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Indore municipal official who was assaulted by BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya with a cricket bat takes U-turn in court, says he does not know who had hit him

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Indore municipal official who was assaulted by BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya with a cricket bat takes U-turn in court, says he does not know who had hit him

Three years after an Indore municipal corporation was beaten in front of the public by BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya using a cricket bat, the official has turned hostile in court, saying he does not know who had hit him. According to reports, the official Dhirendra Byas has now told the Indore district court that he does not recognise the person who had assaulted him.

On 18th February 2022, he told the court that he was talking on the mobile phone when the incident happened, and he didn’t see the attacker. Earlier, he had named Akash Vijayvargiya in his complaint as the attacker.

He further said as he was assaulted from his backside, he does not know who exactly was the one to hit him. He also said that when he turned back, he had seen three-four people holding bats in their hands and he had then named Akash Vijayvargiya in his complaint as he was also holding a cricket bat in his hands. The court will hear this matter next on 25th February 2022.

It may be noted that the incident was caught on camera, where BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya was seen assaulting Dhirendra Byas with a cricket bat. He was arrested following the incident, and a case was registered against him.

Akash Vijayvargiya had a fight of words with the municipal corporation officials of Indore over razing down an old building in the Ganji Compound area of Indore. He had hit the then corporation officer Dheerendra Bais with a cricket bat. Akash Vijayvargiya was arrested in this incident that took place on 26th June 2019. Till now this matter was being heard in a special court at Bhopal. Now that a special court has been formed in Indore in this regard, the statement recorded by the complainant officer Dheerendra Bais was cross-examined.

Senior lawyer Avinash Sirpurkar representing the BJP MLA in this case has informed that the complainant has told the judge that there were more than a hundred people when he had reached on the spot to raze the building. After 15 minutes, Akash Vijayvargiya had arrived there.

Reportedly, Bais has told the judge that he was talking on the mobile phone when he was assaulted with a cricket bat from behind. Turning back, he saw three-four people holding cricket bats in their hands. Akash Vijayvargiya was one of them. He was also holding a bat in his hands. So, Bais named him in the complaint. Other witnesses will be cross-examined on 25th February 2022, said Sirpurkar.

Groom camps outside a police station in Madhya Pradesh after police stop DJ music at the wedding procession

OpIndia Staff
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Groom camps outside a police station in Madhya Pradesh after police stop DJ music at the wedding procession

On Sunday, a high drama unfolded at a police station in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, after the police officials stopped a family from playing loud music during a marriage procession. The entire wedding party led by the groom staged protest at the police station,

According to the reports, a group of people were carrying out a wedding procession on the streets of Ratlam last Saturday while going to the bride’s place for the wedding, when the police stopped them on the pretext of playing loud music on DJ systems. As the wedding party was going through a police colony, the police had disallowed DJ music saying that the loud music would disturb families of police officials residing there.

The wedding group initially resisted saying that the restrictions start at 11 pm in the night and argued that the police could not stop them from playing the music as it was still 9 pm.

However, the police were in no mood to relent. They ordered that the wedding party must stop playing loudspeakers, failing an action would be taken against them. The vehicle carrying the sound systems left the place on police orders.

As the police left the spot, the unyielding bridegroom, who belonged to the Scheduled Tribe community, rode the horse straight to the police station and protested against the police action of stopping them from playing loud music. The entire wedding party followed him and assembled at the police station.

The bridegroom argued with the police officials and camped at the police station along with his friends. Upon receiving information about the incident, local BJP leaders visited the police station in support of the tribal youth. The BJP leaders insisted that the wedding group should be allowed to play the music. The wedding party insisted that if they are not allowed to play music, the wedding will be conducted at the police station itself.

The drama continued for an hour until senior police officials allowed the bridegroom’s family to play DJ during his procession, but at a lower volume. Accordingly, the police also arranged for a DJ music system as the original one had already been sent away by the cops.

Mukesh Sastiya, Sub-inspector of Ratlam police station, said, “The bridegroom along with many others camped on the campus at around 10.30 pm demanding permission for DJ in his marriage procession. Earlier, the DJ was disallowed because of curbs after 10 pm. Moreover, there is also a covid curfew from 11 pm. The groom and his family members were determined to carry out a marriage ceremony on the police campus if DJ was not allowed in the procession.”

The police officer said that the senior police officials allowed the DJ to be played but with very low volume music. The procession left the police station campus around midnight after the arrangement of DJ was made, said SI Sastiya.

Australian cricketer James Faulkner quits Pakistan Super League mid-season, blames PCB for non-payment of dues

OpIndia Staff
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Australian cricketer James Faulkner quits Pakistan Super League mid-season, blames PCB for non-payment of dues

On Saturday (February 19), Australian cricketer James Faulkner withdrew from the ongoing season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) over non-payment of dues by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He played for the Quetta Gladiators’ franchise as a bowling all-rounder.

In a tweet, Faulkner informed, “I apologise to the Pakistan cricket fans. But unfortunately, I’ve had to withdraw from the last 2 matches and leave the PSL due to the PCB not honouring my contractual agreement/payments. I’ve been here the whole duration and they have continued to lie to me.”

Screengrab of the tweet by James Faulkner

As such, the 31-year-old cricketer will not play the two upcoming matches against the Multan Sultans and the Karachi Kings. He had expressed hope that the Pakistani fans will understand his precarious situation.

James Faulkner added, “It hurts to leave as I wanted to help to get international cricket back in Pakistan as there is so much young talent and the fans are amazing. But the treatment I have received has been a disgrace from the PCB and PSL.”

Screengrab of the tweet by James Faulkner

According to a report published by ESPN Cricinfo, Faulkner had grown increasingly tense over the non-payment of dues by the Pakistani Cricket Board. Things reportedly came to a head Friday when the Australian cricketer hurled his bat and helmet from the lobby floor balcony onto a chandelier following a discussion with a PCB official before leaving for the airport.

PCB cries foul, to release detailed statement soon

In a desperate bid to save its face before the international cricket community, the Pakistan Cricket Board tried to do last-minute damage control.

Screengrab of the tweet by PCB

“The PCB and Quetta Gladiators have regretfully taken note of Mr James Faulkner’s false and misleading accusations and will shortly be releasing a detailed statement on the matter,” it said in a statement. The 2022 edition of the Pakistan Super League commenced on January 27 and will conclude on February 27 this year.

As per norms followed by the PCB, they have always made player payments in advance before recovering money from the franchises, which stands to explain why Faulkner’s grouse with the PCB and not with his franchise, Quetta Gladiators, who have distanced themselves from the issue, stating that the dispute lies with the PCB.

Faulkner featured in 6 matches in this PSL season, scalping 6 wickets and scoring 49 runs.

BJP lambasts Akhilesh Yadav for his silence after Samajwadi Party leader’s son gets convicted in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case

OpIndia Staff
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BJP lambasts Akhilesh Yadav for his silence after Samajwadi Party leader’s son gets convicted in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case

Amid the ongoing 2022 Vidhan Sabha polls in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the BJP on Saturday slammed Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav after one of his party leader’s son was found guilty in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case.

Union communication and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur lambasted Akhilesh Yadav for his deafening silence over the verdict in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blast case, citing the fact that one of the convicts is the son of a Samajwadi Party leader.

“We welcome the court judgment. Of the 49 convicted, Mohd Saif is the son of SP leader Shadab Ahmed. Why is Akhilesh silent over this? These photos show him with the then CM Akhilesh Yadav. Did Akhilesh Yadav call him over biryani? The politician’s son was the mastermind and involved in the blasts,” union communication and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur, who is the BJP’s co-in-charge for the ongoing polls in Uttar Pradesh, was quoted by news agency ANI as stating.

The union minister further stated, “We welcome the judgment by the Court. Quantum of sentence was pronounced against 49 convicts – 38 were sentenced to capital punishment, 11 to life imprisonment. This had happened when Narendra Modi was the CM of Gujarat”.

Md Saif, son of SP leader Shadab Ahmed, was arrested in September 2008 following the blasts in July that year. He was arrested from Delhi’s Jamia Nagar where he was staying at that time. Saif’s roommates Atif and Sajid were killed in a police shootout when they had tried to flea, while Saif was injured. After the arrest, Shadab Ahmed had said that his son had told him that he was doing an English speaking course in Delhi.

While 49 accused were convicted in the case, 38 of them were awarded death sentence by a special court in Ahmedabad, and the rest 11 were awarded life imprisonment. According to the list of those awarded death sentences published by the media, Saif also seems to have been awarded capital punishment.

BJP senior leader and union HM Amit Shah hits out at Akhilesh Yadav

Meanwhile, Union home minister Amit Shah had also hit out at Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party. Speaking at an election rally in the state’s Banda area Saturday, Shah said that if the Samajwadi Party wins, ‘UP will provide terrorism all over the country.’

‘Nayi hawa hai, wahi SP hai’, Uttar Pradesh CM chastises Samajwadi Party for holding a poll rally with the kin of a convict

Earlier in the day, while addressing a rally in Pilibhit in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, CM Yogi Adityanath had also launched an all-out attack at his predecessor, Akhilesh Yadav, stating that he was seen campaigning for votes with the family of one of the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts convict.

Referring to the court’s ruling in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, the UP chief minister said, “An Ahmedabad court pronounced the quantum of sentence for 38 terrorists in the (2008) serial blasts case. Capital punishment and life imprisonment were awarded. They included some terrorists from UP too. And, the family of one of them was seen with the SP chief asking for votes for the party.”

He claimed that supporting the Samajwadi Party amounted to endorsing terrorists and that while everything around has changed, the Mulayam Singh Yadav-founded party remained the same.

“You can imagine. Nayi hawa hai, wahi SP hai. SP ka haath, aatankwadiyon ke saath. This has been proven once again,” Adityanath was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case verdict

On Friday, a special court in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad sentenced 38 people to death and 11 to life in prison in connection with the July 26, 2008 serial blasts in the state’s main city. On February 8, the court found 49 defendants guilty, while 29 were found not guilty. The case involved a total of 80 people who were put on trial.

Uttar Pradesh will have elections in seven phases, the first two of which were held on February 10 and 14. While 58 of the 403 assembly seats were voted on in the first round, 55 were voted on in the second round, and 59 will be voted on Sunday. The remaining rounds will take place on February 23, 27, March 3 and 7, respectively. The counting will take place on March 10.

Dawood Ibrahim forms a special unit to target India; businessmen, politicians on hit list: NIA

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Dawood Ibrahim forms a special unit to target India; businessmen, politicians on hit list: NIA

The National Investigation Agency on Saturday revealed that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was planning to launch terror attacks on India using explosives and lethal weapons. He had formed a special unit with the aim of inciting violence in different parts of the country.

According to the reports, Dawood Ibrahim has been long spreading terror activities across India with names of a few political leaders and famous businessmen featured on the hit list. He focused on Delhi and Mumbai and had drawn plans to destroy the cities completely, the agency said.

This is after the ED conducted raids in South Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. Close to nine places in Mumbai and one in Thane were raided by the ED including the residences of Dawood Ibrahim’s late sister Haseena Parkar and brother Iqbal Kaskar.

The agency also took into custody Iqbal Kaskar who is imprisoned in Thane in an extortion case and presented him before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court yesterday. Reports mention that the Ministry of Home Affairs in action had approved the NIA to deeply observe Ibrahim’s activities and keep a record of them during the investigation. The National Investigation Agency officials have mentioned Dawood Ibrahim and his aides in the FIR for working at his behest to create unrest across India.

According to NIA, Dawood Ibrahim has a wide network spread in India to foment anarchy and chaos. The premier agency said the network is also into money laundering through Hawala channels to provide financial help to all those involved in a planned attack. He is involved in promoting anti-national activities and is also trying to create a rift between different religious groups, the agency added.

The agency has also intercepted that Dawood has been using various social media platforms to communicate with his network. He has also helped them financially and logistically to deliberately create a riot-like situation in various parts of India.

A case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has already been registered against Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

‘Wanted’ posters looking for ‘absconding’ journalist Gowhar Geelani come up in Kashmir after a court issued arrest warrant against him

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‘Wanted’ posters looking for ‘absconding’ journalist Gowhar Geelani come up in Kashmir after a court issued arrest warrant against him

Posters offering rewards for information of Kashmiri journalist Gowhar Geelani have come up in several towns in Jammu and Kashmir after a warrant was issued by the court against the ‘missing’ journalist. A group named Civil Society Volunteers Group of Kashmir has put up the posters at various cities in the UT, including Srinagar, Baramulla, Pulwama and Shopian. The posters have been printed in both English and Urdu.

The English poster reads, “Absconding “alleged journalist” and essentially a stenographer of terrorism and vehicles of insurgency, Gowhar Geelali. Anyone giving information on his whereabouts would be rewarded with ₹50 thousand. Identity of the informant would be kept discreet”. The posters also gave an email ID to which any information on Geelani can be sent.

The posters include a photograph of Geelani and a copy of the arrest warrant issued by the court.

The posters came up after Shopian court had issued a warrant against him, as he had failed to appear before the court after the court had sent a notice to him. The court of Executive Magistrate First Class Shopian issued an arrest order on 12 February for Gowhar due to his non-appearance in court.

Addressing the order to the Station House Officer Heerpora, the court said “In view of non-appearance of Gowhar Nazir Geelani after serving notice on him under Section 107/151 CRPF, dated February 03, 2022, you are directed to arrest and produce the person before this court on Feb 19, 2022, in order to maintain peace and public tranquillity in the jurisdiction of this court.”

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The arrest warrant.

The court had issued a summons to Gowhar, requiring him to appear in court on February 7 for disseminating information on social media regarding a terrorist attack on a police officer on February 1. Geelani has been absconding since then.

A case was filed against Gowhar Geelani regarding his tweets on February 1 on a terror attack when Assistant Sub-Inspector Shabir Ahmad Wagay was shot at by terrorists in Amshipora. According to the court summon issued to him, he posted such information on social media immediately after the attack that would have “endangered the life of the injured individual and other persons”.

“Besides circulation of your information have raised serious security and breach of peace concerns”, the summon had further added. It had said, “you have acted in a manner prejudicial to the public interest that have tendency to disturb public peace, tranquillity and security and I have strong apprehensions you will continue with such activities that will have an impact upon maintainable of peace and public tranquillity in my jurisdiction.”

Shabir Ahmad Wagay was hospitalised and survived the attack.

Who is Gowhar Geelani?

Gowhar Geelani is a freelance journalist who has written for the BBC, DailyO, and Scroll.in, and a few others. He also spent several years in Germany working for Deutsche Welle. He’s also written for Dawn, the Pakistani media house.

Geelani has been accused of spreading hatred and supporting terrorists several times. His Twitter posts reveal his views on Kashmir and Pakistan. In a tweet made on 20 August 2016, he said “The only guns in Kashmir are of India’s military occupation. Yes, we are proud Kashmiri Muslims. Just as you’re a Hindu.”

Tweet

Another tweet made on 21 September 2016 reads, “Pakistan PM says brutalities and occupation can’t deter people of Kashmir from demanding their freedom from brutal Indian occupation #UNGA”

Tweet

On 02 March 2015, he tweeted, “Pro-India politicians in Kashmir are ‘stooges of occupation’, say resistance groups”

Tweet

Geelani was also booked in 2020 for “glorifying terrorism in Kashmir Valley” through social media posts. Several others have also been arrested by the Jammu & Kashmir Police for promoting views on terrorism recently. On February 5, Fahad Shah, editor of Srinagar-based news portal The Kashmir Walla was detained by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for anti-national actions and distributing incendiary information on the social media network Facebook.

Seven more Pakistani fishing boats captured in Harami Nala in Gujarat: Read how the water channel got its name and the Sir Creek dispute

OpIndia Staff
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Seven more Pakistani fishing boats captured in Harami Nala in Gujarat: Read how the water channel got its name and the Sir Creek dispute

Border Security Force has seized 7 Pakistani fishing boats in the Harami Nala in the Kutch district of Gujarat on 18th February 2022. GS Malik, the inspector general of the Gujarat Frontier of the BSF has informed that these boats are from the lot of 22 boats found intruding in the group last week.

According to a report by Desh Gujarat, out of 22 Pakistani boats that were found last week, the BSF had already seized 11 boats. Now with these 7 boats, the total count of seized Pakistani fishing boats has gone up to 18. Last week, BSF had caught hold of 6 Pakistani fishermen. It was a joint operation of the BSF, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force. The seven boats captured on 18th February 2022 are all from the lot left behind in the operation carried out in the last week. BSF has recovered some food and rotten fish from the boats.

How ‘Harami Nala’ got its name and the history of dispute between India and Pakistan in the Sir Creek Area

Reportedly, the drain derives its name ‘Harami Nala’ from its geography and stark characteristics that make it easy for smugglers, terrorists and intruders from Pakistan to enter India. The drain provides abundant fish bounty, beckoning fishermen from Pakistan to routinely intrude in the region. The Vian Wari Creek on the Indian side enters Pakistan in the north, turns east and reenters India, where it is called Harami Nala. The drain then subsequently splits into two streams, one of which reenters Pakistan, which poses a strategic challenge for the BSF to guard against infiltration bids from Pakistan.

It is notable that Harami Nala near Bhuj in Kutch of Gujarat is also known as the Sir Creek area. The area is a 22 KM long and approximately 8 KM wide marshy patch which is navigable most of the time in a year. There has been an old dispute between India and Pakistan about who owns this area. However, India’s stand is correct in accordance with all the modern international laws as agreed by the United Nations Organization. On the other hand, Pakistan has been claiming the whole of Sir Creek or Harami Nala for the last 75 years.

Harami Nala
The red line is the International Border as recognized by India as per the international laws. Image Source: Study IQ YouTube Channel

The marshy area of Sir Creek or Harami Nala is challenging terrain for any armed force to protect and the Indian Army and the BSF have been guarding this part of the country successfully for the past 75 years. Before independence, the area was governed by the Maharaja Rao Sahib of Kutch, and its borders were shared by the government of Sindh province which is today’s Sindh state in Pakistan.

Harami Nala
Source: Wikipedia

According to the 1914 agreement called the Bombay Government Resolution of 1914 demarking the borders between the states, Pakistan claims that the whole of the creek belongs to Pakistan. India, however, follows Thalwegs Principle which is applied while fixing the international boundaries in the water bodies. According to this principle, if the water body is navigable then the boundary between the two countries can be considered only in the middle of the water channel. Therefore India maintains that half of the channel belongs to India and Pakistan must not cross the water border.

YouTuber Ajit Anjum accuses UP CM Yogi Adityanath of using an abusive term for Muslims, here is what ‘kaThmullaa’ means

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YouTuber Ajit Anjum accuses UP CM Yogi Adityanath of using an abusive term for Muslims, here is what ‘kaThmullaa’ means

On Saturday (January 19), YouTuber Ajit Anjum accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of supposedly using abusive slurs against the Muslim community.

In a tweet, he claimed, “The heart of Yogi Adityanath is filled with so much poison for Muslims that he is openly referring to them as ‘Kathmulla.’ So, why does Yogi exhibit hypocrisy through the slogan- Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas.”

Ajit Anjum had shared a trimmed video clip of a 49-minute long interview of Yogi Adityanath, which was originally aired by India Today on Wednesday (February 16). During the course of the interview, the UP Chief Minister had remarked, “Girls should surge ahead in every field of life. We want that to happen. We have provided opportunities to young girls so that they can achieve the same.”

Yogi Adityanath went on to add that the biggest hurdle in the progress of women in this country is the orthodoxy of the Islamic clerics (kaThmullaa), who are supported by Muslim political leaders such as Asaduddin Owaisi. Youtuber Ajit Anjum alleged that ‘kaThmulla‘ is a derogatory word and its usage by Yogi Adityanath somehow reflected his disdain for the Muslim community.

Urdu dictionary debunks accusations of the Youtuber

Rekhta, a prominent literary web portal dedicated to the promotion of the Urdu language, provides 4 different meanings for the said term. Interestingly, none of them is abusive in nature. The word ‘kaThmullaa’ can mean Islamic cleric who rattles wooden beads, orthodox/regressive Islamic cleric, dogmatic individual or ignorant cleric.

Screengrab of the various meanings of kaThmullaa, image via Rekhta dictionary

It must be mentioned that Rekhta is run by a non-profit organisation named Rekhta Foundation. It digitises books in Urdu, publishes manuscripts, conducts the annual ‘Jashn-e-Rekhta’ programme. The annual event, meant for the promotion of the Urdu language, drew more than 1,50,000 people in 2018.

Ajit Anjum earlier apologised for using casteist slurs

Earlier this month, YouTuber Ajit Anjum was forced to tender an apology after being rebuked by an Ambedkarite, who took offence at his use of casteist slurs in one of his videos. In the video that had gone viral on the internet, Anjum uttered “chori-chamari” while conversing with locals in Sivalkhas, Meerut.

But this did not sit well with self-described Ambedkarite Suraj Bauddh, who objected to Anjum’s casteist slurs and asked him to not use them under the pretext of proverbs. Anjum apologised for the remarks, saying that he uttered those words by mistake and had intended to speak “chori-chakari”, not “chori chamari”.

“I’m sorry @SurajKrBauddh, I wanted to speak “chori-chakari” but I do not know how it was said. I sincerely apologize. I hope you all will forgive me. I am neither like this nor think so I am also among the few journalists who may have gone among Dalits many times in the last 6 months,” Anjum tweeted.

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri deactivates Twitter account after receiving death threats for his upcoming movie ‘The Kashmir Files’

OpIndia Staff
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Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri deactivates Twitter account after receiving death threats for his upcoming movie ‘The Kashmir Files’

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri has deactivated his Twitter account after he was shadow-banned by Twitter and received death threats and vulgar calls to stop the release of his upcoming movie, ‘The Kashmir Files’. The movie depicts the plight of Kashmiri Pandit refugees following the 1990 Kashmiri Pandit exodus from the valley.

The filmmaker penned an open letter explaining the ordeal he has gone through since he started the campaign #TheKashmirFiles on the microblogging site to promote his upcoming movie. He explained how he and his family are being continuously hounded by what seems to be “Pakistani and Chinese bots” for making an “honest film on the pain and sufferings of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters.”

He wrote, “A lot of people are wondering if my Twitter account is suspended. No, it’s not. I have deactivated it. Here is why: Since I started the campaign of #TheKashmirFiles, Twitter shadowbanned me. My followers dropped drastically and most of my followers couldn’t see any of my tweets. On top of that, my DM was filled with vulgar and threatening messages (by you know who). It’s not that I can’t handle such elements, but it seemed there were many Pakistani & Chinese bots. However tough you may be, it’s mentally testing to be surrounded by such intense hate and threats for your family. For what? Making an honest film on the pain and sufferings of our Kashmiri brothers & sisters? Is that why they are rattled that the truth may come out? The ugly world of social media has given the power to a lot of evil elements. And our silence gives them hope to succeed. TheKashmirFiles breaks that silence. Loud and clear.”

The filmmaker further added, “I have always spoken against India’s enemies. #The KashmirFiles is an attempt to expose inhuman terrorism that has destroyed India’s most sacred land of Shiva & Saraswati. And now religious terrorism is making inroads in mainland India. That’s why they want people to like me silenced. I always speak for those who can’t be heard. I have been exposing many untruths and fake narratives by anti-India Urban Naxals. They want to silence me. But I know very well that silence helps tragic events like Kashmir Genocide. They must know that I can’t be silenced. I thank all my followers and fans for your love and support. Love. Always.”

Twitter suspensions and shadow-banning

Twitter, the social media juggernaut known for its liberal bias, has been often chastised for arbitrarily suspending or shadow-banning accounts of those who don’t share its political ideologies. Last year, on the 15th of December, journalist Aarti Tikoo, a Kashmiri Pandit herself, took to Twitter to raise alarm about Islamic terrorists from Kashmir issuing death threats to her brother. Two days later, on the 17th of December, Twitter India, the social media giant, decided to “lock” Aarti Tikoo’s account. The notice that Aarti got said that she could “unlock” her account if she deleted the tweet about her brother getting threats.

In 2020, Twitter allegedly shadow-banned Kashmir-based Indian Army’s Chinar Corp’s account for unclear reasons. It has been alleged that the shadow-ban was imposed after the account posted details of a rescue operation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Vivek Agnihotri details the plight of Kashmiri Hindus when insurgency began in the valley in his upcoming movie The Kashmir Files

‘The Kashmir Files,’ hailed as one of the most important, current, and untold stories in Indian history was invited by various major institutes and organisations in the United States for over 30 power-packed screenings and garnered a resounding reaction.

In what can only be described as a source of national pride, Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files, which is based on the true events of the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir, was held high at the Times Square in New York for two continuous days citing the occasion of 73rd Republic Day.

‘The Kashmir Files,’ written and directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, is based on video interviews with first-generation victims of the Kashmir Genocide of the Kashmiri Pandit Community.

The movie reportedly takes the audiences back to the year 1989 when an unprecedented insurgency began in Kashmir and a vast majority of Hindus were forced to leave the valley. According to the reports, approximately 100,000 of an estimated Kashmiri Pandit population of 140,000 left the valley between February and March 1990. More of them left in the following years so that, by 2011, only around 3,000 families remained in the valley.

‘The Kashmir Files’ stars Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, Pallavi Joshi, Chinmay Mandlekar, Puneet Issar among the prime cast.

The film ‘The Kashmiri Files’ was scheduled for its theatrically worldwide on 26 January 2022, coinciding with India’s 73rd Republic Day, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, especially with the spread of the Omicron variant.

From LeT, Al-Qaeda to ISIS terrorists: The sordid history of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind of extending legal aid to terror-accused

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From LeT, Al-Qaeda to ISIS terrorists: The sordid history of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind of extending legal aid to terror-accused

Within hours after the special court in Ahmedabad announced the death penalty to 38 Islamic terrorists and granted life imprisonment to 11 others for their role in the 2008 Ahmedabad bomb blast case, the notorious Deoband-based radical Islamic organisation Jamiat Ulema-e Hind has already rejected the verdict saying that the decision of the special court is unbelievable.

Maulana Arshad Madani, the President of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, said that “the decision of the special court is unbelievable, we will go to the High Court against the punishment and continue the legal battle”.

Maulana Madani stated that the country’s top lawyers would fight tooth and nail to protect the criminals from being hanged. “We are confident that the High Court will deliver complete justice to these individuals,” said the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief.

Well, this is not the first time that the radical Islamic terrorist organisation is coming to the rescue of the terrorists or the terror-accused. It constantly provides such legal support to Muslims accused in terrorism cases.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH), one of the most influential and the largest Islamic organisations, has provided such legal support to Muslims accused of terrorism cases for over a decade now.

Jamiat defends terror-accused, says it is its duty to fight for people who are falsely implicated

The Islamic organisation defends its actions, saying that they provide legal services to those “innocent Muslims” who are falsely implicated. The legal cell, set up by JUH president Maulana Arshad Madani in 2007, takes up the cases and enlists lawyers to defend the terror accused in the courts.

According to a New Indian Express report, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has offered its services to around 700 accused. What is worrying about such interventions is that they have been able to get acquittals of at least 192 terror accused since 2007.

Most of the acquittals have not come because they were found innocent; instead, they were being released due to technicality or lack of evidence or because of the poor investigation by the police.

The 7/11 Mumbai train blasts, the 2006 Malegaon blasts and the Aurangabad Arms cases were some of the initial cases that were taken up by the JUH legal cell. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had also defended the accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case, the 2011 Mumbai triple blasts case, Mulund blast case, Gateway of India blasts case.

From Al-Qaeda terrorists, Lashkar-e-Taiba to ISIS: The clients of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind

On its website, the JUH has listed the terror-related cases it is fighting on behalf of the accused Muslims.

In 2013, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had provided free legal aid to Indian Mujahedeen terrorist Mirza Himayat Baig, who was accused in the German Bakery bomb blast case. The Indian Mujahideen terrorist was sentenced to death by a Pune court on April 18, 2013, along with co-accused Yasin Bhatkal.

Some of the other cases in which Jamiat has come forward to provide legal aid to terror-accused:

  • Lashkar Connection Case (Abdul Rahman V/s State SLP)
  • ISIS conspiracy case Kochi (State of Kerala v/s Arshi Qureshi & others)
  • ISIS conspiracy case Mumbai (Arshi Qurashi & others v/s State of Maharashtra)
  • ISIS conspiracy case (State of Rajasthan v/s Sirajuddin)
  • 26/11 Mumbai attack case (Syed Zabiuddin v/s State of Maharashtra)
  • Chinnaswamy Stadium Bomb Blast Case (State V/s Qatil Siddiqui and others)
  • Jungli Maharaj Road Pune Bomb blast case (A.T.S. v/s Asad Khan & others)
  • Indian Mujahideen Case (Maharashtra VS Afzal Usmani & others)
  • Zaveri Bazar Serial Blast (State v/s Azaz Shaikh and others)
  • SIMI conspiracy case (Madhya Pradesh) State V/S Irfan Muchale & others)
  • Jama Masjid Blast Case (Delhi State V/s Qateel Siddqui Others)
  • Indian Mujahideen conspiracy case (State vs. Yasin Bhatkal & others) Ahmedabad Serial Blast Case 2008 (State V/s Jahid & Others)

In addition to supporting the terror-accused, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had recently stoked a controversy by extending all possible legal and financial aid to the killers of Hindu leader Kamlesh Tiwari, who was brutally assassinated in his office in Lucknow. The Jamiat had said that it is willing to bear all the legal costs and had also offered the head of their legal cell to defend the five accused in the Kamlesh Tiwari murder.

In June last year, the Deoband-based organisation had also deputed its lawyers to defend alleged Al-Qaeda terrorists in Uttar Pradesh. The organisation had declared that it would provide legal assistance to the two terror suspects.

Now, it has yet again come to the rescue of 49 terrorists, who have been convicted for planning and executing 21 bomb blasts in Ahmedabad that killed nearly 56 innocent people.

Well, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has every right to defend convicts and accused that it perceives were implicated on false charges. However, when it jumps to the rescue of those charged with terrorism, including convicts who have a watertight case against them, it is essentially sending a message to all radical elements that no matter what, they will continue to support them regardless of their culpability.

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