Ashlee Marie Preston, the activist behind the ‘Team Trans’ Netflix walkout over the Dave Chappelle comedy special, has made a series of problematic tweets in the past. Screenshots of tweets she has made in the past have gone viral that reveal a deep-seated hatred towards Asians and homosexuals.
Matt Orfalea, who is a documentary filmmaker and journalist according to his Twitter profile, shared screenshots of her tweets where she can be seen expressing a desire to commit violence against homosexuals.
Source: Matt Orfalea/Twitter
A series of tweets also show bigotry towards Asian Americans. In one tweet, she claimed that she had broken her phone on the head of an Asian woman. The tweets are littered with abuses of the worst kind.
Source: Matt Orfalea/Twitter
Ashlee Marie Preston has served as a campaign surrogate for Elizabeth Warren during the latter’s presidential campaign in 2020. It was then that her past tweets had first surfaced, for which she issued an apology. Preston blamed her substance abuse for the tweets.
She had said in October, 2019, “At the height of my meth addiction (8/9 years ago) I made a series of racially insensitive and homophobic tweets. I wasn’t out yet, and was dealing with internalized transphobia while homeless in a neighborhood where I felt culturally inferior. I’d stay up for days on end, tweeting from an impaired conscious—while shadow-boxing (via tweet) with anyone who made me feel less than.”
“Although those tweets were resurfaced as a political play; I take full responsibility for my actions and deeply apologize to those I’ve offended or hurt. I also apologize to those indirectly impacted by these developments. At over 7 1/2 years clean and sober; I’ve learned to make amends when I’m wrong and to take complete accountability for my actions. I didn’t have the education, information, mentorship, or cultural competence I have now. I’m also not strung out on drugs and have a clear heart and mind, today,” she had added.
The tweet appear to have been deleted since then.
The Netflix Walkout over Dave Chappelle comedy special
Netflix employees on Wednesday staged a walkout accusing comedian Dave Chappelle of making “transphobic” comments in his comedy special for the streaming platform. The walkout has received support from celebrities across the board, although ordinary people on social media appear to be firmly behind the comedian.
CEO Ted Sarandos, too, stood by the comedy special and said that it is consistent with the kind of content Netflix seeks to offer to its audience. After his initial memos, where he asserted that “content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm”, Sarandos claimed to have screwed up his response in an interview later. But even so, he stood by his decision to let the comedy special remain as it is on the platform.
A 55=year=old woman was found brutally murdered in Jaipur Rural in Rajasthan, with her feet chopped off. The woman has been identified as Geeta Devi Sharma, who was found dead in the fields at Khatepura village in Jaipur Rural’s Jamwa Ramgarh sub-division.
The assailants hacked off her feet and remove the silver anklets she was wearing. Besides, assailants also stole her earrings. The severed limbs were found near her body. There were also injury marks on her head and neck. On Tuesday the victim, who was a native of Khatepura village, had taken her cattle to the fields for grazing. In the afternoon a villager passing through the area spotted her body lying in the pool of blood. The place of crime is a secluded place with few people passing through the area.
Police suspect that it was a handiwork of robbers who were apparently hiding to rob people. There are also possibilities that she was murdered out of enmity and assailants deliberately chopped off her legs and remove anklets so that it looks like a case of road robbery. As the Ashok Gehlot government came under fire for the total collapse of law and order in Rajasthan, the government announced compensation for the family. Local residents have angrily protested this killing.
Villagers protesting against killing. Picture source Dainik Bhaskar
The family of the woman has accused police of surpassing facts relating to the case, saying that there were 15 cut marks on the body which was not revealed by police. Radheshyam Sharma, the brother-in-law of Geeta Devi, said, “The police mentioned to the media that Geeta Devi had been cut at three places, whereas the fact is that her body had been cut at 15 places. The woman who bathed her body before cremation even fell unconscious upon seeing the condition of her body.”
Jaipur District Collector Antar Singh Nehra who visited the spot on Wednesday and met the family said that under Victim Compensation Scheme, Rs 5 lakh will be given and an additional Rs 3 lakh will be given under CM Relief Fund to the family of the victim.
SP of Jaipur (Rural) Shankar Dutt Sharma told the media that 30 teams comprising 400 policemen including four Additional SPs, eight Deputy SPs, 15 Circle Inspectors and two companies of Rajasthan Armed Constabulary have been pressed for investigating the case and tracking accused. Besides, the forensic team and dog squad too have been deployed for the investigation. But there is no breakthrough so far.
Opposition party BJP has raised the issue of deteriorating law and order situation in the state under the Congress government. State BJP president Satish Poonia said that women are suffering in Rajasthan under Congress rule.
कांग्रेस सरकार के शासन में राजस्थान की अबलाएँ खून के आँसू रो रही हैं; हमारा शांतिपूर्ण राजस्थान अब अपराधिस्थान रेपिस्तान बन गया है।
BJP national spokesperson and Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Rathore joined the protest against the broad daylight killing of an elderly woman. “Is this the state of law and order in Rajasthan where criminals murdered a woman in the village in broad daylight? The Rajasthan government has stated that an FIR has been lodged. Whether the responsibility of the Rajasthan government ends with FIR? The government is stating that a compensation of Rs 5 lakh will be given to the family. We the people raise fund and give it to Rajasthan government to save life of people,” Rajyavardhan Rathore said.
राजस्थान में दिन-दिहाड़े एक महिला की ऐसे निर्मम हत्या हो सकती है तो असल में यहाँ कौन सुरक्षित है? जनता असुरक्षा की भावना के साथ जीने के लिए मजबूर है; यह कड़वा सच है। pic.twitter.com/rl7Ch8DX0e
BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena asked when Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Rajasthan to fight for women. Referring to her slogan ‘Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon (I’m a girl who can fight) in Uttar Pradesh, Meena asked whether the crime record of Rajasthan is enough for her to visit Rajasthan. “Padharo Mhare Desh, (come to our land),” Meena.
“Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi rush to Uttar Pradesh. They should also come to Rajasthan to see what is happening here under Congress rule,” Meena added. He said that the Rajasthan chief minister instead of protecting women is busy praising and glorifying Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and their family to save CM post.
Sameer Wankhede, the Zonal Director of the Mumbai unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has said that he will be sending a legal notice to NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik for levelling allegations against him in connection to the Mumbai cruise drugs case. Rejecting the allegations made by Nawab Malik, Sameer Wankhede said that Malik should give evidence instead of levelling allegations.
Talking about his visit to the Maldives that Malik had alleged to be part of some nexus with Bollywood, Wankhede told Republic TV that he had gone to the Maldives with his family using his own money, and he had taken due permission before the vacation. He asked if he had done a crime by going to the Maldives using his own salary. He also said that he has never visited Dubai, and called it a blatant lie, refuting the charges made by Malik.
I've never been to Dubai; took due permission when I went to Maldives; have I committed crime by travelling on my own salary? Let them give evidence instead of levelling allegations: NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede on NCP Leader Nawab Malik's charges https://t.co/oefJxIhn1Dpic.twitter.com/Vt1EEGqZzp
Referring to continuous allegations made against him in the last few days after the NCB busted the rave party in a cruise ship and arrested Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, Sameer Wankhede said that his dead mother has been attacked, his father and sister have been targeted and abuse.
Sameer Wankhede added that he is being personally targeted by minister Nawab Malik because he has booked a case in which Malik’s relative is involved. In January this year, Nawab Malik’s son-in-law Sameer Khan was arrested by NCB in connection with a drug case. Sameer Khan was arrested in a connection with a case where 200 kilograms of marijuana was seized from Bandra. He was released on bail in September, after spending 8 months in jail.
Yasmeen Wankhede, lawyer and Sameer Wankhede’s sister also refuted the allegations by NCP, saying the minister should felicitate the NCB officer instead for works he has been doing against drugs.
Earlier today, Nawab Malik had accused Sameer Wankhede of ‘extortion’, and released some photographs of Yasmeen Wankhede in the Maldives. He had said, “A special officer was brought in to the NCB after Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide. CBI is investigating the case but the mystery over his suicide or murder remains unresolved. But the NCB is now after the film industry. Dozens of actors were paraded before the NCB. Rhea Chakraborty was implicated.”
— Nawab Malik نواب ملک नवाब मलिक (@nawabmalikncp) October 21, 2021
Alleging a link between Sameer Wankhede and Bollywood, Malik had questioned why Wankhede was visiting the Maldives when several Bollywood celebrities were visiting the nation at the same time. “During the pandemic, the entire film industry was in the Maldives. Sameer Wankhede must clarify what he and his family members were doing there at that time,” he said. Malik also added that Wankhede should clarify whether he was in Dubai.
Nawab Malik later posted photographs Yasmeen Wankhede had posted on her social media accounts to prove that the family had visited Maldives. He had also said, “We are very clear. All this extortion took place in Maldives and Dubai”.
The Nihang Sikhs camping at the Singhu border have been in the headlines ever since they brutally lynched a Dalit labourer Lakhbir Singh. Now, once again, reports have emerged where another Dalit worker has fallen victim to their rage. A poultry farm worker was allegedly beaten up at the border area for not yielding to the demands of a Nihang Sikh.
The incident reportedly took place on Thursday, October 21. Two videos of the worker, whose leg is alleged to have been broken, have also surfaced online.
A report by the Hindi daily, Dainik Bhaskar, suggests that a Nihang named Naveen Sandhu, who is involved in the ‘farmers’ protest, had assaulted the labourer who supplied chicken near the Singhu border. In a fit of rage, Naveen Sandhu purportedly broke the poultry worker’s leg when the latter refused to give him chicken.
In a video shared by Newsroom Post, the injured victim, a poultry worker named Manoj Paswan, sits helplessly on the floor while narrating his ordeal. Manoj, who is a native of Bihar, said that he had come from the farm and was going to deliver the chicken when a “Sardarji” demanded chicken from him. The injured worker further added that he refused to give a chicken to the Sikh as he was carrying a limited and accounted quantity of poultry.
At this point, Manoj Pawan took out some slips from his pocket and showed them in the camera. He claimed that the slips were proof that he had counted number of chicken pieces that he had to deliver, hence he could not spare one for the Nihang. He said he conveyed the same to Sandhu who refused to listen to him and started assaulting him.
सिंघु बॉर्डर: निहंगों पर मारपीट का आरोप, निहंग ने मजदूर से मुर्गा मांगा, नहीं देने पर तोड़ दी टांग pic.twitter.com/1w6uqxq2Xa
Reportedly, another boy who was accompanying Paswan was also beaten up by Sandhu, but he managed to slip out. He then ran back to the poultry farm and informed the people there as to what transpired.
After this, the people of the farm reached the spot and caught the Nikhan Sikh who assaulted Manoj Paswan and handed him over to the Kundli police.
Manoj Paswan works with Satyavan, who runs a chicken shop at Kundli Border. Satyavan told that he has a business of supplying chicken in Kundli and nearby villages. Manoj has been supplying chicken in the villages for 15-16 years. On Thursday too, as usual, when he came out on his rickshaw with chicken from the shop, the Nihang stopped and beat him on the way.
Another video that has gone viral shows Paswan lying on the stretcher of a hospital, saying, “I showed the Nihang the slips of the poultry numbers as well. While I was taking the slip out of my pocket, a beedi came out with it as well. The Nihang abused me for it and said ‘you smoke beedi‘. When I said that everyone smokes beedi, I do as well but do not smoke here, he beat me up again.”
Reports suggest that the accused Sanghu belongs to the Nihang sect that is headed by Baba Aman Singh.
Series of attacks conducted by Nihang Sikhs
Prior to this, the Nihang Sikhs had made it to the news for the brutal execution of a Dalit Sikh labourer at the Kundli border farmers’ protest site just outside of New Delhi on Friday morning.
He was found hanging with his limbs chopped off and tied near his body. A group of Nihang Sikhs were seen admitting to the murder on claims of disrespecting the Guru Granth Sahib.
Following the incident, a video went viral on social media in which the Nihang Sikhs were not only heard justifying the murder of the man in cold blood but also gloating about the sheer barbarity inflicted by them on Lakhbir Singh.
While it may be difficult to forget the scars of this heinous act, this is only one of several recent incidents in which Nihang Sikhs have ruthlessly mutilated and killed people in recent times.
In April last year, a group of five Nihangs, armed with swords and iron rods, had attacked two policemen and chopped off the hands of ASI Harjeet Singh.
Two weeks after the aforementioned incident, a Nihang Sikh identified as Tej Singh allegedly attacked two locals in Mandayali village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh over a small argument. While one victim’s four fingers were chopped off, the other received severe injuries on the head.
The Haryana Police have registered an FIR against Lakhbir Singh, the victim of the brutal murder at the farmer protest site at Singhu border, for alleged desecration of a Sikh holy book. Lakhbir Singh was tortured, his hand was chopped and his legs were cut, and killed by Nihang Sikhs on the allegation that he had desecrated the holy book, and now a case has been filed against the dead man on the same charges.
Dalit Sikh Lakhbir Singh has been booked under section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code, which is known as the blasphemy law of India.
According to a report by the Indian Express, the FIR was registered at Kundli police station on October 17, four days after the death of Lakhbir Singh. It was filed on the basis of a complaint by one Balwinder Singh, a member of Udna Dal, a group of Nihang Sikhs. He belongs to that same group that comprise Bhagwant Singh and Govind Preet, two Nihang Sikhs who have been arrested by the Haryana police in connection with the case.
Confirming the FIR against the deceased, Virender Singh, deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Law and Order, Sonipat, said, “FIR number 612 was registered against Lakhbir Singh under section 295-A of IPC. A probe is underway.”
The FIR was registered by police against Lakhbir Singh after the Nihang Sikhs had threatened more violence if the case was not registered. They have also issued a warning to the police that if more arrests are made in the case, they will forcefully release the Nihang Sikhs already arrested for the crime.
Nihang leader Baba Ram Singh had said, “We have now given the complaint of sacrilege with the police and asked them to register a case against Lakhbir Singh. If now the police try to arrest any other person in this case we will make sure the four in the police custody are taken out by us. Right now we are cooperating with the police, but it doesn’t mean that we will tolerate any kind of excesses from them.”
So far four arrests have been in the case, Sarabjit Singh, Narain Singh, Bhagwant Singh and Govind Preet. Apart from first Sarabjit Singh, the other three were felicitated by fellow Nihang Singhs before their arrests. Narain Singh was felicitated in village in Punjab while the other two were felicitated at the Singhu border.
On the 15th October 2021, Vishal Jood, a young man from Haryana was released from prison in Australia. On September 2 (Local Time), Magistrate K Thomson’s Parramatta LC Court 13 ordered the release of Vishal Jood from an Australian prison.
Vishal pleaded guilty to three minor charges of altercations that happened between September 16, 2020, and February 14, 2021. During the final hearing, Vishal’s lawyer presented video evidence to prove that Jood was provoked by a group of Khalistanis that led to the altercation. For the charges he pleaded guilty to, Jood was sentenced to six months in Jail starting from the day of his arrest, April 16, 2021.
As soon as his sentence was over, Vishaal Jood came back to India, to be with his family, after the tedious moths where he paid the price for standing up for the nation and objecting to Khalistanis abusing the country.
Upon his return, Vishal Jood and his lawyer, Amrendra Singh, sat down for a detailed conversation with OpIndia’s Editor-in-Chief, Nupur J Sharma.
During the interview, several issues pertaining to Vishal Jood’s case were addressed by him and his lawyer. One of the most pertinent issues that was addressed is the chronology of the events. There were separate incidents that had taken place for which, Vishal has been in the news. The first incident was one at Quaker Hill where Khalistanis had congregated for a protest supporters farmers in India. In this incident, they were screaming offensive slogans like “Modi Kutta Hai” and other anti-India slogans. They were also insulting the Indian flag. Vishal had stood up to them and unfurled the Indian flag while standing on the park bench. After this, Vishal was viciously attacked by the Khalistanis.
The second occasion happened on the 14th of February. Right after the Republic Day violence by farmers and Khalistanis, Vishal Jood organised a Tiranga Rally to show solidarity with India. During that rally, Khalistanis started looking for Vishaal Jood. In fact, Jood reveals that while the Tiranga rally was one, the Khalistanis had lied to the Australian police authorities to allege that the participants of the rally were going to attack a Gurudwara. Despite having the required permissions, they were asked to end the rally and turn back.
As Vishal was nearing the starting point, Khalistanis found him and charged at him with a baseball bat. Jood, on his part, snatch the baseball bat and hit their car to scare them instead.
It was this incident for which he plead guilty for the possession of the weapons (a baseball bat which was not even his) and the assault (which was self defence).
Interestingly, the video footage of the Khalistanis attacking Jood was mysteriously missing and therefore, the Khalistani in both incidents, who attacked Jood, have not been charged.
Besides these incidents, Vishal and his lawyer also spoke about the ill-treatment that he received while lodged in prison. On his first day, a Sikh prison guard who was a Khalistani had threatened him. On another occasion, he had got a call threatening him with dire consequences. On both occasions, the prison guards were let off with a warning and Jood was simply moved to a different location inside the same prison.
In the prison, Jood was also denied certain basic rights. He suspects it was the Khalistani prisoner who was responsible for it. On occasion, he would not get his food on time, or was not allowed to make a call to his family.
Aside from these issues, the lawyer of Jood also revealed that the Indian media and parts of the Australian media had misreported that Vishal had been deported from Australia. In reality, he was not deported. He was given the option to get a lifetime visa of Australia but had denied and wanted to come back to India.
The Vishal Jood Case
24-year-old Vishal Jood hails from Haryana and currently pursuing higher studies in Australia. He was arrested for his alleged involvement in three crimes in Sydney on April 16. Reports suggest that he was picked by the Australian Police after a group of Indian nationalists clashed with Khalistani elements in Australia. He was charged with damage to property, affray, and assault.
Interestingly, in all three cases, Khalistanis were named as victims. These Khalistani elements are believed to be Indian-origin, however, they do not identify themselves as Indians but prefer bein
The matter got escalated to the point where both groups gathered at Harris Park and indulged in a gang fight. Jassi, the main culprit in the case, was badly injured. However, Jassi did not back down and continued to threaten Hindus, suggesting he would thrash Haryanvis if he comes across them alone. The tension further escalated between Indians and pro-Khalistani elements once again after the passing of farmer bills in the country and the subsequent protests that began in Punjab in September last year. The protests led by rich farmers and arhatiyas (intermediaries), instigated by Khalistani elements, reached Australia too.
While farmer protests were happening in India, Khalistani elements held similar protests in Australia and used abusive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A few months later, on January 26, the alleged farmers camping at the Delhi border, joining hands with Khalistani elements, had unleashed violence on the streets of New Delhi and desecrated the national flag at Delhi’s Red Fort. The incident sent shockwaves across the world, and the Indian diaspora across the world, including in Australia, condemned the incident.
Reportedly, an Indian flag was also burnt at a Gurudwara in Sydney, but OpIndia could not verify the details. As a retaliation, a Khalistani flag was burnt by Indian students that irked the Khalistanis further. A Tiktok video went viral from a pro-Khalistan account that showed many Khalistanis beating someone up brutally. Soon, they declared they had bashed an individual named Vishal Jood who had ‘insulted their flag’. However, a day later, it came to light that the Khalistanis had ended up beating some random guy, not Vishal.
On February 28 this year, the Khalistanis entered the localities near Sydney’s Harris Park, where Indians live and vandalised cars and properties. On April 16, a few weeks after the alleged crime, Vishal was arrested from his house in Sydney. The Australian police stated that there is an outstanding warrant against him since 2018 for “other crimes”. The family accused Australian police of deliberately delaying to please Khalistanis and alleged that Indian High Commission was not helping them too.
On September 1, Jood’s lawyer came to an agreement with the prosecutors, and Vishal pleaded guilty in two cases that included charges of minor altercation. Rest of the charges were dropped. The Australia Today quoted Vishal’s brother saying, “By the grace of Bajrang Bali Vishal will be with us soon, we are looking forward to his release from Sydney Prison.”
OpIndia talked to a few Indian nationalists who said that hostilities between the Indian diaspora and the Khalistani extremists existed for a long time but took a violent turn on August 28, 2020. The fight started after Jassi, a Khalistani, started posting pro-Khalistani and anti-India content on TikTok.
India has achieved another momentous feat in its Covid vaccine drive. India crossed the 100 crore vaccinations mark today. With an ambitious vision of vaccinating all of India’s 944 million adults by the year-end, PM Modi had launched the countrywide vaccination programme on January 16. As of now, 75 per cent of the country’s adult population have got at least one dose and 31 per cent have had two.
Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the efforts of healthcare professionals and conveyed his gratitude to doctors and nurses as India passed the 100 crore vaccine doses milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
PM Modi took to social media to praise the incredible effort put in by doctors, nurses, and Indian citizens in attaining this historic milestone for the country. He also described the achievement of this milestone as a “triumph of Indian science.”
After the milestone was achieved, Modi paid a visit to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. The Prime Minister interacted and congratulated the hospital staff for achieving remarkable feet. Modi was accompanied by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
Many Indian and world leaders have also come up to congratulate India and the government for scripting history.
As India celebrates the ‘Vaccine Century’ today and the success of Indians scientists, it is pertinent to remember how the so-called ‘intellectuals’ the usual naysayers who virtue signal for a living, pontificating on every issue, had tried to dismiss the Indian government’s efforts.
These are the people who on several occasions, led a nefarious online campaign, not only to defame and discredit the Modi government’s vaccination drive but also to create panic and cast aspersions about the efficacy of the ‘Made In India’ Covid vaccines.
Not long ago, author and columnist Chetan Bhagat had suggested that India would achieve its vaccination target only by late 2024. On May 10, while the government was trying to expedite the Covid vaccination process in every nook and corner of the country, Chetan Bhagat had done ‘simple math’ to deduce that India would finish the vaccination target only by the second half of 2024.
Screengrab of Chetan Bhagat’s May 10, 2021 Tweet
In fact, the author had gone a step further to analyse what might be impeding India’s vaccination effort. Too eager to dismiss Made in India vaccines and the efforts of healthcare workers, Bhagat Tweeted as to “what’s likely to happen” and why India would lag behind.
Chetan Bhagat’s Tweet
Bhagat, who was relentless in his push for the very expensive Pfizer vaccine, had declared that India will only get ‘leftovers’ and will have to struggle and beg to get its people vaccinated.
Likewise, the former Prasar Bharati CEO and Trinamool Congress’ appointed member to the Rajya Sabha, Jawhar Sircar, had also undermined India’s vaccination efforts. On May 3, Sircar had Tweeted: “It’s taken 3 months to fully vaccinate 3 crores. Will it take us 100 months (8 years plus!) to vax 100 crore that is critical for India?”
Screengrab of Jawhar Sircar’s Tweet
Taking an obvious dig at the BJP ruled states, The Wire journalist Rohini Singh, another campaigner for the Pfizer vaccine, had also cast aspersions at India’s vaccination efforts.
She had opined that while countries all across the world were reserving vaccines, the state governments are busy in “cow cabinets, special task force for cows, love jihad, etc, because people have voted for cow cabinets. Not vaccines.” As per Rohini, the Indian government was doing nothing to get vaccines for Indians.
Rohini Singh’s Tweet dated Nov 19, 2020
Many other members of the leftist brigade had also come out to discredit the Modi Government’s vaccination drive. ‘Journalist’ Swati Chaturvedi also joined the bandwagon. Hailing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s prophecies declaring India’s doom and gloom, Chaturvedi claimed “it will take years before all Indians are vaccinated.
Image credit: Political Kida
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Tejashwi Yadav, the Congress party and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP had also jumped on the bandwagon to malign the Modi government’s ambitious vaccination drive.
Image credit: Political Kida
Image credit: Political Kida
Back in August, when India achieved the momentous milestone by administering over 1 crore doses in a single day, the Gandhi scion, took the lead to politicise the country’s vaccination drive. However, in his haste to attack the government over its vaccine programme, Rahul Gandhi has spread widespread falsehoods about the government, instilling vaccine hesitancy among the general public.
Other liberals too eagerly discredited the Modi government’s vaccination drive.
Image credit: Political Kida
Likewise, many media houses, which have often been critical of the Indian government had also doubted India’s vaccination efforts. India Today had almost written off India’s vaccination program saying that at the current pace it would take 12 years to vaccinate the entire population.
Business Today in October predicted India will take 10.8 years to administer both doses to 70 per cent of its population.
First Post published a report on April 25, 2021, in which it said that at the current rate of 2.2mn doses per day, India can only cover 30 per cent population by end-2021.
The report published by First Post dated April 25, 2021
In February, an article in The Hindu suggested that India would reach barely 15% of its July end vaccination target, or 6 crore doses instead of the 40 crore doses. That article was widely mocked when India crossed 40 crore doses in mid-July itself.
SS of the report published by The Hindu
The success of the world’s largest vaccination drive in India and its exemplary efforts to supply vaccines to more than 60 other countries seems to have not gone well with a certain section of western media, who had also mocked and discredited India’s success story.
In a similar attempt to discredit India’s vaccination drive, Amy Kazmin – the Chief of Financial Times’ South Asia bureau, had earlier resorted to weaving conspiracy theories around Prime Minister Modi and had concocted a story saying he might have already been inoculated with a ‘foreign vaccine in secret’ as he did not trust the two Indian made vaccines.
Similarly, BBC had wondered whether India has enough doses of vaccines to inoculate all the adults in the country.
Screengrab of a BBC report
Many other liberal foreign media outlets joined the bandwagon.
Article in Vox
However, regardless of all the propaganda, misinformation, assumptions and aspersions, India has achieved what no other country has achieved so far. India scripted history on Thursday for administering a billion COVID-19 doses. The five states that have administered the highest number of doses are Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.
VK Paul, a member of the NITI Aayog and the head of the government’s vaccine panel, said the achievement of 1 billion doses in just over nine months after the vaccination programme began in India was extraordinary.
In an interesting podcast, Dr Omar Ali, a Pakistan origin blogger validated what Indians were otherwise taking as a joke for the past few years. The netizens on several occasions have highlighted the stark similarity between the statements delivered by Congress party leaders and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.
From belittling Veer Savarkar to constantly attacking the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or blaming ‘Hindutva’ for everything, the two have been singing the same tunes of late.
Turns out, our neighbour actually gets ideas from the Congress party and it was after all not a joke but a harsh reality.
The Brown Pundit blog
Dr Omar Ali in his popular blog ‘Brown Pundits’ has touched upon various topics from Kashmir to the Aryan debate to even interviewing BJP spokespeople such as Shazia Ilmi.
Ali who generally interviews people on his podcast, this time took the hot seat himself to answer questions on ‘Pakistan-myths and realities.’ Interviewed by guest blogger Maneesh Taneja, Ali spoke about the ideology of Pakistan, India-Pakistan partition, why the army rules Pakistan, how the India-Pakistan thing is likely to evolve and more.
‘The confession’
It is amidst this candid conversation that Ali revealed that Pakistan actually takes clues from the ‘Liberal’ Indian establishment to attack India and create anti-India, anti-Hindu narratives.
Around 14 minutes into the interview, Taneja asks Ali about Pakistan’s perception of Gandhi and Nehru.
“They are looked at as Hindu leaders and if portrayed as someone who tried to be inclusive, they are brushed off as clever two-faced people fooling the Muslims,” said Ali revealing that calling Hindus double faced is extremely common in Pakistani discourse. However, this is where it gets interesting.
Taneja then moves on to ask Ali about Veer Savarkar and BR Ambedkar to which Ali says, “Savarkar is not even found in Pakistan’s conversations. It is also only now that he is mentioned as proto-fascist which they have started to pick up from Indians.”
“It is mainly on social media or the ones who go to study abroad with Indian students who come from the liberal side and regard Savarkar as Hitler’s prodigy. So these things we (Pakistanis) have picked up from you guys,” said Ali further.
Talking about Imran Khan attacking India over Savarkar and Hindutva, Ali said, “We are not the movers in this propaganda. This narrative of fascism and nazism comes from India and it just becomes convenient for us to pick it up and amplify.”
Well, Ali is not wrong at all. “While the Nazis hate was directed at the Jews, the RSS directs it towards the Muslims and to a lesser extent towards the Christians. They believe that India is exclusive for Hindus and others are not equal citizens,” Imran Khan had said at the United Nations General Assembly last year.
Surprisingly, in April 2019, the Congress IT Cell head had shared a morphed image of Adolf Hitler to compare him to Narendra Modi.
Pakistan and their ‘copy paste’ agenda
It is almost embarrassing to find our neighboring enemy country responsible for bloody terrorism on our land, follow the suit of Indian opposition to attack us on domestic as well as global platforms.
Pakistan’s PM while delivering a speech at UNGA this year, in no different language had said, “The hate-filled ‘Hindutva’ ideology, propagated by the fascist RSS-BJP regime, has unleashed a reign of fear and violence against India’s 200 million-strong Muslim community.”
Top quote by PM Khan. Image Source: Associate Press of Pakistan
This was turned into a ‘top quote’ by the Associated Press of Pakistan for their digital platform.
Khan on Kashmir matter in July had said, “We can tell India that we (Pakistan) have been waiting for a long time to coexist as civilised neighbours…but what to do? The ideology of (the) RSS has come in between.”
“The feeling of love, brotherhood that exists amongst you all is being ruined by the people of BJP and RSS. Your composite culture was attacked, your brotherhood was attacked and they weakened you before snatching your statehood. You can see for yourself that the Union territory’s economy, tourism, business are badly hurt,” was yet another statement, not by Khan, but Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
In fact, the Pakistani PM on some occasions has even quoted the Congress leaders to validate his attack on the RSS and BJP. Here is one such example.
So when Ali mentioned that Pakistan now simply speaks the language used by the Indian opposition to attack India, he was not entirely wrong.
Same script-same statement
We had reported earlier of several instances when Imran Khan picked up rants from the Congress party.
Imran Khan has always maintained that the abrogation of Article 370 was illegal and has vehemently opposed the move. He had also appealed to the international bodies to meddle in Indian internal affairs.
Interestingly, the Congress party has also had the same stand on the matter. In a resolution adopted by the Congress Working Committee on the 6th of August, 2019, the party had claimed that ‘every principle of Constitutional law, States’ rights, Parliamentary procedure and democratic governance was violated’ during the abrogation of Article 370.
Imran Khan had claimed that two million ‘Indian Muslims’ have been ‘stripped of citizenship’, a blatant, baseless lie. The Congress party, too, has opposed the NRC tooth and nail.
Khan in 2020 had also managed to pin the blame of the Delhi anti-CAA riots and farmers’ protest on the RSS/BJP ideology.
While we kept making our observations, the Pakistan origin blogger confirmed the shared template used by the Indian opposition and Pakistan PM Imran Khan to get at India on global platforms.
The Police has arrested 130 attackers in connection to the attacks on Hindus by the Muslim mob in the Chowmuhani market area, Begumganj Upazila, Noakhali, on October 15. Reportedly, two people had died in the temple attacks, and several were injured. Overall, 72 cases have been registered in connection to attacks that happened at different locations. A total of 450 attackers have been arrested.
Shahidul Islam, Superintendent of Police, was quoted by Bangla Tribune on Thursday to confirm the arrests. He said 18 cases were registered in the district against the attackers against 285 named and around 5,000 unnamed persons. Sections including assault, vandalism, arson, looting and murder were including the cases filed.
The first death reported was of 42-years-old Jatan Kumar Saha, who died after sustaining fatal injuries during the riots in Chowmuhani. On Sunday, Pranto Das was found dead in a pond next to the ISKCON temple in Chowmuhani.
Violent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh
A series of attacks had happened to start from October 12 on Hindus. There were allegations that the Quran was desecrated at a Puja Pandal in Comilla that led to the days of attacks by Muslims against minority Hindus. Several temples and houses of Hindus were attacked. Some temples and houses were burnt down. Some shops and business establishments were also assaulted during the riots.
On October 15, the ISKCON temple was severely damaged by the attackers. During the attacks that happened over a period of five to six days, 101 Hindu temples and pandals, 181 houses and shops were burnt down by the Islamists. What adds to the shame for the neighbouring country, just two days before the attacks, they had celebrated the ‘Ganga Jamuna Cultural Festival’ celebrating diversity and communal harmony.
On October 20, 35-years-old Iqbal Hossain, son of Nur Ahmed Alam from the Sujanagar area of Comilla, was identified by the Police as the person who had placed Quran in the Puja Pandal that led to the attacks. Reports suggest that Hossain is absconding.
One Md Foyez Ahmed, who had posted the video of the Comilla puja mandap that triggered the violence, was arrested by the Police on October 13 itself.
Three juveniles, all aged between 11 and 8 years old, have been arrested in Assam over the murder of a 6 year old child at Missa in Kaliabor, Nagaon district. The murder is believed to have been fueled by the porn addiction of the children.
Unfortunate murder of 6 yr old girl at Missa, Kaliabor solved within 24 Hrs. 3 Juveniles, 1 adult arrested. Accused aged between 8 and 11 are porn addicts capable of conspiracy and gruesome execution of a dastardly crime. Seems it’s time for introspection and Social Intervention. pic.twitter.com/y4B7iW1ubF
Nagaon Superintendent of Police Anand Mishra lamented that family and social intervention could have prevented the four lives from being destroyed.
Family/Social intervention & institutional guidance to the kids could have saved these 4 young lives. 1 Lost Life, 3 Lost for Life. It can happen with anyone of us or anyone around us
If our upcoming generations fail on socio-moral standards, Responsibility lies greatly upon us! https://t.co/KqjjKQTnwh
The three accused juveniles were arrested from Missa at Kaliabor, Nagaon on Wednesday, a day after the gruesome murder. The parents of the 11 year old accused, on whose phone pornographic material was found, were also arrested over the matter.
The 6 year old child’s body was recovered from a toilet in Missa on the 13th of October. The toilet was behind a stone crusher. There were no injuries to the private parts of the girl, and the injuries were limited to her head and chest, leading investigators to conclude that there was no sexual assault.
It was confirmed by the medical team that the girl was hit on her head and chest with a stone-like object, leading the police to suspect that the murder could have been committed by a stone-crusher. Further investigation revealed that the family of the watchman lived in the vicinity of the stone crusher that was no longer operational.
The Police initially suspected that the watchman could have been involved in the crime. They learnt that he was not present at the scene of the murder on the day in question, but his son was. Later, the father confessed that his son had murdered the girl.
The truth behind gruesome murder in Nagaon, Assam: Porn addiction and more shocking facts
“We have done old-school policing, there was no scientific investigation as such. We interrogated each and every person related to the case and their statements did not seem to add up and that was when we figured out that they were lying and they knew what had happened, after which the father confessed that his son had committed the crime,” Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Kalibor Police Station, Mrinmoy Das, told EastMojo.
The watchman’s son was given a smartphone to attend online classes. He was a student of 6th Grade at an English Medium school and had not managed to get past the 6th Grade in the past two years. The other two studied at a Government School in the area.
Police investigation revealed that the 11 year old made his friends and cousins watch porn with him. They found that he surfed pornographic websites, taking advantage of his parents’ lack of awareness about smartphones. According to the EastMojo report, he was earlier caught in a ‘compromising position’ with his sister. The other two accused used to watch porn with him as well.
On the day of the murder, the three accused tried to reenact porn scenes with the 6 year old girl. The girl was hit with a stone on her head when she resisted. When the crying girl threatened to tell her parents about what they had done, the accused took her to the toilet where they hit her on the chest with a stone, killing her instantly.
“When the boys were grilled, they confessed that they had committed the murder. The watchman’s son used to notice his brother and his wife, as well as his parents perform sexual acts and then there was the smartphone. So, a lot of factors led to the boy attaining puberty pre-maturely. It is more alarming that these children made attempts to cover up the crime,” Mrinmoy Das said.
