varanasi, but Harishankar Tiwari started it all in Gorakhpur. At the time, Gorakhpur was engulfed in caste violence. People still hold them responsible for criminalization in colleges and universities. It was then, the contract killer, active during the 1990s mainly in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Sriprakash Shukla was also born.

It is believed that the astute Hari Shankar Tiwari specialized in carrying out criminal activities from behind the scenes rather than taking the initiative from the front. During those days, a new war between Rajputs and Brahmins had also erupted in his region. However, due to his wily intelligence, he remained ingratiated with all political parties. He rose through the ranks of the mafia to become a political ‘Pandit ji’ in Uttar Pradesh.

Prior to his imprisonment in 1985, Tiwari had won an election as an independent candidate and that too by a very large margin. Harishankar Tiwari was still in Jagdambika Pal’s cabinet when the latter became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for a day.

The gang war may have ended and guns have fallen silent in the UP’s badland, yet the gory tales of two warlords Hari Shankar Tiwari and Virendra Pratap Shahi, who fought with each other for over two decades have acquired the status of folklore. Owing to the deadly gang war between the duo, the region earned the sobriquet of ‘Chicago of the East’ and ‘Slice of Sicily’.

The two criminals, Hari Shanker Tiwari and Virendra Pratap Shahi, and their associates, carried out around 50 murders in their quest for supremacy. It is believed that Virendra Shahi had also benefited from the Math’s assistance. In 1997, however, Shahi was assassinated by Sriprakash Shukla. Notably, it was during this period that the Gangster Act was enacted for the very first time to keep both of them in check.

When Yogi Adityanath government went against Tiwari’s empire

The current scenario is such that Tiwari and his family have no specific political clout. However, in December last year, the Tiwari clan had joined the Samajwadi Party, after BSP supremo Mayawati ousted Vinay and Kushal Tiwari on the charges of being involved in anti-party activities. It was believed that the Tiwari family could make its way into the SP camp, as the party saw it as an opportunity to woo Brahmin voters, given that the Tiwari family still has a massive political influence amongst the Brahmin vote bank in Purvanchal.

Despite his influence and political connections, Hari Shankar Tiwari could not survive the crackdown against the mafia that began after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government took control of the reins of Uttar Pradesh. Tiwari’s home was raided by officers from five different police stations. The search was linked to Rs 98 lakh being looted from the cashier of a private firm in Gorakhpur’s Khorabar area on March 13, 2017.

According to reports, one Chhotu Choubey, who was arrested in the case had named some Sonu Pathak. The location of Pathak was found at Hari Shankar Tiwari’s house. It was then, a raid was conducted at his home based on this information.

During the investigation, police had found out that cashier Ajay Pratap was behind the loot. Following this, Ajay Pratap and three others were arrested. Police recovered Rs 31 lakh of the booty. Those arrested reportedly told the police that the remaining Rs 67 lakh was with Chhotu Chaubey. When police started a search for Chhotu, he surrendered in court in an old case.

Interestingly, the Tiwari family had made this raid into a political agenda to target the Yogi Government. Tiwari had even taken to the streets to protest against the action taken by the Yogi Government. Many police officials had to be deployed then due to the huge ruckus created by Tiwari and his loyalists. This, however, could not hold back the Yogi Adityanath administration, who also conducted raids on the premises of Tiwari’s son and BSP MLA Vijay Shankar Tiwari in October 2020.

The raid was conducted in connection with a bank loan fraud amounting to Rs 754.24 crores. The CBI has registered an FIR on a complaint from the Bank of India against two private companies- Gangotri Enterprises, Royal Empire Marketing Limited based at Lucknow and Noida its Directors and unknown others on the allegations of committing misappropriation, cheating and causing loss of Rs. 754.24 crore.

The FIR lodged by the anti-corruption bureau of the CBI Delhi unit also names its Directors- Vinay Shankar Tiwari, Ajeet Pandey, and Reeta Tiwari.

Searches were conducted at the premises of the accused/company at Noida and Lucknow which had also led to the recovery of several incriminating documents.

Uttarakhand Congress files complaint against BJP leader Tajinder Bagga for photoshopping Harish Rawat as AMU founder Syed Ahmed, says it’s a cybercrime

OpIndia Staff
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Uttarakhand Congress files complaint against BJP leader Tajinder Bagga for photoshopping Harish Rawat as AMU founder Syed Ahmed, says it’s a cybercrime

Uttarakhand Congress has filed a complaint against BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga with the Election Commission after he projected former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat and other Congress leaders as Muslim leaders for promising a Muslim university in the state. Days after senior Congress leader Harish Rawat had promised a Muslim university in the state, yesterday the BJP Youth National Secretary had posted a photograph of Rawat edited to look like Syed Ahmed, the founder of Aligarh Muslim University.

Addressing Harish Rawat as Harishuddin, Tajinder Bagga had tweeted on February 3 that no matter how much he tries, an Islamic university will not come up in the Dev Bhoomi. Along with the tweet, he included a morphed image showing Harish Rawat as Syed Ahmed.

He had posted another similar image, where several Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, were morphed with the white beard and red cap of Syed Ahmed. He had captioned it with saying ‘team of modern Sir Syed Ahmed of Uttarakhand’.

Uttarakhand Congress has objected to such morphed images of Rawat and other Congress leaders posted by Bagga, and have lodged a complaint with the EC against him.

In the complaint filed yesterday, the Congress party claims that by showing Harish Rawat as the AMU founder, Tajinder Bagga has tarnished the image of Rawat. The party claims that the act of Bagga violates the Model Code of Conduct for the elections, and it is also cybercrime.

Therefore, the party has requested EC to block the Twitter and Facebook accounts of Tajinder Bagga, and also to initiate strict legal action against him.

The Complaint against Bagga by Congress

However, the Delhi BJP leader who is in charge of Uttarakhand BJP Youth has refused to stop slamming the Congress party for promising a Muslim University in the state, and has posted more memes on his Twitter account. After the Congress party lodged the complaint against him, he again posted the meme showing Harish Rawat as Syed Ahmed, saying that he will do it again and again, and will do it 1000 times.

“They can do 1000s of complaint against me, they can send me to jail but till my last breath I will fight against Congress plan of Islamization of Devbhumi”, Bagga tweeted.

He also posted a meme based on a meme template using the Telugu movie Pushpa which has gone viral on social media, showing Rawat promising that he will not stop before constructing a Muslim University.

Not just Bagga, a large number of social media users are using memes to slam the Congress party for promising a Muslim University. Several users have posted memes showing Harish Rawat as Syed Ahmed, and calling Rawat Sir Syed Harishuddin Khan, Chancellor or Vice Chancellor of Uttarakhand Muslim University.

The Congress party also has lodged a complaint with the police for such Facebook posts. In a complaint filed with Kotdwar police station in Garhwal, the party wrote that several users posted a morphed image of Harish Rawat calling him the new Chancellor of Uttarakhand Muslim University, alleging that such posts invoke religious feelings amid to damage the situation amid the elections.

The party had sought action against the social media users for creating memes using Harish Rawat’s photo.

It may be noted that recently, Congress leader Aqeel Ahmed had revealed that Harish Rawat has promised to build a university for Muslim students if Congress comes to power. Ahmed said that he agreed to withdraw his nomination after Rawat had agreed to his demands, which included setting up a Muslim University in the state.

Aqeel Ahmed who belongs to Sahaspur had taken back his nomination for Assembly Elections 2022, only after 12 of his demands were approved by the former CM and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat. Ahmed confirmed that state congress leader Devendra Yadav also supported one of his 12 demands, to open a university for Muslims. “I am ready to support Aryendra Sharma to fight elections from Sahaspur constituency. I have no problem as Harish Rawat ji and Devendra Yadav has agreed to my demands. Rawat ji has promised to construct a university for Muslims students in Uttarakhand. I don’t want anything else”, he said in the video that went viral on social media.

Tek Fog App not found on prominent App and APK stores: IT Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar clarifies in Parliament

OpIndia Staff
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Tek Fog App not found on prominent App and APK stores: IT Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar clarifies in Parliament

The government on Friday informed the Parliament that it could not locate the ‘Tek Fog’ application on any of the prominent App and APK stores.

The clarification came weeks after reports published in the media alleged that BJP was using an app called Tek Fog to manipulate trends and automatically social media platforms to spew hate online. 

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “The government has noted the news articles about the alleged app, namely ‘Tek Fog’, that has been used to manipulate the social media platforms”.

The IT Minister said they tried to locate the app on major app stores and APK stores but could not find the app in any online stores. The minister further said that the IT Ministry was unaware of any technical vulnerability that makes social media intermediaries susceptible to manipulation, as reported in the news articles.

“The government is committed to open, safe and trusted, and accountable internet for users,” he added.

Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar said that the government is aware of the risk and danger posed by the growing phenomenon of dissemination of wrong and hateful information through some social media platforms. The IT Ministry does not track and monitor apps or content appearing on social media platforms, the minister added.

The minister also informed that the Centre has taken several steps to address the challenges of user harm and hateful information available on social media intermediaries or platforms.

Tek Fog: The imaginary app with superpowers invented by the Wire to target BJP

The left-wing propaganda portal The Wire had published a report claiming that BJP was using an app to manipulate trends and automatically spew hate online. Relying on an August 2020 tweet and some imaginary ‘source’, The Wire claimed that the party was using one software named Tek Fog, led by BJP leader Devang Dave. Even though Dave completely denied the allegations in an email to Wire, they still published the story.

In the report, Wire claimed that the so-called Tek Fog app allowed BJP to ‘hijack’ the Twitter trends, allowed managing multiple WhatsApp accounts and direct online harassment of anti-BJP journalists. The report claims that the app can bypass all kinds of security features that major social media platforms have.

According to The Wire, Tek Fog has some kind of superpower, which has capabilities that even the NSA of the USA does not have. According to Wire, hacking top apps like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp etc., is a child’s play using the app, and all security features of those platforms vanish with this magical piece of software.

The portal based the story on a couple of tweets by one Aarthi Sharma, who in August 2020 had claimed on Twitter that she had been working in the IT cell since 2014 and was promised a govt job. After not getting the promised job, she had ‘revealed’ that she was asked to use the ‘secret app’ Tek Fog, which bypasses reCAPTCHA codes and is used to auto-upload text and hashtag trends.

Before publishing the story, the Wire had contacted Devang Dave for his comments, and he had completely denied the allegations. In a mail sent to the portal, he had said that BJP or BJYM never indulged in any such social media manipulation. Saying that the organisation does not need such apps to manipulate things, Dave had said that none in the organisation was even aware of any such app.

The Wire took a u-turn to claim that they could not access the Tek Fog app but was able to find some scripts which allowed them to connect to a secure server hosting the Tek Fog app. The source supposedly provided screenshots of the app to Wire to prove its existence. The report did not include any example of the script or the URL/IP addresses of the ‘secure server’ that hosted the app.

Opposition MPs join LS speaker Om Birla in criticising Mahua Moitra for disrespecting the post of Chair

OpIndia Staff
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Opposition MPs join LS speaker Om Birla in criticising Mahua Moitra for disrespecting the post of Chair

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Friday said that the members should maintain their dignity and abstain from making remarks against the Chair inside and outside the house. Birla was alluding to Mahua Moitra’s boorish behaviour inside the Lok Sabha and her social media post where she criticised the Chair and accused it of taking her valuable time.

“Honourable members, I would like to raise an issue today. Whether inside the house or outside, comments made on the Chair is not good for the dignity of the house. The dignity of the house is sacrosanct and every honourable member respects it. The Chair always tries to be impartial and work impartially, runs the house in accordance with the rules and allots honourable members enough time to speak in the house. I humbly request that members should refrain from making comments about the chair inside or outside the house,” Birla said while referring to Moitra but explicitly naming her.

Birla further added that if there are differences between a member and the Chair, then they can visit his chamber and express their grievances with him. “The dignity of the parliamentary democracy should be protected at all times. I have taken serious cognisance of the events from the past few days. I want to request all members that making remarks against the Chair, especially outside the house and on social media and media is inappropriate and not right. You are the member of the house and you may have a difference with the Chair sometimes, so you can come to my chamber and tell me about that. I will listen to you,” he added.

Birla also expressed his gratitude to the members for attending parliamentary proceedings late into the night during biting winter and asked them to maintain the dignity of the house.

Opposition leaders express solidarity with Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, reiterate the need to maintain the dignity of the House

Soon after Birla’s remarks, opposition leaders expressed their solidarity with the Speaker and shared the sentiments expressed by him.

The Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury expressed his support to the Speaker and assured him that his party will cooperate with the Chair.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay, TMC MP, said that he wholeheartedly agreed with the Speaker’s sentiments. “We are certain of the opinion that the prestige of the house should always be kept at a level where we should all remain committed to that principles, ideas and philosophy of this house,” said Bandopadhyay.

Arvind Sawant, a member of Lok Sabha from Shiv Sena, also concurred with the Speakers’ sentiments, stating that members of the house ought to respect the Chair. He said members of the house follow the tradition of joining their heads and bowing in front of the Chair while sitting and standing up from their seats and thus, they should not indulge in activities that lower the dignity of the chair and the house. He further added that members should not inconvenience others while leaving the house and should make their exit as imperceptibly as possible.

A Raja of the DMK also asserted that the dignity of the house should be maintained, stating that their party agrees with the concern raised by the honourable Speaker.

Farooq Abdullah, the National Conference MP, exalted the status of the Speaker to the Father of the House. He said the Speaker of the House is the Father of the House and one should always treat the Chair the Speaker represents with utmost dignity and respect.

The remarks were in response to a series of tweets posted by TMC MP Moitra where she alleged that the Chair interrupted her and accused it of taking away her allotted time.

Mahua Moitra lashes out at Speaker, accuses the Chair of cutting short her allotted time in Lok Sabha

“LS Speaker had allotted AT LEAST 13 mins to me when confronted in his chamber, he claimed he was not in chair hence can’t be blamed. When further cornered, he said – It was my greatness that I even allowed you 13 mins in 1st place. Unbelievable,” Moitra tweeted.

Lok Sabha Om Birla condemns Mahua Moitra for her behaviour
Source: Twitter

In a subsequent tweet, she added, “And who is Chair to interrupt me (taking up MY valuable time) to lecture me on whether I should speak with gussa or pyar? None of your business Madam. You can only correct me on rules. You are NOT the moral science teacher for LS.”

Lok Sabha Om Birla condemns Mahua Moitra for her behaviour
Source: Twitter

Earlier, Moitra had alleged that the Speaker, BJP MP from Bihar, Rama Devi, did not allow her to complete her allotted time of 13 minutes. Speaking to the media outside the parliament, a visibly livid Mahua said, “It is a sad day for our democracy and our republic that an elected member who has been allotted 13 minutes by no less than the honourable speaker is cut off and not allowed to finish. That’s why I am having to stand outside and complete my speech.”

“It is any of her business, is it her right to tell me how to give my speech? She asks me to not be angry while giving the speech. Whether I should speak in anger or with love, it is up to me. That is my tenor, that is my tone,” Mahua lashes out at Rama Devi

‘Never discriminated on passports’, EAM S Jaishankar responds straight to DMP MP who asked whether e-passports be issued only in Gujarat, Mumbai, Delhi

OpIndia Staff
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‘Never discriminated on passports’, EAM S Jaishankar responds straight to DMP MP who asked whether e-passports be issued only in Gujarat, Mumbai, Delhi

On Friday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the e-Passports would be secured by the Digital Signature of the issuing country, which will provide data authentication to the other countries, the citizens would to travel to. In his address to the Parliament today, he added that certain digital keys would also verify the e-passports at multiple stages.

In a view to clear the data security issue regarding the e-Passports, he added that the digital signature which will secure the data will be sent to other countries for recognition purposes. “The e-passports will ensure multiple layered security as the data will be on paper like regular passports and also on the verified chips”, he said.

This is after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget announcement affirmed that the government will roll out e-Passports from 2022-23 to enhance the convenience of the citizens. She also had said that the move to introduce E-passport would further enhance security and facilitate smoother international travel.

Jaishankar further stated that this is the right time for India to adopt chip-based passports as many other countries are already using it. Assuring that the government will start issuing chip-based passports in the coming six months, he informed that the letter of intent to procure 4.5 crores of chips and antenna for the process has been signed.

Meanwhile, DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran asked whether the government was planning to issue e-passports only in Gujarat, Mumbai and Delhi. Responding straight to the motivated question, Jaishankar added that the government has never discriminated among citizens of different states for passports.

“On passport side we have never discriminated in favor of any state or against any state. I resent that”, he said urging the DMK leader to not make such comments. The External Affairs Minister also stated that the time taken to issue the passports today has drastically improved and that the administrative processes at the airport have also improved.

MEA secretary Sanjay Bhattacharya had previously mentioned about e-Passport in his tweet. He had said that Nashik-based India Security Press was in the process of awarding a contract for the production of ICAO-compliant electronic chip inlays for passport jackets.

According to the reports, e-passports will use radio frequency identification (RFID) and bio-metrics to ascertain the identity of the individuals. The chip embedded e-Passports will help in securing the personal data of the passport holder like name, bio-metric details. In case there is tampering with the chip, the system will detect it and in such a case the passport will not be authenticated.

Samajwadi Party workers raise anti-National, pro-Pakistan slogans during a rally in Kanpur, party pins the blame on BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Samajwadi Party workers raise anti-National, pro-Pakistan slogans during a rally in Kanpur, party pins the blame on BJP

Ahead of the high octane assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, a video has gone viral on social media on Friday, February 4, wherein Samajwadi Party workers are heard raising pro-Pakistan and anti-national slogans. The footage is said to be from Kanpur, where Samajwadi Party supporters held a rally in favour of SP candidate Munindra Shukla, who is running for the assembly seat of Bithoor.

In the video which is being widely circulated on social media platforms, the SP cadres are heard saying: “Pakistan banana hai, cycle ka button dabana hai,” Which roughly translates to, “Pakistan has to be made, cycle button has to be pressed”.

After the purported video went viral, the police have launched an investigating into the same. They are trying to ascertain the authenticity of the video.

Samajwadi Party claimed that the video was manipulated and circulated by the opposition. Opposition parties edited the video and disseminated it on social media to smear the party’s reputation ahead of the approaching elections, alleged the SP members.

In response to the furore, SP candidate Munindra Shukla said that the purported video, which shows anti-national slogans being chanted during his public relations event in Tikra village, is completely false. He stated that the BJP changed the audio in the video. He said that the BJP edited the video and shared it on various social media platforms to confuse voters and disturb the region’s peacekeeping system. Samajwadi party is a nationalistic party, Shukla claimed.

He further added, “no one in my public relations department has the guts to make anti-national statements. We’re asking our supporters to be mindful of such ruses. As a result of the debacle that the party is set to face in the upcoming elections, the BJP is being compelled to adopt such strategies. I demand a fair probe into the purported video,” said SP candidate Munindra Shukla.

Pro-Pakistan slogans raised in SP rally at Agra

Amidst Munindra Shukla’s tall claims of his party being a nationalist party, it becomes imperative to recall that in July last year, pro-Pakistan slogans were allegedly raised by Samajwadi Party workers during a party rally organised in Agra. The viral video showed people present at the Samajwadi Party’s rally raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad slogans. The slogans were raised when Samajwadi Party cadres were returning from a rally they organised to protest against the BJP government for rising fuel prices and the alleged large scale “fraud” in the recently concluded Panchayat elections in the state.

Following the incident, BJP and various Hindu organisations attacked the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, asking whether Samajwadi Party was operating from Pakistan.

Interestingly, the raising of pro-Pakistan slogans by Samajwadi Party workers had come just days after former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had courted a controversy by speaking against the state police’ action against Al Qaeda suspects. 

Samajwadi Party chief calls Muhammad Ali Jinnah a patriot

Samajwadi Party chief’s affinity for Pakistan was once again on display when he went on to openly glorify Muhammad Ali Jinnah while addressing a party rally during the Samajwadi Vijay Rath Yatra in November last year. In the meeting that was organized at Hardoi district in UP, Samajwadi Party Chief was seen praising the founder of Pakistan and the architect of the Indian partition, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

On the pretext of remembering Sardar Patel, Akhilesh Yadav said, ‘Sardar Patel used to know the land, Sardar Patel took decisions holding the land, he used to understand the land so he made his decisions and that is why he is known as the Iron man Of India. Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jinnah, they all came out of the same institution. They all studied at the same institute, they became barristers and gave freedom.’

BJP had then slammed Akhilesh Yadav for saying that Jinnah was a hero of India’s freedom movement. Moreover, a case was also filed against Akhilesh Yadav for praising Jinnah on the orders of a court in Bareilly.

Pakistani Hockey Federation bans Olympian Rashid-ul-Hasan for 10 years for ‘abusing’ Imran Khan govt on WhatsApp

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani Hockey Federation bans Olympian Rashid-ul-Hasan for 10 years for ‘abusing’ Imran Khan govt on WhatsApp

On Thursday (February 3), veteran Pakistani hockey player Rashid-ul-Hasan was banned for 10 years for allegedly ‘abusing’ Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on social media over his false promises, reported Dawn. Hasan was a part of the Pakistani field hockey team that won the gold medal for the country during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Dawn reported that the ban was handed to the former Olympian by the Pakistani Hockey Federation (PHF). It must be mentioned that PM Imran Khan is the patron-in-chief of the Federation.

PHF reached the decision after constituting a committee to investigate the accusations of ‘abusive language’ used by Rashid-ul-Hasan against the Pakistani Prime Minister. The committee was instructed by the Federation President Brigadier Khalid Sajjad Khokhar and Secretary Asif Bajwa.

The former Olympian reportedly did not respond to two notices sent by the PHF, following which a 10-year-ban was imposed on him by the investigating committee. Dawn reported that a copy of the diktat has been forwarded to the Pakistani National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Sports. PHF also urged the Pakistani Sports Board to write to PEMRA and implement the ‘ban’ on Hasan.

Ex-Olympian denied using abusive language against Imran Khan

While speaking about the issue, Rashid-ul-Hasan denied allegations of using abusive language against Pakistani PM Imran khan. The ex-hockey player said, “On social media or any other public media I have always given (due)respect to the prime minister.“

He further added, “On a WhatsApp group I only said that on the container though Imran Khan was claiming that he would put the game of hockey on the right track, nothing came on the surface during the last three years. And I also said Imran will not do any good work for hockey.”

The former Olympian emphasised that he has every right to speak against the Prime Minister. Hasan also pointed out that he was surprised by the news of the ban since he did not hold any position in the Pakistani Hockey Federation. He acknowledged receiving 2 notices from PHF but did not ‘consider them serious.’

Karnataka High Court agrees to Hear Muslim student’s plea against hijab ban in college

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka High Court agrees to Hear Muslim student’s plea against hijab ban in college

In a recent development in the Udupi college hijab controversy, the Karnataka High Court agreed to hear a plea arguing that Muslim women wearing hijab should be permitted to attend classes. A Muslim student has filed a plea in the Karnataka High Court, asking for a direction to allow wearing a hijab in college, stating that it is her “Fundamental Right” granted under Article 14 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and “integral practise of Islam”.

The disciplinary action taken by the Government-run Pre-University (PU) Institution for Girls in Udupi district, which has refused her entry into the college on the sole basis of wearing a hijab, has offended the Muslim girl student. The Karnataka High Court will hear the writ petition filed by the Muslim girl on February 8.

The move comes as the Hijab controversy in a college in Udupi, Karnataka, shows no signs of stopping. The controversy began earlier in January when several Muslim students were denied entry to classes because they wore hijab. Because the females refused to remove their Hijabs when requested by the other students, several boys chose to come to campus wearing saffron scarves. All of them were denied entry because their attire was different from the regular uniform allowed in the institution.

Following the uproar, Kundapur MLA Haladi Srinivas Shetty and the school administration met with Muslim parents, but the problem could not be addressed since the parents refused to allow their children to attend the college without wearing the hijab. The parents stated that Muslim girls have the right to wear hijab in college.

In videos shared by media portals earlier, Muslim ‘students’ covered in full-body black burqa were seen arguing with the college authorities against the hijab ban. On February 4, a group of students wearing hijabs were seen arguing with some staffers from the college, asking to allow them inside.

BC Nagesh, the state’s education minister, has backed college authorities who say both saffron scarves and headscarves should be banned on campuses. He also stated that this issue has come up recently and nothing of this sort happened earlier. “They were not wearing the hijab earlier & this problem started only 20 days ago,” State Education Minister BC Nagesh reportedly said.

The issue has been simmering since early January, prompting the state to convene a committee to investigate the situation and make a decision on pre-university college uniforms across the state. In accordance with the new state standards, management has requested that female students refrain from wearing hijab while attending college and wear the prescribed college uniform. 

“Beware of fake Samajwadis”, says PM Modi as he praises Yogi Adityanath for establishing law and order in Uttar Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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“Beware of fake Samajwadis”, says PM Modi as he praises Yogi Adityanath for establishing law and order in Uttar Pradesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed a ‘Jan Chaupal’ via video-conferencing in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections in the state.

Highlighting the government’s strong efforts in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister said that the entire world is struggling with the pandemic today and added that humankind had never seen such a crisis on a global level in a century. PM Modi said that the government, both at the centre and the state worked for the benefit of the people during this crisis.

Launching a scathing attack on Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over promoting vaccine hesitancy amidst the pandemic, PM Modi said that the state needs a firm leader like Yogi Adityanath and not the “fake Samajwadis”. The PM also reiterated that the BJP government, both at the centre and in the state, will fulfil all the promises made.

Addressing the public, PM Narendra Modi said that the people had provided him with the fortune to lay the foundation stone of this Delhi-Meerut Expressway. “This is evidence of the fact that the BJP govt does what it says,” he added.

The PM said that Uttar Pradesh has seen several elections after independence and has seen governments come and go. However, this time elections are different as this time it is for the establishment of peace in UP, for the continuation of development, good governance, and the rapid development of people of this state.

PM Modi also asserted that these polls are to maintain the security, honour and prosperity of the people of Uttar Pradesh.

PM Modi hails Uttar Pradesh govt’s efforts to end criminal mafia:

Highlighting the Uttar Pradesh government’s efforts to end criminal activities and mafia in the state, PM Modi said that these polls are to keep history-sheeters out and to make new history. “I’m delighted that people of UP have made up their minds that they won’t allow rioters and mafia to take control of UP from behind the curtains,” PM Modi expressed hope.

Praising Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for establishing the rule of law in the state, PM Modi said, “No one could have imagined that criminals would ever come under control. Yogi Ji has established the rule of law in UP. In the 21st century, UP needs a government that continuously works at double-speed & only a double-engine government can do this.”

The PM also urged the voters to be “very careful” while casting their votes. “If they get a chance, these family-driven fake Samajwadis will stop the aid being provided to farmers… These fake Samajwadi will make you go hungry,” the PM cautioned. 

In today’s Jan Chaupal, PM Modi digitally addressed assembly segments from the districts of Meerut, Noida, Ghaziabad, Aligarh and Hapur. 

Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are scheduled to be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7. The polling in Uttar Pradesh will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7.

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