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Fact-check: is Amazon selling Bhindranwale and Khalistan t-shirts in India?

Amidst ongoing farmer protests and the latest incident of violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, the presence of Khalistani terrorists and sympathizers in India have become a matter of concern. Recently, a Sikh youth was seen wearing a t-shirt with a portrait of Khalistan terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Around these concerns, some social media posts have claimed that the e-commerce platform Amazon is selling Bhindranwale and Khalistan t-shirts in India. OpIndia dug into the claims, and here is what we have found.

Screenshot of the tweet showing Bhindranwale t-shirt by Punjabi Clothing Co.
Another tweet with a link to an Amazon US store that sells Bhindranwale merchandise.

Does Amazon India sell Bhindranwale t-Shirts?

As a matter of fact, the website does not sell any product with Bhindranwale or Khalistani markings. When we searched Bhindranwale on Amazon.in, we found only books related to the Khalistani terrorist. We will discuss the books later in the report.

The same goes with Khalistan, Jarnail Singh and related keywords. We did not find any product that specifically pointed towards any sign that Amazon India sells such products in India.

We only found books related to Bhindranwale on Amazon’s Indian store.

The case is different in other countries

So what about the screenshots that were made to the social media platform? These screenshots were of the products that are available on the Amazon US website and stores in other countries. It has to be noted that the products that are available in Indian stores are different from the Amazon store in the US or other locations as they cater for the local sellers on priority to ensure faster deliveries.

Very few products from US stores are available for shipping in India, and Bhindranwale or Khalistan related products are not among them. The brand Punjabi Clothing Co. not only sells Bhindranwale t-shirt but it also sells “Never Forget 1984” merchandise on Amazon US.

Bhindranwale and Khalistani merchandise available on Amazon US store. Source: Amazon US

Other products related to Bhindranwale, Khalistan etc. include, but not limited to, Khalistani flags, posters and more.

Bhindranwale and Khalistani merchandise available on Amazon US store. Source: Amazon US
Bhindranwale and Khalistani merchandise available on Amazon US store. Source: Amazon US

Websites that sell Khalistan or Bhindranwale linked products in India

Though Amazon, Flipkart and similar e-commerce giants do not sell such products in India, some websites openly sell t-shirts with Bhindranwale portraits. Such websites include Punjabi Adda and Desert Cart. Punjabi Adda is run by one 1669 Studios that operates from Punjab.

On the other hand, Desert Cart is a UAE based company that offers products related to Bhindranwale and Khalistan to be imported from the US to India.

US based websites that sell Bhindranwale merchandise outside India

There are countless websites that sell Bhindranwale and Khalistan related merchandise outside India. These websites include, but not limited to, Red Bubble, Zazzle and Tee Public.

Screenshot of Redbubble with T-shirts of Bhindranwale. Source: Redbubble
Screenshot of some of the T-shirts available on Zazzle related to Khalistan. Source: Zazzle
Tee Public has a large collection of merchandise related to the Terrorist Bhindranwale and Khalistan. Source: Teepublic

The books related to Bhindranwale on Amazon India

There are several books that are available on Bhindranwale on Amazon India. We noticed at least four books in the Indian store that refer to Bhindranwale as a “Sant”. In case these books are removed from Amazon, there will always be a chance that they will be available on other platforms or in book shops. Another problem is, it is quite easy to get books, mugs, posters and other material printed and distributed without any problem in most parts of the country, especially in Punjab, where a section of the Sikh community still sees Bhindranwale as a ‘sant’.

Notably, farmer union leader Rakesh Tikait had recently sided with the young Sikh man wearing a Bhindranwale t-shirt during the Lakhimpur incident. He categorically denied condemning the Sikh youth and said while government think of Bhindranwale as a terrorist, some people see him as a saint.

Verdict: No, Amazon India does not sell Bhindranwale or Khalistan related products in India. The screenshots being shared on social media platforms are from Amazon US and other locations.

9000 crores heroin bust at Mundra port: NIA to investigate, UAPA invoked against arrested accused

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the investigation of the case where 2,988.21 kgs of heroin worth Rs 9000 crore from the Mundra Port, Gujarat, were seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) last month. The port is managed by the Adani Group.

The DRI last month had recovered narcotics from two containers from a cargo consignment that arrived at Mundra port. As per reports, the heroin consignment had originated from Afghanistan and it was dispatched as a consignment of semi-processed talc stones. The consignment had arrived from Bandar Abbas Port, Iran.

In the wake of the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs; the NIA on Wednesday lodged an FIR. NIA has invoked sections 120 B of IPC, section 8 (C), 23 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) and section 17, 18 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 against accused Machavaram Sudhakaran, his wife Durga PV Govindaraju, Rajkumar P and others.

Since the narcotics substance originated from Afghanistan now ruled by the radical Islamic terrorist outfit Taliban, the Centre and the probe agency have not ruled out it as a case of narco-terrorism. Due to the seriousness of the case and its international ramification, the NIA has been assigned the investigation. It is notable here that the Taliban raises most of its funds by selling opium.

Vijaywada-based trading compnay

Chennai-based Sudhakaran and Govindaraju own the company which was shipping heroin. Govindaraju owns M/s Aashi Trading Company, registered at Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. It was importing the talc from a firm called M/s Hasan Husain Ltd. Another accused Rajkumar, from Coimbatore, worked in Iran. He was coordinating with foreign suppliers.

So far nine suspects have been arrested including four Afghanis and one Uzbek national. After the seizure, the DRI carried raids in Delhi, Noida (UP), Chennai, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Mandvi, Gandhidham and Vijaywada. This led to the recovery of 16.1 kg of heroin from a warehouse in Delhi, 10.2 kg powder suspected to be cocaine and 11 kg of substance suspected to be heroin from a residential place in Noida.

Since the port is managed by the Adani Group, Congress and its ecosystem started spreading rumours and accuse the chairman of the group, Gautam Adani, of using the port to smuggle the contraband. Adani Group had to issue a clarification that they only manage the port and checking cargo is not under their authority.

‘They had asked students to attend August 15 event’: Pakistan-sponsored terror org takes responsibility for killing 2 non-Muslim teachers in Srinagar school

Pakistan’s new terror outfit ‘The Resistance Front’ (TRF) has released a statement on October 7, in which they have taken the responsibility for the killing of school teachers of the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Idgah, Sangam in Srinagar.

“Shaheed Gazi Squad (TRF) carried out today’s target attack in Srinagar”, read the statement. It further claimed that the teachers were targeted because they had urged students to attend the August 15th Independence Day function held in the school.

Statement released by ‘The Resistance Front’ (TRF)’ taking responsibility for the killing of school teachers in Srinagar today (source: Twitter user @Shivanibazaz)

Calling it a “filthy function”, the Pakistan terror outfit said that despite their warning and threat, these teachers had “harassed and warned the parents with dire consequences if any student didn’t attend the occupier regime’s 15th August filthy function at their school”.

In the statement, TRF threatened residents in Jammu and Kashmir, warning that no one would be spared if they chose to become “a pawn of occupier’s dictates or implement occupier’s dirty commands only to placate the occupier.”

They claimed that the killings had nothing to do with religion and warned those elements who try to give this a religious angle. “Our fight is to safeguard our Freedom”, wrote the terror outfit, adding that the “domicile holders, stooges, and collaborators”, regardless of religion, are enemies of the Kashmir struggle and will not be spared.

The Resistance Front also warned people against installing CCTV cameras at shops and residences, “otherwise, our wrath will have no limit so shun these”, read the statement.

‘The Resistance Front’ (TRF) is the same Pakistani terrorist organisation that had, last year in the month of June, threatened to kill all Indian civilians who are not from Kashmir and plan to settle in the valley.

Terrorists shoot dead teachers in a Srinagar school after separating Muslim from non-Muslims

Earlier in the day, we reported how terrorists had shot Principal Satinder Kaur and teacher Deepak Chand at point-blank range at the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Idgah, Sangam in Srinagar. They were rushed to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Kaur belonged to the minority Sikh community, while Chand belonged to the minority community of Kashmiri Pandits. According to Journalist Aditya Raj Kaul, IG Kashmir Vijay Kumar has confirmed the incident.

According to a report of Times Now, 4-5 teachers were having a meeting in the Principal’s office in the school when two terrorists entered the premises. They reportedly first checked phones and ID cards and then separated the Muslim teachers.

The terrorists dragged the two non-Muslim (Sikh and Hindu) teachers out and opened fire at them at point-blank range and fled from the spot.

Prior to this, Islamist terrorists had shot dead three civilians in three separate incidents in Srinagar on Tuesday, October 5.

J&K: Slain Srinagar teachers were segregated, targeted on basis of religion, DGP says ‘civilians targeted to create communal disharmony’

After Kashmiri Pandit Makhan Lal Bindroo was shot dead by Islamic terrorists on Wednesday, two more civilians were gunned down in Srinagar today. Principal Satinder Kaur and teacher Deepak Chand died after they were shot dead at point-blank range at the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Idgah, Sangam in Srinagar. They were rushed to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

As per journalist Aditya Raj Kaul, the terrorists had lined up all the teachers of the Srinagar school. They were all asked to produce their identity cards, mobile phones and interrogated by the terrorists. 

While most, presumably Muslims, were let go, Kaur and Chand were shot dead in targeted killing. It is being reported that the teachers were segregated basis their religion before being killed. 

According to a Times Now report, four to five teachers of the school were conducting a meeting in the Principal’s office when two terrorists entered the premises. 

They reportedly separated the Muslim teachers and dragged the two non-Muslim (Sikh and Hindu) teachers out of the school premises. Then they opened fire at them at point-blank range and fled from the spot.

‘Civilians targeted to create communal disharmony’

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh in a statement to the media said that the civilians are being targeted with an agenda. 

“These recent incidents of targeting civilians are to create an atmosphere of fear, communal disharmony here. This is a conspiracy to target the local ethos & values and defame local Kashmiri Muslims,” he said.

“This is being done on instructions from agencies in Pakistan,” Singh added further. 

A total of five civilians have been killed in the valley in the last three days by terrorists. On Tuesday night, Pakistan sponsored terrorists killed pharmacist Makhan Lal Bindroo, at his pharmacy at Iqbal Park in Srinagar in Kashmir. He had refused to bow down to the terrorists even in the 1990s at the peak of militancy and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus.

Along with him, two other civilians, Virendra Paswan, a native of Bhagalpur district of Bihar who was residing in Alamgari Bazar Zadibal was also killed. He was a street vendor by profession who used to sell bhelpuri at the Hawal area of Srinagar. The third victim was Mohd Shafi Lone, a resident of Naidkhai who was murdered by terrorists in the Shahgund area of Bandipore in North Kashmir. Lone was the president of the local taxi stand.

Income Tax Dept conducts raids at the homes of sisters of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar

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The Income Tax Department on Thursday launched search operations and raids at multiple locations including those DF. As per reports, premises linked to Deputy CM Ajit Pawar were also searched. 

Ajit Pawar informed that the homes of his sisters were searched by the IT officers. “Raids were carried out on my sisters’ houses. Jarandeshwar sugar factory directors have been raided. This is very low-level politics. Just because they are related to me, they are being harassed. Sharad Pawar was also troubled in a similar manner. I don’t know why these raids are being conducted,” he said.

Ajit Pawar further added, “my only grief is that they conducted raids on the premises related to my three sisters. One of them stays in Kolhapur and the other two in Pune.” 

As part of the operation, raids were conducted at the premises of some real estate developers and homes of directors of sugar mills in Maharashtra. These include Daund Sugar, Jarandeshwar Sugar, Pushpadanteshwar Sugar, Ambalika Sugar in the Pune district. 

Additionally, the premises of a builder linked to the minister in Goa and Mumbai is also being searched along with some entry operators

ED attaches Sugar Mill properties linked to Deputy CM Ajit Pawar

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in July had attached assets worth over Rs 65 crores belonging to Jarandeshwar Sahkari Sugar Karkhana (SSK), a Koregaon, Satara-based sugar cooperative factory linked to Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

According to the reports, the ED provisionally attached the land, machinery and buildings of the company under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case related to the fraud at Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB).

As per ED, the funds used to purchase the Jarandeshwar SSK were routed through another sugar mill, which is in turn funded by Sparkling Soil Private Limited, a company linked to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra Pawar. 

During an investigation, the ED had found that MSCB sold Jarandeshwar SSK in 2010 in an auction at a lower price than fair value.

Prior to this, the Income-tax department had concluded raids of builders having close links to Congress leader Ashok Chavan. 

The USA should look in the rearview mirror, evaluate their own sins and stop tarnishing Hindus

By far the most peaceful religion in the world is Hinduism. Some may therefore label Hindus as being soft, over accommodating, liberal, tolerant, tending to be timid and meek. That is a fact and is the start point for any discussion on the subject. Hindu dharma has never believed in conversion and coercion and has never beheaded anyone. No Hindu has taken a truckload of explosives and blasted a building killing 300 innocent people in a suicide mission nor taken a planeload of passengers ramming into a tower killing thousands.

Let us look at the dictionary meaning of the word phobia. It is ‘an exaggerated, usually inexplicable without any rationale and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation ‘

Yes – illogical. 

This implies that phobia can be created, fabricated and insinuated. You instil fear by telling someone about a haunted house and ghosts within. He will never enter that house at night again. 

You can also create a smoke screen to do something nefarious behind it. Or worst – an imaginary Hornet’s nest.

America putting its hand into the beehives as a habit

The western world, especially the Americans are great at creating an imaginary hornet’s nest on a high tree for themselves. They rig up a scenario so convincing that oftentimes they fool themselves too. Then they climb that tree without a safety net and fall down when the branch breaks, breaking a couple of their bones. The best part is, they convince a few more friends to climb the same tree and also make them fall and break their bones. In the meantime due to this noise and commotion, the actual beehive on the adjacent tree falls with a thud on the ground with thousands of bees stinging them, who now can’t run for cover because of the broken bones.

Collateral damage is for the friends who had joined them in this misadventure and they get bitten and run for cover. Don’t forget these bees don’t leave you so easily and chase you for quite some time as you are running for cover and screaming.

This is exactly what happened when George W Bush told Americans that Saddam Hussein was responsible for planning the 9/11 attack with Al Qaida (who had admitted to the crime). To top it all he said with a straight face that Iraq has WMD (Weapons of Mass destruction – Nuclear, Biological and chemical weapons) and Americans would get into his hornet’s nest and destroy him. All along the top guys in US administration including the secretary of state knew that it was a lie, yet they all sucked up to their POTUS and not only convinced the Americans but more than two dozen other fully sane nations. Go climb the tree and break your bones. And they happily did that. God bless America. Blessed Americans lost more than 4000 soldiers though casualties of British forces were far lesser. Not one WMD was found. This is for the credibility of their white house and the entire top administration lock stock and barrel.

This was the WMD phobia for the world. Can you trust these guys even one bit? Nah! This is just the beginning.

The Americans almost at the same time entered Afghanistan (2001) and thought they would get a foothold near Russia and looked at it as a golden opportunity. They also allegedly armed and trained the Taliban, a terrorist organization. Americans believed that mastermind of the 9/11 attack, Osama Bin Laden, was hiding in Afghanistan. They went in for sure but made a mess of it.

Americans deployed their troops for almost 20 years in Afghanistan and trained and armed Afghan Army to protect Afghanistan from terrorist organization. They planted yet another bogey report for the world about investing more than two trillion dollars to save Afghan people! In fact a handful of US companies back home earned more than that in terms of supplying arms, logistics and services in Afghanistan. So dollars went from one pocket of Uncle Sam to the other pocket and made a sucker out of the world especially Afghan people and left the entire region as an open wound. But they left 85 billion dollar weapon bounty for the Afghans as they decided to withdraw.

So much for the credibility, intelligence, common sense and intention of the American establishment. 

America’s Hinduphobia: A smokescreen putting Hindus at risk

Americans have barely got out of the mess of Afghanistan and they are again at their old tricks.

This time it may not be directly the White house but some top universities in the US that are creating yet another hornet’s nest for themselves, targeting Hindus with fancy (but unremarkable) conferences like “Dismantling Global Hindutva”. While American Universities focussed on painting a target on every Hindu’s back, it cannot be ruled out that certain religious organisations like the Church and political interests in India who wants the Modi govt ousted were involved in the malicious campaign against Hindus.

The western press like Washington Post, BBC and New York Times are highly biased against India and would be too happy to join this bogey. By the way, Indian masses don’t read these papers and Dainik Jagran a popular daily is several times more in daily circulation than even the Times of India claiming to be the largest English newspaper. Indian masses love to read their own language, and they matter. There is an orchestrated effort to create smoke without fire. It is rather evident that integrity is a bribable commodity and people with fistful of dollars can buy it across the table. 

As mentioned earlier not one Hindu American citizen or a student was seen participating in any act of terrorism, then what is this noise about? Yes it is a phobia to the tee, as there is no valid reason for this make-belief fear. 

On the contrary, Hindus who peacefully co-exist in all the western countries are attacked by the whites for just no reason. Just for the western friends let us do a quick check on the terror contours that has been hammering them all the while. How many terrorists with names like Sharma, Khanna, Kamala, Mehta, Subramaniam, Nair, Iyer, Sen Gupta, Patel, Kapoor or Chatterjee can you identify as terrorists? Now you have a list of the names of the guys who rammed your own planes into the twin towers and the Pentagon on 9/11. Please try to match the lists.

This is an outright propaganda against a perfectly decent civilization.

It is pertinent to note that America is originally a country of native Americans popularly referred to as ‘Red Indians’ was systematically conquered by the European whites now called the white Americans.

From the 16th through the 19th centuries, the population of Native Americans sharply declined. Epidemic disease was the overwhelming cause of the population decline of the Native Americans because of their lack of immunity to new diseases brought from Europe. In 1634, Andrew White had established a mission in what is now the state of Maryland, and the purpose of the mission, stated through an interpreter to the chief of an Indian tribe there, was “to extend civilization and instruction to his ignorant race, and show them the way to heaven”.

It is alleged that there are a number of documented cases where diseases were deliberately spread among Native Americans as a form of biological warfare. The most well-known example occurred in 1763, when Sir Jeffery Amherst, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces of the British Army, wrote praising the use of smallpox-infected blankets to “extirpate” the Indian race. Blankets infected with smallpox were given to Native Americans. Can you believe this?

The world should be scared of you and not the other way round

Proponents of this white man religio-academic-politico-rich propaganda called ‘Dismantling Hindutva’, which is essentially their deep-rooted Hinduphobia, must cross their heart and ask ‘How many of your Churches have been demolished by Hindus to construct a temple?’ The answer will be a big ‘Zero’. Now take stock of the entire situation. 

America created a fire in the oil-rich areas for their own greed and look how they are hounding them. Their acts have given birth to a new way of warfare called ‘terrorism’. The blame squarely lands on the USA’s door. They wanted the cold war to go on and on to settle scores with Russia and see what they have done to their own people? The USA has hoodwinked its own people and their honest and patriotic Military. Today their soldiers are throwing away medals and the whole world hates them. They have killed innocent people as if their lives don’t matter? They have created thousands of terrorists due to these indiscriminate killings- and they will get them.

The USA is helping those who are not fully united to get united. Thank you

The USA’s foot is still stuck in the hornet’s nest they had created in the oil-rich nations and it is now a reality. They are in any case paying for it but the world is paying for their sins tooWhy do they need to stoke another civilization? Hindus are peace-loving people and have contributed a lot to world peace. They mind their own business and don’t ask for special privileges or special laws. Then what is bothering the USA?

The USA has a dark past and the country should perhaps look in the rearview mirror before pointing fingers.

Pakistani court charges actors Saba Qamar and Bilal Saeed of desecrating Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore by shooting a song

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On October 6, Wednesday, a Pakistan court indicted actress Saba Qamar and her co-star and singer Bilal Saeed in a case registered against them in August last year. A case had been registered against the ‘Hindi Medium’ actress in Pakistan pertaining to the shooting of a music video in the historic Wazir Khan mosque located in the old city of Lahore.

The two were charged with desecration of the mosque by Pakistani judicial magistrate Javeria Bhatti. The court has scheduled the next hearing in the case on October 14 and directed the prosecution to present its witnesses on that day.

Meanwhile, both the actress and the singer have pleaded before the court ‘not guilty’. They said they would contest the trial.

Speaking on the issue, the actress asserted that she was booked under “baseless facts”. “No dance or music took place at the mosque. I am falsely implicated in this case,” she pleaded before the court.

The controversy surrounding a video shot by actress Saba Qamar in Wazir Khan mosque in Pakistan

A huge controversy had erupted after the Pakistani actress had announced the release of her song Qubool last year on August 11.

Soon after the announcement, a clip of them dancing in the mosque started to circulate on social media, triggering a controversy. Pakistan’s Akbari Gate police registered a case against Saba and Bilal on the complaint of lawyer Farhat Manzoor. As per the Islamic law that Pakistan follows, it is strictly prohibited to sing or play music in a mosque.

On court’s orders, FIR had been registered against the actors and the team under sections including “offences relating to religion, injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class, and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting Its religion or religious beliefs.”

Despite issuing a clarification-cum-apology for shooting a song sequence in the historic Wazir Khan Mosque located in the old city of Lahore, arrest warrants were issued against actress Saba Qamar and singer Bilal Saeed in connection with a case in the month of September.

According to a report in Geo News, the warrants were issued by a judicial magistrate for their failure to appear before the court.

Besides, Pakistan’s Punjab government had also removed two senior officers who allowed the shooting of the song sequence in the mosque.

Saba is also known for the biopic she did on the social media sensation Qandeel Baloch who was murdered by her brother in 2016. She also made headlines when she expressed her grief over checking she had to face while visiting countries like the US and the UK for being a Pakistani.

‘Own it. Own everything you experience… keep calm’: Hrithik Roshan has timely advice for Aryan Khan, currently in NCB custody in drug case

Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan on Thursday wrote a heartfelt note to Aryan Khan, Shah Rukh Khan’s son, who is currently in Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) custody in the luxury cruise drug bust case.

Taking to Instagram, Hrithik Roshan gave some timely advice to the star kid who is currently under nationwide scrutiny after NCB raided a drug party on a luxury cruise liner on 2nd October in middle of a raging pandemic. He talked about the confusion and anger he might be experiencing currently and the pressure. However, he asked Aryan to keep calm and that such testing times will only make him stronger.

Here is the full text of what Hrithik Roshan wrote:

My dear Aryan .
Life is a strange ride . It’s great because it’s uncertain. It’s great cause it throws you curve balls, but god is kind. He gives only the toughest ones the toughest balls to play. You know you are chosen when amidst the chaos you can feel the pressure to hold your own. And I know you must feel it now. The anger, the confusion, the helplessness. Aaah , the very ingredients that are needed to burn the hero out from inside you. But be wary , those same ingredients could burn away the good stuff… the kindness, the compassion, the love. Allow yourself to burn, but just enough.. Mistakes , failings , victories , success… they’r all the same if you know which parts to keep with you and which parts to throw away from the experience. But know that you can grow better with them all. I’v known you as a kid and i’v known you as a man. Own it. Own everything you experience. They’r your gifts. Trust me. In time when you connect the dots… I promise you , It’s gonna make sense. Only if you have stared the devil in his eyes and kept your calm. Keep calm . Observe. These moments are the makers of your Tom. And Tom is going to have a brilliant sun shining. But for it , you must go thru the dark. Calm , still , owning your own. And trusting the light. Within. It’s always there .
Love you man .

Oct 7, 2021

Kashmir: Terrorists shoot dead principal and teacher in a Srinagar school after separating Muslim and non-Muslim teachers

On October 7, terrorists killed two more civilians in a school in Srinagar. Principal Satinder Kaur and teacher Deepak Chand died after they were shot dead at point-blank range at the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Idgah, Sangam in Srinagar. They were rushed to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead. Including these two, a total of five civilians have been killed in the valley in the last three days by terrorists.

Kaur belonged to the minority Sikh community, while Chand belonged to the minority community of Kashmiri Pandits. According to Journalist Aditya Raj Kaul, IG Kashmir Vijay Kumar has confirmed the incident. Security forces have been rushed to the spot.

According to a report of Times Now, 4-5 teachers were having a meeting in the Principal’s office in the school when two terrorists entered the premises. They reportedly separated the Muslim teachers and dragged the two non-Muslim (Sikh and Hindu) teachers out of the school premises. Then they opened fire at them at point-blank range and fled from the spot.

Three civilians including a Kashmiri Pandit were killed on Tuesday

On Tuesday, Islamist terrorists shot dead three civilians in three separate incidents in Srinagar. The first victim was 68 years old man Makhan Lal Bindroo who was shot at his pharmacy at Iqbal Park in Srinagar in Kashmir. Notably, he had refused to leave the valley during the height of militancy in Jammu & Kashmir during the 1990s, when Islamic terrorists had launched an ethnic cleansing drive against Hindus and Kashmiri Pandits. Another deceased was identified as Virendra Paswan, a native of Bhagalpur district of Bihar who was residing in Alamgari Bazar Zadibal. He was a street vendor by profession who used to sell bhelpuri at the Hawal area of Srinagar. The third victim was Mohd Shafi Lone, a resident of Naidkhai. He was killed by terrorists in the Shahgund area of Bandipore in North Kashmir.

While Jharkhand youths, including police personnel, protest against state govt, Congress leaders rush to Lakhimpur Kheri for political tourism

Congress’ ministers and leaders from Jharkhand have rushed to Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh to join the farmers’ agitation at a time when their own backyard is on fire.

The Morabadi ground in Ranchi situated barely 2.7 km from the Congress office and about 2 km from official residence of Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has been reverberating with sloganeering of youths and job aspirants. Belonging to different groups, in less than two years this government has left them disillusioned and say that they realised that Hemant Soren and the UPA alliance fooled them on the name of providing 5 lakh jobs.

Among the youths protesting, 2,500 are assistant police personnel who have been fighting for their regularisation and better salary.

Congress, with four ministers, is part of the Hemant Soren led JMM-Congress-RJD government in Jharkhand. However, none of the Congress leaders have ever visited these youths at Morabadi ground. However, they decided to travel to Lakhimpur Kheri located over 872 km from Ranchi.

Except, now it seems, they are returning to Ranchi after they were stopped near Wyndhamganj by the Uttar Pradesh police. Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur along with ministers Banna Gupta and Badal, MLAs Bandhu Tirkey and Mamata Devi, presidents of five districts and a couple of others were part of the team for Lakhimpur Kheri excursion.

When asked, a senior party functionary said they were instructed by state party in-charge RPN Singh to join the party agitation after Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The leader further charged the Yogi Adityanath government for illegally preventing political leaders and workers from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri. That senior functionary ducked when asked what prevented them from visiting these agitating youths at Morabadi ground.

Roads leading to Morabadi ground were barricaded because protesters often drift to the Chief Minister’s residence on Kanke road for demonstration.

“You can’t count how many men and women are agitating and for what reasons. Even mothers with their kids are protesting. There are at least a dozen different groups of job aspirants: assistant police personnel, panchayat secretary, ITI and many others. It looks like a rally is taking place. This is the ground of unrest that the ruling class of Jharkhand now fears to venture,” said Ranchi resident Vimal Krishnan.

Morabadi ground has a majestic statue of Mahatma Gandhi which is often visited by people and politicians to pray tribute. “But it happened for the first time in the history of Jharkhand when no tribute was paid to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary this year because of the barricading and youths on peaceful demonstration,” said Deepak Lohia, another resident of Ranchi.

Who are these assistant police personnel protesting in Jharkhand

In 2017, the then Raghubar Das government had hired 2500 youths on contractual basis for their deployment in 12 naxal hit districts of Jharkhand. They discharge duties at par with police personnel and get monthly honorarium of Rs 10,000. The Raghubar Das government had made a provision that in future recruitment in the police force they will be given preference. Also if their performance is assessed satisfactory they will be absorbed in the district police in next four to five years.

Meanwhile, Raghubar Das and the BJP lost the 2019 assembly election and the Hemant Soren led alliance rose to power.

“Nothing happened after that. We demand regularization of our job but the government asks us to stay happy with Rs 10,000. The only thing changed all these years is that those who were in the opposition are in power. They used to visit Morabadi ground to support us when they were in the opposition. Now they are running away. They can visit Uttar Pradesh but they will not take care of their own brothers are sisters who are dying,” said a protester.

A week back one of the assistant police personnel, Pushpa Kullu from Gumla district died after her condition deteriorated during demonstration. The death left them deeply hurt. They have composed a song in Nagpuri that translates how Hemant Soren forgot them. Their morning starts with that song.