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Pakistan: Hindu family held hostage for fetching drinking water from mosque, tortured for ‘violating sanctity’

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Hindu family held hostage for fetching drinking water from mosque, tortured for ‘violating sanctity’

After an eight-year-old Hindu boy was charged with blasphemy, a Hindu family was thrashed and held hostage for fetching water from a mosque in Pakistan’s Punjab province. 

Reportedly in an incident from last week, Alam Ram Bheel was picking raw cotton along with his wife and other family members. When the family went to a nearby mosque to fetch some drinking water from a tap, they were thrashed by local landlords and their men. 

While the Hindu family was returning home after unloading the cotton, they were picked up by the landlords and held hostage at an outhouse. Ram’s family was again subjected to torture for ‘violating the sanctity’ of the mosque. 

The family was later rescued by some local residents. 

Police refused to register a case

Ram who held a sit-in outside the police station claimed that the police initially refused to register his case as the perpetrators were related to a local Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarian.

PTI’s south Punjab minority wing secretary-general Yodhister Chohan also dusted his hands off the incident saying he preferred to stay away due to the influence of a ruling party MP. 

However, the police finally registered a case under sections 506, 154, 379, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Deputy Commissioner Dr Khuram Shehzad said he would first meet the elders of the Hindu community on Monday before taking any action.

Minor boy charged with blasphemy

The minority Hindu community with a population of just 75 lakhs in Pakistan is subjected to regular persecution. In the month of August, an eight-year-old Hindu boy was booked under charges of blasphemy. He was charged for the crime after he was accused to have urinated on the carpet of a Madarsa.

The boy had been taken into ‘protective custody’ following the incident and he had spent a week in jail before receiving bail. His family has gone into hiding following retribution. 

Suresh Chavhanke points to dog and says ‘Owaisi is here’, Rakesh Tikait appears to agree in viral clip from interview

OpIndia Staff
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Suresh Chavhanke points to dog and says ‘Owaisi is here’, Rakesh Tikait appears to agree in viral clip from interview

Suresh Chavhanke has interviewed anti-farm law protests leader Rakesh Tikait on his channel Sudarshan TV. The complete interview will be telecast at 8 pm on Monday. Prior to that, Suresh Chavhanke has been sharing clips from the interview on his Twitter account. One such clip has gone now gone viral.

In the viral clip, Chavhanke points to dogs which had entered the scene of the interview and pointed out to Rakesh Tikait that Owaisi was here, presumably Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of AIMIM. But he could have also referred to Akbaruddin Owaisi, the brother of the AIMIM supremo, it is not entirely clear.

Chavhanke says, “Look at this (pointing towards the dogs). Wherever I interview, Owaisi pays a visit. Look here, Owaisi has come… You can watch any ‘Chalte Chalte’ you want.” The Sudarshan TV Editor then apologised to the dogs for insulting them. Tikait chimes in saying, “They are loyal.”

The ‘farmer leader’ did not appear too bothered by Chavhanke’s jibe at Owaisi and even appeared to agree with him, although the context of it all is not clear and his precise reaction will be known only when the complete interview is aired on Monday.

There has been occasion in the past when dogs have appeared on the scene while Suresh Chavhanke was conducting an interview. When dogs appeared during his interview with Azam Khan, he had called man’s best friend ‘descendant of Owaisi’. It is not entirely clear when the descendants of Owaisi became Owaisi himself.

Asaduddin Owaisi and Rakesh Tikait found themselves at loggerheads recently after the latter called the former BJP’s ‘chacha jaan’. “Owaisi and BJP are a team. He is BJP’s chacha jaan. He has the blessings of the BJP. He will abuse them, but they will not file a case against him. BJP will take his help. Farmers will have to understand their moves. Owaisi is double-faced. He will ruin the farmers. They will hatch conspiracies during elections. But as suggested by Zila Panchayat elections, people in Baghpat are revolutionary,” the anti-farm law protester said.

Shaukat Ali, AIMIM’s UP chief, hit back at Tikait saying that he wanted to become a political leader using shortcuts. Owaisi responded, saying, “This man (Tikait) is a liar … I have been booked under Section 153-A (Promoting enmity on religious grounds) a few days back … These Chachajaan and Abbajaan comments are described as dog whistle politics and he should stop resorting to such tactics.”

Tikait, who was accused of involvement in the Muzaffarnagar riots, was found chanting ‘Allahu-Akbar’ at a rally recently.

Islamabad second safest city in South Asia? This is how Pakistani media went on to report this ‘achievement’

Nirwa Mehta
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Islamabad second safest city in South Asia? This is how Pakistani media went on to report this ‘achievement’

Our not-so-friendly neighbour Pakistan is now left embarrassed after New Zealand cricket team left it high and dry hours before the first ODI they were to play citing security concerns. While rest of the world wasn’t quite surprised that Pakistan continues to exude fear for harbouring terrorists and nurturing Islamist group like Taliban for years, Pakistanis were stunned that someone would fear for their lives in the country.

Pakistani cricketers and politicians took to social media to vent out their frustration and even smelled ‘India’s conspiracy‘ because a third country found Pakistan unsafe for its citizens. Soon, some social media ‘influencers’ were sharing reports on how Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan is the second safest city in South Asia.

Islamabad second safest city in South Asia

Obviously, the claim triggered hilarious reactions considering Pakistan as a country is not really best known for safety.

But how true are these claims anyway? We at OpIndia got curious on the study and thought process and methodology that might have gone into making such claims.

A simple google search on “Islamabad second safest city” threw us a number of search results of Pakistani news websites reporting the same.

Pakistani media on Islamabad

In first week of September, Pakistani media had widely reported that Islamabad is the second safest city in whole of South Asia. What triggered this gem of a news was a tweet posted by an unverified account of Office of Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad.

Tweet by Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad

This tweet was posted on 1st September, 2021, which also triggered hilarious reactions mostly from Pakistani citizens who laughed at the very idea that someone would call the city ‘safe’.

Pakistanis upset over lack of safety in Islamabad

Pakistanis pointed out that there are increasing cases of bike thefts and other various crimes in the city which is being pegged as ‘second safest’.

Curiouser, we looked at the study which made such claim. Pakistani media stated that the data was compiled by one ‘international organisation’ called Numbeo. Numbeo claims to be largest ‘database’ of ‘user contributed data’ about cities and countries. Apparently it had ‘released’ the ‘safety index’ for 2021.

As per the website, Kabul, Afghanistan, which recently fell to Islamist group Taliban, ranks 34 in the list of safest cities in South Asia. So, how does ‘Numbeo’ calculate the data? Well, whoever visits their website (Numbeo) gets to take a survey and on basis of the answers given by these ‘visitors’, Numbeo zeroes in on ‘safe cities’. More people chose Islamabad after Mangaluru (Mangalore) on that ‘survey’ which made that city come second in list of ‘safe cities’.

When everyone saw Pakistan’s Islamabad was ‘second safest city’ in South Asia

Now how many would be visiting the obscure site and taking the survey, no one knows. But Pakistan officials thought it is good enough to give itself pat on its back. It seems Pakistanis knew what would hit them pretty soon and Pakistani media already tried to build up a ‘mahaul’, so to say that the country and its capital are ‘safe’ but New Zealand didn’t quite listen to them.

‘Took 5 cr for Lok Sabha ticket, denied later’: Patna court orders FIR against Tejashwi Yadav, Misa Bharti based on Congress leader’s complaint

OpIndia Staff
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‘Took 5 cr for Lok Sabha ticket, denied later’: Patna court orders FIR against Tejashwi Yadav, Misa Bharti based on Congress leader’s complaint

A Patna court has ordered to register an FIR against 6 people including fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad Yadav’s children Tejashwi Yadav and Misa Bharti for allegedly accepting Rs 5 crore bribe to give away a Lok Sabha ticket during the 2019 elections.

The other names mentioned in the FIR are that of the Bihar Congress state president Madan Mohan Jha, Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathore, and late Congress leader Sadanand Singh’s son Shubhanand Mukesh.

The FIR was ordered based on a case registered by Congress leader Sanjiv Kumar Singh in the Patna CJM court on August 18, 2021.

The Congress leader alleged in his complaint that on January 15, 2019, he paid Rs 5 crore to Tejashwi Yadav, Misa Bharti and others, against which he was promised a Lok Sabha ticket from Bhagalpur during the 2019 polls, but did not get the same.

He further alleged that after not getting a ticket in the Lok Sabha elections, he was assured that he would get a ticket from the Mahagathbandhan in the 2020 Assembly elections, but he did not get a ticket in the assembly elections either.

Tejashwi Yadav had threatened to kill the Congress leader

The Congress leader also claimed he was threatened with death when he approached Tejashwi Yadav over not receiving the ticket.

After hearing the case, Chief Judicial Magistrate Vijay Kishore Singh ordered Patna SSP Upendra Sharma on September 16 to register an FIR against all the accused in the Kotwali police station.

Cheating and deception not new for RJD, says minister

Following the Patna Court’s order, Nitin Naveen, the Bihar government’s PWD Minister, slammed Tejashwi Yadav, claiming that the RJD had a long history of distributing tickets in exchange for money. Cheating and deception are not new for RJD, said the Bihar minister, further adding that the action taken against the RJD leader is apt. Nitin Naveen also said that Tejashwi Yadav should tender an apology.

The RJD has, however, dismissed all allegations levelled against Tejashwi Yadav and Misa Bharti, terming it baseless.

Designer of AOC’s controversial ‘Tax the Rich’ Met Gala dress failed to pay over $100,000 in state and federal taxes

OpIndia Staff
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Designer of AOC’s controversial ‘Tax the Rich’ Met Gala dress failed to pay over $100,000 in state and federal taxes

‘Tax the rich, but not me,’ seems to be the mantra of Aurora James, the designer of the viral “Tax the Rich” Met Gala gown that Democrat and House representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez wore.

Reportedly, James’ record reflects six federal tax liens totalling $103,220 on the parent company of her fashion brand. The designer also has three open tax warrants in New York State for failing to withhold $14,798 in income taxes from employee paychecks and a $17,000 fine for failing to carry worker’s compensation insurance.

Rent defaulter

Interestingly, not just a tax defaulter, Aurora James has also been accused of being a rent defaulter. James’ previous landlord had sued her for more than $25,000 plus interest for staying beyond her lease period. The matter was allegedly settled for an undisclosed amount.

Hatching on yet another property, James’ was sued by another property owner for more than $5,000 in unpaid rent. The designer had also received a letter from the angry landlord that read, “never have (you) paid your rent in a timely manner.”

Employees accuse James of harassment

Adding to the list, James’ received quite a bit of hate from her former employees too who slammed her efforts to paint herself as a hero of the working class.

They described her fashion brand as “a sweatshop that relied on legions of unpaid interns working full-time jobs.”

Calling her ‘quite cold’, an ex-intern revealed, “she never gives recognition or acknowledgement to her team.”

Another employee who received untimely termination from the designer said,  “Aurora would ask me to do things that were not in anyone’s job description, like scheduling her gynaecological appointments. The work environment was so hostile that I was afraid to ask for my check.”

Ironically, the designer of the ‘strong message’ of ‘taxing the rich’ did not hesitate to receive $41,666 taxpayers’ money as pandemic relief aid. 

‘Height of hypocrisy’

Slamming the publicity stunt by AOC and her designer, Republican Staten Island Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis in a media statement said, “It’s the height of hypocrisy when socialists attend a $30,000 per ticket gala with a message of ‘tax the rich’ while wearing an overpriced dress by a luxury designer who doesn’t pay taxes.”

Netizens too had taken to social media to call out the brazen hypocrisy. Columnist Marina Medvin remarked, “Tax the rich, says AOC’s dress … at the Met Gala … where tickets cost $30,000. But AOC doesn’t mean them; she means you. You’re rich. Because you work. Tax you. That’s the reality. The Met Gala guys get tax breaks. You don’t.”

Journalist Benny Johnson broke down the cost of attending the event, which includes designer dress ($1000), full table ($275000), single ticket price ($30000). He wrote, “AOC thinking she owned anyone here but herself.”

Donald Trump Junior was not far behind in calling out the pretence. He labelled Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a big fraud. “What is a bigger fraud? The ‘tax the rich’ dress while she’s hanging out with a bunch of wealthy leftwing elites or the lack of masks after spending the past 18 months as one of the biggest authoritarian mask Karens in the country?” he inquired.

The 31-year-old Democrat leader was one of the few politicians to participate in the lavish event, meant for the high fliers of Hollywood and the fashion industry, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

‘Church and our own people didn’t support us’: Kerala Professor whose hands were chopped off by Islamists reveals in his autobiography

OpIndia Staff
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‘Church and our own people didn’t support us’: Kerala Professor whose hands were chopped off by Islamists reveals in his autobiography

TJ Joseph, a professor from Kerala, was accused of blasphemy in 2010. He was attacked and his hands were brutally chopped off by radical Islamists of PFI. In his memoir that has been translated to English recently, Joseph narrated how everyone, including his church, college, friends and neighbours, disowned him over the false allegations of blasphemy.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Joseph refused to accept that punishing the persons responsible will bring justice and asserted that religious fundamentalism is the problem.

Joseph’s memoir of the pain and suffering he endured over the false allegations of blasphemy was released in Malayalam 2020. Its English translation by Nandkumar has been recently released under the title, “A Thousand Cuts: An Innocent Question and Deadly Answers”.

An exam question triggered charges of ‘blasphemy’

In 2010, Joseph had framed a question paper for BCom second semester internal examination in which he used the word ‘Mohammad’ referring to the writer PT Kunju Mohammed. However, a section of Muslim fundamentalists believed that he used the word intentionally to insult the Prophet. Though Joseph was not at fault, a series of protests were launched against him, leading to the incident where some extremists chopped off his palm.

Joseph said that initially, people were sympathetic towards him, but many still believe that the punishment he had gotten was for a crime he had allegedly committed. He said, “I wanted to present the truth, and an autobiography was the ideal medium for it. Moreover, I wanted to reveal how insecure we are due to religious extremism. No one is safe in this country when such a situation arises.” Joseph said when a situation like his happens, everyone finds themselves “as ephemeral and vulnerable as cobwebs.”

The college and church disowned him

Joseph said the physical pain is nothing in front of what the college management and church did to him. He said that the principal and management of Thodupuzha Newman College and his church supported him when the controversy first erupted, but in later stages, everyone left him alone. He was dismissed from the service over alleged blasphemy.

The church excommunicated his family, and pastoral letters were read in 120 churches in the Kothamangalam diocese against him, justifying the church’s action to disown him. Friends and family members stopped visiting his house out of church’s fear. He said, “My attackers were blinded by fundamentalism, and they gave me only physical pain but what my own people did to me was even worse as it affected my family and me in all ways.”

The suicide of his wife

The whole controversy had an adverse effect on his wife, Salomi. The attack that happened on July 4, 2010, and the orders of dismissal from college that came on September 1, 2020, broke Salomi mentally. Lack of income, legal expenses and continuous harassment sent Salomi into depression. Though his well-wishers continued to support him during that time, the mental state of his wife kept deteriorating. On March 19, 2014, after coming back home from a session with a psychiatrist, Salomi committed suicide.

Her death and public outrage forced the college to reinstate Joseph but only two days before the date of his retirement. He said, “Losing her was hard for me and what was painful was the fact that she could not see me back in the job, which was her biggest wish.”

‘Religious extremism is the problem, punishing the culprits will not bring justice’

The second phase of the trial at NIA court is underway. 13 of the accused have already been convicted. However, Joseph said he did not support the “tribal belief of delivering justice by physical punishment” as it would not bring back his palms or normalize his life. He said, “The accused were mere tools of those who propagate fundamentalism. I have already forgiven them.”

Asserting how ddangerous religious extremism can be, Joseph said, “I wanted to reveal how insecure we are due to religious extremism. No one is safe when such a situation arises. All the rights we enjoy as citizens, that religious harmony we harp on, are as ephemeral and vulnerable as cobwebs.”

Only three of his ten fingers are functional.

Shah Rukh Khan says ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’ and Islamists, with blue ticks, wish death on him, fourth year in a row

OpIndia Staff
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Shah Rukh Khan says ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’ and Islamists, with blue ticks, wish death on him, fourth year in a row

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan on Sunday took to social media to share a picture of a murti of Lord Ganesha ahead of visarjan following the Ganesh Chaturthi.

Ganpati Bappa Morya, he said as he and his family bid adieu to the Vighnaharta. And as usual, like clockwork, Islamists descended upon his timeline, asking him to ‘convert’ to Hinduism as idol worship is ‘haram’ in Islam. This time, the hate was not just limited to faceless, nameless trolls, but even blue-ticked and verified social media Islamists were out there attacking Khan.

Sameera Khan hating on SRK

Pro-Pakistan Twitter user Sameera Khan, who currently lives in US as per her Twitter bio asked Shah Rukh Khan to ‘convert’ already as idol worship is the greatest sin in Islam. She asserted that religion comes before nation and hence Khan should ‘convert’.

She was supported by other Islamists who called Khan ‘worst then kafirs’.

SRK worse than Kafirs

Kafir is one who does not follow Islam as faith. ‘Munafiq’ is a ‘false Muslim’ and decried in the Quran who may be outwardly Muslims but inwardly not a strict follower of the faith. Since Shah Rukh Khan celebrates Hindu festivals including idol worship of Lord Ganesha, he was branded a ‘munafiq’ by the Islamists.

More hate for SRK

Many called him Shirk and Kafir and many fundamentalists believe that kafirs and ‘non-believers’ deserve to be punished with death. Murtid is apostasy and apostasy is also to be punished with death.

Pakistanis losing their minds

His fans from Pakistan, where Bollywood and the Khans are very popular, were also quite triggered. Shoaib Niazi, who as per his profile worked with Pakistan news channel Geo News, was quite upset that a ‘role model’ was indulging in idol worship. When someone tried to put sense of inclusivity to Niazi, another Pakistani user claimed that idol worship is not necessary to be a good human and that by doing so, he was ‘proving his loyalty’ to those who ‘worship that particular idol’, that is the Hindus.

SRK being attacked

The pattern is predictable. Any Muslim celebrity who celebrates or wishes for non-Islamic festivals like Diwali, Christmas, get their Muslim credentials cancelled by Islamists.

Comments on SRK

One does not even look too far – a cursory glance under his tweet will show how the Islamists were triggered.

Unfortunately, this is the fourth year in a row (at least) that he has been attacked, and this time even the blue-ticked verified accounts joined in. OpIndia had reported last week how this year, Khan had skipped wishing his fans on Ganpati on Chaturthi earlier this month. This was after years of abuses and attacks by Islamists on him and his family.

These attacks on Khan are ignored by the so-called ‘liberal’ and ‘secular’ media who rather want Naseeruddin Shah to shut up for warning Indian Muslims against celebrating Taliban taking over Afghanistan. A Muslim celebrity, who otherwise feels ‘unsafe’ and ‘dara hua’ in India, once in a while mistakenly says truth about radicalisation amongst Indian Muslims once in a while, gets cancelled but the abuses faced by Shah Rukh Khan from these very radicalised people are ignored.

That even celebrity Muslims have cancelled Shah Rukh Khan this year for celebrating Ganpati one only wishes and hopes that may Bappa protects Shah Rukh Khan and his family.

Punjab: ‘Sidhu is very popular,’ said Harish Rawat on Navjot Singh Sidhu being CM face in next assembly elections

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab: ‘Sidhu is very popular,’ said Harish Rawat on Navjot Singh Sidhu being CM face in next assembly elections

After Congress settled with a ‘not-so-popular’ Chief Minister for Punjab, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat hinted at the possibility of electing the ‘popular’ Navjot Singh Sidhu as the chief ministerial face in the upcoming state polls.

The state of Punjab witnessed a high voltage drama over the weekend after senior Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh tendered his resignation as Chief Minister citing constant humiliation. 

Speaking to ANI about Congress’ plan for the 2022 state assembly elections, Rawat said, “It (Congress face for upcoming state assembly polls) will be decided by the Congress president, but given the circumstances, elections will be fought with the Chief Minister’s cabinet under Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, whose chief is Navjot Singh Sidhu.”

“He is very popular,” he added.

However, senior Congress Punjab leader Sunil Jakhar has expressed his bewilderment over Rawat’s statement. “On the swearing-in day of Sh Charanjit Channi as Chief Minister, Mr Rawats’s statement that ‘elections will be fought under Sidhu, is baffling,” he said in a Tweet.

“It’s likely to undermine CM’s authority but also negate the very ‘raison d’être’ of his selection for this position,” Jakhar continued.

Punjab gets a new CM

After veteran leader and two-time CM Captain Amarinder Singh resigned from his post, quite a few names to fill the empty post surfaced in the media. From Sukhjinder Randhawa to Ambika Soni, Congress finally settled with “MeToo” accused Charanjit Singh Channi.

Commenting on the new CM elect, Rawat informed, “The decision (to choose the new Punjab CM) was taken yesterday only. We were only waiting to meet the Governor. The party was unanimous on Charanjit Singh Channi’s name. We will try to ensure that he (Amarinder Singh) is there at oath-taking, but it’s up to him.”

Welcoming the appointment of Channi, Navjot Singh Sidhu called the decision ‘historic.’ “(The appointment) will be written with golden letters in History. A tribute to the spirit of the Constitution and the Congress,” he added.

Channi visits Gurudwara

A known Sidhu loyalist, Channi paid obeisance at Gurudwara Katalgarh Sahib at Chamkaur Sahib just ahead of his oath ceremony. 

He was one of the four ministers who had rebelled against Captain Amarinder Singh recently while siding with Sidhu. 

Channi, who was accused of sending inappropriate messages to a woman IAS officer in 2018 had joined Congress in 2012. He held the portfolios of Technical Education, Industrial Training, Employment Generation and Tourism and Cultural Affairs in the outgoing Amarinder Singh-led cabinet.

‘Hope he won’t harm party interest’

Meanwhile, Congress has made yet another embarrassing remark against former CM Captain Amarinder Singh. Doubting his loyalty Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said he hoped the outgoing CM would “heed his conscience” and not act against party interest.

“I hope that Capt. Amarinder Singh ji won’t take any step that could cause damage to the Congress party. Capt. Sahib himself has said that the party made him CM and allowed him to continue as CM for nine and a half years,” said Gehlot in a Tweet. 

“He has worked to the best of his capacity and served the people of Punjab. Capt. Amarinder Singh Ji is a respected leader of the party and I hope that he will continue to work in the future also keeping the Party’s interests in the forefront,” he said further.

Karnataka: BJP’s Sadanand Gowda files complaint against lewd video, says it is deep fake

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: BJP’s Sadanand Gowda files complaint against lewd video, says it is deep fake

On September 19, senior BJP leader and former union minister DV Sadanand Gowda filed a complaint with the cybercrime police over the lewd video that went viral on social media platforms. Gowda has claimed in his complaint that it is a deep fake video that made its way to social media sites to tarnish his image.

In his statement issued on Twitter, he said that the video was created by his “adversaries with vested interest to malign his impeccable image.”

In his statement, Gowda wrote, “Dear well-wishers, a morphed (deep fake) video of mine has been making rounds on social media. I would like to inform you that it is not me in the video, it’s created to malign my impeccable image by my adversaries with a vested interest.”

He further added that he has filed a complaint with the cybercrime police and trusts the department to find out who is behind the video. The former Chief Minister of Karnataka also got an injunction order from the court, making it a punishable offence for anyone who uploads or forwards the video as per relevant sections of the law. Gowda urged his followers to inbox the details of anyone who is seen forwarding or uploading the video on any platform.

In a follow-up tweet, Gowda shared the complaint copy and said, “Malefactors, who are upset by my rise on the political front, have brought out a fake, lewd video of mine for my fall. The video has become viral on social media, which pains me.”

He further added, “A complaint has been filed with the concerned authorities, to arrest and punish the guilty parties immediately.” The complaint signed by Thamme Gowda M read, “I have reliably learnt that politically motivated fake, fabricated, concocted video has been made by making use of our MP Sri D.V. Sadananda Gowda. The same is being circulated in social media. The said creation of the video is only to tarnish his image. The same is politically motivated. The said video came to be created by way of impersonation.”

What is deep fake?

Deep fake can be defined as synthetic media in which the existing person in an image or a video is replaced with someone else. Though morphing images or videos is not a new technique, and it is being done for a long time, deep fakes are different as the techniques used to create such images or videos use advanced technologies, including machine learning and artificial intelligence. While the technology has several positive applications, but the modern morphed-imaging technology is capable of producing real-like content that can be used for criminal purposes.

Taliban flags reappear on Lal Masjid in Islamabad, this time Maulana Abdul Aziz appears with a rifle and threatens cops

OpIndia Staff
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Taliban flags reappear on Lal Masjid in Islamabad, this time Maulana Abdul Aziz appears with a rifle and threatens cops

The Lal Masjid in Islamabad in Pakistan, which is known for its support to the Taliban, is back in news. This time, several Taliban flags were again found to be hoisted on the roof of the mosque. It is notable that a women’s madrassa known as Jamia Hamsa is also located near the mosque which is supervised by a cleric named Abdul Aziz.

Cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz threatened the police that reached there to remove the flags. Abdul Aziz, who is known to be an Islamic fundamentalist, was seen carrying a rifle and intimidated the Islamabad police in the name of the Pakistan Taliban. A large number of women belonging to the madrassa were also present at the spot. A video of the incident has gone viral on social media.

From the video that emerged, it appeared that Abdul Aziz warned the policemen who came for removing the Taliban flag against doing so, and told them that the Pakistani Taliban would never forgive them. He also told the policemen that if this is what they are supposed to do then they should quit their jobs and (Allah) would give them even better jobs.  “Iss naukri ko chhodo… Allah aur achhi naukriyan dega,” he told the cops.

According to reports, Hamza Shafqat, the Deputy Commissioner Islamabad asserted that hoisting of the flags of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would not be tolerated and the culprit would be punished. Later the flags were removed from the roof of the mosque by the cops. Following the incident, the maulana and his associates have been booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act and different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code by the police.

This is not the first time that the Taliban flags were hoisted at the mosque. Last month also, several Talibani flags were seen on the mosque, which were later removed by the police. After that, the students of the madrassa had even sung a song in the praise of the Taliban. The Lal Masjid-linked Jamia Hafsa had organised an event to celebrate Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, and the students had sung the song ‘Salam Taliban’ in that event.

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