Two days after a lone terrorist carried out a deadly knife attack at a store in New Lynn in Auckland, the slain attacker has been identified as one Ahamed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen, reported Radio New Zealand. The terrorist was shot dead on Friday (September 3) after he went on a stabbing spree and injured 7 people.
It must be mentioned that the New Zealand government had challenged a suppression order in Court, which earlier concealed the name of Samsudeen. After the order was lifted, the name and details of the terrorist were revealed to the public. Samsudeen was a 32-year-old Srilankan Muslim immigrant who came to New Zealand in 2011 on a student visa. He came under the watch of the law enforcement authorities in 2016 after he began glorifying ‘violent extremism’ on social media.
In 2017 Samsudeen was put behind bars for trying to escape to Syria via Auckland airport. He was found in possession of ‘restricted items’ and a ‘hunting knife.’ He pleaded guilty to possession but was eventually released on bail. The radical Islamist terrorist was arrested yet again in 2018 for procuring a knife while he was out on bail. A police search at his residence unearthed more ‘objectionable/extremist material’, leading to Samsudeen’s sentencing to 3 years in prison. Even while in custody, he assaulted several correction officers.
Prosecutors ran out of legal options to keep slain terrorist detained
Samsudeen was released in July this year. However, for the possession of such materials and failure in assisting the police during the search, the terrorist was put under an additional 12 months of ‘supervision with special conditions.’ New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had earlier described Samsudeen as a ‘supporter of ISIS ideology’ and conceded that the prosecutors ran out of legal options to keep the terrorist behind bars. She informed about receiving briefings about the threats posed by the Islamist in the months of July and August.
Govt tried to deport Samsudeen several times but failed
Upon his release on bail, the police claimed to have put Samsudeen under constant surveillance. As per Jacinda Ardern, about 30 cops were assigned at one time to track his movement. Despite this, the ISIS terrorist managed to buy a knife and stab seven people. Three of the victims are said to be in critical condition. It has also come to light that the immigration authorities in New Zealand were trying to revoke Samsudeen’s refugee status prior to the deadly attack. The Srilankan national was granted refugee status in 2013 but it was later discovered that he had obtained it fraudulently.
The New Zealand government then decided to issue a deportation notice and cancel his visa. However, a shrewd Samsudeen appealed against it in court. Given that he was serving time in prison, his appeal did not move further and the matter remained a stalemate until the end of his trial in May this year. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also conceded that it was ‘frustrating’ that the authorities could not deport him back to Sri Lanka. In light of the slain terrorist’s ability to exploit the loopholes within the system, the New Zealand government has now vowed to tighten the counter-terrorism laws in the country.
Terrorist’s family cites ‘mental health issues’, claims Samsudeen fought against injustice
In a statement released by the family members of the slain terrorist, they claimed, “We hope to find out with you all, what happened in Aathil’s case and what we all could have done to prevent this.” While alleging that they were ‘heartbroken’, the family went on to claim that the Islamic terrorist was suffering from mental health issues. They also suggested that the prison sentence and court cases worsened the mental state of Samsudeen. “He wanted to share the sufferings and injustices. He saw himself as someone fighting those injustices,” the family alluded.
Journalist Tavleen Singh is here to make our Sunday non-boring. Today she has taken upon herself to ‘defend’ Naseeruddin Shah and the Islamists who cancelled him while accusing ‘Hindutva trolls’ of abusing him. Bollywood entertainer Naseeruddin Shah was attacked by ‘liberal’ and ‘moderate’ Muslims for urging Indian Muslims not to hail Taliban and cautioned them against celebrating Taliban returning to power in Afghanistan.
Here are five absolutely senseless things Tavleen Singh said in her column on Naseeruddin Shah.
Naseeruddin Shah was attacked by ‘bearded mullahs’
Au contraire, it was actually the educated, ‘liberal’ and Indian Muslims who identify themselves as ‘moderate’ who were quite unhappy with Shah advising Indian Muslims against siding with Taliban.
Saba Naqvi and Rifat Jawaid’s tweets condemning Shah
“An attack from bearded mullahs with prayer bruises on their foreheads was no surprise,” she claims in her column. One can see, so-called journalist Saba Naqvi and Editor of pro-AAP blog Janta Ka Reporter Rifat Jawait are hardly ‘bearded mullahs with prayer bruises on their forehead’.
Arfa Khanum Sherwani
Unlikely The Wire journalist, who was upset at Shah cautioning young Indian Muslims against glorifying Taliban is also a ‘bearded mullah’.
So you see, it was not the bearded, orthodox and overly religious men who were upset on Naseeruddin Shah’s comments. Wait. It was not only the bearded, orthodox and overly religious men who were upset on Naseeruddin Shah’s comments on Taliban, but the educated Muslims, many of whom work as journalists who were unhappy with Shah’s comments. Tavleen Singh skipping this part just shows how she just wanted to obfuscate the issue and put the blame on ‘Hindutva trolls’.
‘Hindutva trolls mocked Naseeruddin Shah’
Tavleen Singh feels that the Hindus questioning and ‘mocking’ Naseeruddin Shah for claiming India is unsafe for Muslims last year was a bigger crime than Indian Muslims attacking Shah for asking them to not glorify Taliban. She claims being a Muslim in India is not easy. She talks about cases of alleged ‘hate crimes’ where Muslim men were beaten up for not chanting Jai Shri Ram. She brings up this bogey even though there have been ample number of cases where these ‘hate crimes’ turned out to be fake.
Recently, Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of so-called fact-checking website Alt News posted a muted video of an elderly Muslim man being beaten up. He claimed that the old man was beaten up for not chanting Jai Shri Ram and that his beard was also chopped off.
Mohammed Zubair’s tweet spreading fake news
In subsequent tweet he claimed that the man was forced to chant Jai Shri Ram.
Zubair’s tweet
It was later revealed that the old man, Abdul Samad Saifi was beaten up by his co-religionists who were upset because the ‘taveez’ (amulet) he gave them had adverse effect. Saifi was also an occultist and had made up the whole ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chant story. Here are 20 such incidents of fake ‘hate crimes’ where Muslim men had falsely claimed they were forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’
Similarly, Singh, to further her claim that Muslims in India have it hard, she cites example of one bangle seller who was allegedly beaten up in Indore for selling bangles in “Hindu area”. She conveniently forgets that that the man was accused of harassing a minor girl and was also in possession of fake Aadhaar cards. Somehow, crime such as harassing a minor girl is forgiven if accused is Muslim and that, somehow, makes it harder for Muslims to live in “Modi’s India”.
Of mushairas and qawwalis
Tavleen Singh defines Indian Islam as if it is all about mushairas, qawwalis, niharis and biryanis. As if the hardliners and Islamist group like Taliban does not enjoy mushairas and biryani themselves. So much that Naseeruddin Shah played role of a famed ghazal singer Gulfam Hassan who moved to Pakistan after partition and hosts regular concerts in Delhi. He also used to work for Pakistani intelligence in the movie and wanted to have a proxy war with India.
So clearly, mushaira and biryani loving Muslims cannot be extremists is a very weird position to hold.
Here is what Tavleen says about ‘Indian Islam’: “Mr Shah is right when he says that Indian Islam evolved into a religion that dealt well with modernity. So, it shocked me to hear a leading light of Hindutva declare on a primetime show that there was only one kind of Islam and only one kind of Muslim. He then spat out the numbers of verses in the Koran that recommend violence against infidels and unbelievers.”
The thing is that it is indeed true that there is only one kind of Islam which believes in the Quran and that the Quran refers to all those who do not believe in Allah as Kafirs, and killing and beheading Kafirs is permissible as per the Islamic holy book.
Surah 4 (An-Nisa) Verse 56:
Indeed, those who disbelieve in Our verses – We will drive them into a fire. Every time their skins are roasted through, We will replace them with other skins so they may taste the punishment. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted in Might and Wise.
Surah 98 (Al-Bayyinah) Verse 6:
Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.
Surah 4 (An-Nisa) Verse 34:
Men are in charge of women by (right of) what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in (the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them, guard. But those (wives) from whom you fear arrogance – (first) advise them; (then if they persist), forsake them in bed; and (finally) strike them. But if they obey you (once more), seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.
This is universal Islam and ‘Indian Islam’ is really no different.
Things started changing for Indian Muslims in 90s
Tavleen Singh then very conveniently, without being explicit, tried to blame the Indian Muslims asserting their religious identity was an outcome of the demolition of disputed structure at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya often referred to as “Babri Masjid”. The structure was demolished on 6th December, 1992 leading to widespread communal riots in the country. She talks about the 90s in Kashmir but very cleverly ignores the Kashmiri Hindu exodus where the Islamists and terrorists supported by Pakistan drove away Hindus from their very homes.
Tavleen, like many ‘liberals’ wants to believe that the seeds of radical Islam in India were sown only in the 1990s. However, truth is far from reality.
We do not need to go as far back as the partition of India after the Independence. When Muslim hardliners carved out a chunk of India into a separate Islamic country. And let us also not talk about how millions of Bengali Hindus were slaughtered. Or in 1921 Moplah Massacre in Kerala where thousands of Hindus were killed just for being Hindus.
The truth is that the seeds of radical Islam in India were sown somewhere in the late 70s and 80s with Saudi Arabia started the international propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism. Funded by petroleum exports, this was world’s largest propaganda campaign. Hundreds of Islamic colleges, Islamic centres, mosques, madarsas were built in countries with Muslim as well as non-Muslim majority. Millions of copies of the Quran were printed and distributed worldwide.
In around 70s and 80s, many Indians, especially Muslims went to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries for work. They would return as ‘purer’ version of Islamic belief. With the monies, bigger mosques and madarsas were built in India, including in rural parts.
The Muslims in India had now started identifying themselves as Muslims and wanted to know and embrace their religion unadulterated.
This was followed by the reversal of Shah Bano judgement by the Rajiv Gandhi government. In 1986, the Indian state headed by Rajiv Gandhi set a dangerous precedent of catapulting to Muslim hardliners. The Mohd. Ahmad Khan vs. Shah Bano Begum & Others case and the subsequent legislation passed by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1986 is often remembered as one of the most important moment in India’s political history.
So, no, Tavleen Singh, you may have noticed radical Islam in India in 90s, after you took break from your mushairas and concerts, but the radical elements have always been around.
Indian Muslims learnt from Indic religions
Tavleen had saved the best nonsensical stuff for the last. To conclude, Singh claims that Indian Muslims have ‘dealt with modern world’ better and that they have learnt a great deal from Indic religions. No, Talveen, no Indian Muslim, even an educated one would admit this. That’s shirk.
Further, to see demonstration of how well Indian Muslims live with people of other Indic religions, have a look at Kashmir where the Hindus were driven out of their homes and had to wait for 30 long years for abrogation of Article 370 for them to go back home. Even recently in Noorpur, Uttar Pradesh, Hindus had to put up ‘on sale’ boards on their homes and were considering fleeing their homes fearing persecution from hooligans of Muslim community.
Moreover, Pakistan was Indian Islam only till partition in 1947. Look where the minorities in Pakistan stand. Had it not been for persecution of religious minorities in neighbouring islamic countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Indian government would not even need to bring in Citizenship Amendment Act to fast-track Indian citizenship for those who had escaped persecution in these countries just because of their non-Muslim identity.
What Tavleen Singh says are nice good words by her while living in safe and posh spaces. And now that people like her have repeated them so many times that they have started believing their Utopia.
On September 4, a complaint has been filed against self-proclaimed atheist and Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar for comparing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal to Islamist group Taliban. In the complaint filed by Advocate Ashutosh J. Dubey at Mankhurd Police Station, the Greater Mumbai Police was requested to take cognizance of the matter and take action against Akhtar.
I have filed the complaint against #JavedAkhtar with the @MumbaiPolice for intentionally outranging to the RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal.
Javed Akhtar called RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal supporters Talibani’s!
The complaint was based on the statement Akhtar gave to a website on Friday.
Javed Akhtar compared the Taliban to Hindu organisations
On September 3, while talking on a show on NDTV, Akhtar said that the mentality of those who support RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal is the same as that of the Taliban. He said, “The way the Taliban are trying to build a Muslim nation. In the same way, some people present the concept of Hindu Rashtra to us.” He further added, “These people have the same mentality. The Taliban are violent. Are wild. But the people who support RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have the same mentality.”
This is EXACTLY how self-certified ‘atheist muzlims’ like @Javedakhtarjadu manage to do things, 1) legitimise terror outfits like Taliban by comparing them to a social organisation like RSS and 2) Repeat the lie RSS = Taliban so many times thae it sticks. pic.twitter.com/LFLAl2EVmr
While comparing the Taliban to RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal, Akhtar said that the ideologies that Hindu organisations follow are no different from the Taliban. He said, “They have no love for minorities, like Taliban. They want women to be home, like the Taliban. What is the difference between the two? They say no law is superior than their religious faith, that is what the Taliban say. How are you different from them?” and giggled.
Interestingly, the anchor alleged that Muslims are being attacked frequently in India for being Muslims. He specifically picked up a couple of incidents, including the recent one in which a bangle seller was booked for selling bangles to Hindu women while hiding his true identity. The bangle seller was booked for inappropriately touching a minor, a detail that the anchor conveniently skipped. He was also in possession of fake Aadhaar cards.
Akhtar further added, “Their goal is a bit far. You know, there is a constitution between them and their goal. But given have a chance, they will cross that.” He said, “There is no doubt about it they [talibs] are barbarian. But the people who you are supporting [Bajrang Dal, VHP and RSS], how are they different from them?”
BJP demands apology from Akhtar
Maharashtra BJP MLA and spokesperson Ram Kadam issued a statement in which he said that they would not allow any film involving Akhtar to be screened in the country till he apologies for his statement.
He said, “This statement by Javed Akhtar is not just shameful, but painful and humiliating for crores of functionaries of the Sangh and the Vishva Hindu Parishad and crores of people across the world who follow their ideology.”
Atul Bhatkhalkar, MLA, BJP, released a video statement and called Akhtar’s statement an insult to the entire Hindu community. He challenged Akhtar to go to Pakistan or Afghanistan and make such a statement against the Taliban. He also demanded an apology from Akhtar. He added if Akhtar fails to issue an apology, a defamation suit will be filed against him.
The youth wing of BJP also took out a protest march to Akhtar’s residence on Saturday. They said, “We think that Akhtar is not mentally stable. This country has given him everything. RSS helps people at the grassroots, and he has compared them to the Taliban. This is unacceptable. If he doesn’t apologise, our agitation against him will only get more intense.”
On Saturday, some Muslim women belonging to the women’s wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hindi, Girls Islamic Organisation, were found distributing pamphlets encouraging non-Muslim girls between the age of 15-25 to wear hijab.
— भारत पुनरुत्थान Bharata Punarutthana (@punarutthana) September 4, 2021
The pamphlet encouraged girls between age of 15-25 years to ‘spread knowledge of Quran and Sunnah’. The incident reportedly happened at Walker Street near the Chief Minister’s residence in Nagpur.
The incident was also caught on camera where some local people objected to getting minor girls to wear hijab like this.
Same incident captured.same kind of incident I shared on my TL. This kind of incidents happened in 20 different places at Nagpur.
In a heated argument, where the local resident is politely asking Muslim women to not get Hindu girls to wear a hijab, a religious symbol for Islam, the Muslim women who had gathered to get non-Muslim girls to wear one started screaming and yelling, drowning the voice of the local residents. The three non-Muslim girls, of which at least one was a minor, claimed that they wore the hijab out of their own free will.
Interestingly, the pamphlet distributed on 4th September to encourage non-Muslim girls to wear hijab read ‘Hijab Day’, when in reality so-called World Hijab Day falls on 1st February every year.
The local residents then reached out to the police station to file a complaint.
One of the local residents said that they had gone for a walk near the CM residence where they saw 15-20 Muslim women wearing hijab had stopped 3-4 Hindu girls and were asking them to wear a hijab. He alleged that the women claimed 4th September was ‘World Hijab Day’ and every person can wear a hijab. As mentioned earlier, ‘World Hijab Day’ falls on 1st February every year.
“Some women even claimed that they were Hindus and were wearing hijabs willingly, which they were lying. The women then left and we got the girls to remove the hijab. These (Muslim) women then walked a little further towards the CM bungalow where their husbands or brothers were waiting for them on scooters. They immediately got on the scooters and went away,” he said.
He further said that they complained to police and the police reached immediately where they handed over the material distributed by the women to the police.
A VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) leader said that they condemn such incidents and it is a matter of shame that such a situation has arisen in Nagpur which resembles that of burqa and Sharia of Afghanistan.
Police is currently investigating the case.
Girls Islamic Organisation
Girls Islamic Organisation is the women’s wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, an Islamic organisation which was formed in 1948 in Jamia Nagar, Delhi. It was founded as an off-shoot of Jamaat-e-Islami which was split into separate organisations after the partition of India in 1947. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was twice banned by the Government of India.
In a meeting held in 1990, Sirajul Hasan, then Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind had declared that the separation of Kashmir was inevitable. In 1991, Abdul Aziz, deputy Amir of organisation had claimed that a plebiscite should be held in Kashmir. The banned terror outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was the students wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s official objective is establishment of Islamic way of life in all aspects of life.
A lesser-known Indian born academic Priyamvada Gopal gained widespread notoriety recently on Twitter after screenshots of her past Hinduphobic tweets started doing the rounds on the internet.
In one of the controversial tweets posted by Priyamvada Gopal, she compared the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial to a ‘whale penis’. She made the comparison after an individual said he did not approve of the aesthetics of the memorial.
In another screenshot of the tweet that had gone viral, the academic had demanded that the USA block the naturalization of Hindus and “snatch their precious little H-1Bs”, referring to the H-1B Visas because they supported the Citizenship Amendment Act.
There were other shocking tweets from Gopal, who also happens to be a Professor of Postcolonial Studies at the University of Cambridge. As her scandalous tweets started being shared and retweeted on Twitter, it attracted condemnation from various quarters. Consequently, many social media users also wondered about her ancestry, in a bid to better understand her pathological hatred towards Hindus.
Soon enough, Twitter was replete with posts that said the Cambridge academic is the granddaughter of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first vice president and the second president of India. 5th September every year is celebrated as Teachers’ Day in India in honour of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was born on this day.
The Wire spreads misinformation about S Radhakrishnan, says he was the grandfather of Hinduphobic academic Priyamvada Gopal
The notion that Priyamvada Gopal was the granddaughter of S Radhakrishnan was fueled by the far-left propaganda portal The Wire. In an article published on September 24, 2020, titled “What was Umar Khalid’s Crime?: Over 200 Thinkers Across the Word Extend Solidarity”, the Wire mentions Priyamvada Gopal as one of the “thinkers” who thought Umar Khalid to be innocent, even though evidence suggests that he could be one of the key conspirators of the anti-Hindu Delhi riots that convulsed the national capital in February 2020.
In its article, The Wire described Priyamvada Gopal as a professor at Cambridge University and granddaughter of S Radhakrishnan. This information was picked up by a large number of Twitter users, who then started linking Gopal with the former President of India.
Many Twitter users who claimed Priyamvada Gopal to be the granddaughter of S Radhakrishnan cited The Wire article as their source of information. Some of them even shared the screenshot of the report published in The Wire to back their claims.
The wire says she is grand daughter of Radhakrishnan but no mention of her father But S Gopal died in 2002 …so not clear if he is same gopal pic.twitter.com/kBwkU20VUm
The wire says she is the granddaughter of Radhakrishnan but no mention of her father But S Gopal died in 2002 …so not clear if he is the same gopal pic.twitter.com/7aKGmyZq0l
Priyamvada Gopal is not related to S Radhakrishnan, the former president’s family member reveals
However, Priyamvada is not the granddaughter of S Radhakrishnan as being bandied about on Twitter. Gautam Desiraju, a close relative of S Radhakrishnan, took to Twitter to inform people that Gopal is not related to the former President of India.
“Sorry to have to disappoint all you guys, but she is no relation, repeat no relation to Prof. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. This is being tweeted by someone who ought to know,” Desiraju tweeted.
Sorry to have to disappoint all you guys, but she is no relation, repeat no relation to Prof. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
When one of the Twitter users responded that it does not change the fact that Gopal is Hinduphobic, Desiraju concurred with him and replied that as a close member of S Radhakrishnan’s family, he was deeply upset to see the first vice president’s name being maligned for tweets posted by someone who was not linked to him in any way.
The same was confirmed by author Hindol Sengupta, who asserted that noted scientist Gautam Desiraju personally clarified to him that Priyamvada has no connection with Dr S Radhakrishnan.
No, the noted scientist @GautamDesiraju – from the same family – personally clarified to me (and others) that she is no connection with Dr. Radhakrishnan. But *wink* the belief persists among many.
After a family member of Dr S Radhakrishnan debunked the falsehoods peddled in the name of the former president, the Wire quietly edited out the references that said Priyamvada Gopal was related to S Radhakrishnan, perhaps in an attempt to avoid the embarrassment of being caught for purveying fake news. However, the archived version of The Wire article could be read here, where Priyamvada Gopal is referred to as the granddaughter of S Radhakrishnan.
English left-back Marc Joel Bola, who plays for Middlesbrough, has been charged by the Football Association with ‘aggravated’ misconduct for ‘a reference to sexual orientation’ in a tweet that was posted back in 2012.
The English professional footballer Bola had allegedly made controversial comments on the social media platform nine years ago which supposedly contained ‘a reference to sexual orientation’.
FA statement read, “Middlesbrough FC’s Marc Bola has been charged with a misconduct for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a social media post on April 14, 2012.” It is alleged that the post is insulting and/or abusive and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute contrary to FA Rule E3.1.
It is further alleged that this post constitutes an “aggravated breach” which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference to sexual orientation, the FA said. The footballer has until September 20, 2021 to provide his response to this charge.
The 23-year-old footballer was just 14 when he had posted the alleged abusive tweet nine years ago in 2012. Although the ‘offensive’ tweet is no longer available now, reportedly, it contained a ‘homophobic’ word, which caught the attention of FA officials 9 years later.
Marc Bola is a product of the Arsenal academy who debuted for Arsenal in 2016. He then played for Notts County and the Bristol Rovers on loan. Arsenal released Bola at the end of 2017-2018 season and he signed for Blackpool for a one-year contract. Bola joined Middlesbrough on July 2019 and then returned to Blackpool on a loan for the 2019-20 season.
Jarrod Bowen of West Ham was charged by the FA on similar grounds for a nine-year-old tweet when the Winger had allegedly made racist remarks. Bowen was let off with a written warning by the Football Association and told to take an education course.
According to the approval rating of several global leaders tracked by Morning Consult Political Intelligence, Narendra Modi has the highest approval rating among the leaders of 13 countries. The data shows that the Indian Prime Minister remains the most popular global leader since January 2020, and as of August 31, his net approval rating was 11 times the net rating of Joe Biden.
According to the weekly rating published by the US-based data intelligence company, Narendra Modi’s net approval is 45, while the same for US President Biden is only 4. The ratings for UK PM Boris Johnson and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau are in negatives, at -11 and -4. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the president of Mexico, has the second-highest net approval rating of 37, and Italian PM Mario Draghi is at third place with 32.
Net approval of 13 global leaders
Among the 13 global leaders, only 6 has net approval above 0, the rest have negative ratings, which mean their disapproval ratings are more than approval ratings. The 13 leaders are from Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
According to the data published by Morning Consult, Narendra Modi got 70% approvals and 25% disapproval in the week ended 31st August, making his net approval 45. Joe Biden’s approval was 48% while disapproval was 44%, his disapproval rose sharply from 40% in mid-August, when the US troops abandoned Afghanistan amid chaos while the Taliban captured the country.
Approval and disapproval ratings of PM Modi
During January 2020 to August 2021 period, Modi’s highest net rating was 73 on May 3, 2020, as his approval had soared to above 80 and disapproval was around 10 at that time. His lowest approval was in May this year when it had dropped to 31.
The lowest rated world leader is Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga, with net approval of -39. His approval was 25% against the disapproval of 64%. Appointed the PM of Japan just a year ago after former PM Shinzo Abe resigned last September citing ill health, Yoshihide Suga has already announced that he will not be contesting party elections this month for the post of President, after his ratings saw an all-time low. His Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is set to hold the elections for party president on September 29, and with Suga stepping down, the new president is set to become the new PM of the country as the LDP holds a majority in the parliament.
According to Morning Consult, they conduct more than 11,000 daily interviews globally about leadership approval. They also daily interview 5,000 registered voters in the US for the approval rating of US president. Daily global survey data is based on a 7-day moving average of all adults in a given country with a margin of error of between +/- 1-3%.
Caretaker president of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh, has slammed the Joe Biden administration in an article published on Daily Mail. In the article, he reasserted the commitment of the resistance forces in Afghanistan to combat the Taliban takeover of the country. At the same time, he expressed disappointment at the manner in which western countries have conducted themselves.
Amrullah Saleh said, “The scenes at Kabul airport in recent days represented the humiliation of humanity, an embarrassment for any nation that has been involved in Afghanistan since the Taliban were routed by the US-led Coalition Force in the aftermath of the 9/11 atrocity. The Americans may boast about evacuating some 123,000 people from the country (of whom 6000 were Americans), but there are 40 million of us.”
“Now, with the closure of the airport in Kabul, the Afghan exodus is continuing at the other border crossings and it is worse than it was during the Soviet occupation of the 1980s. This is not only shameful for President Biden, it is shameful for the whole of Western civilisation,” he added.
Saleh also said that politicians in western countries know that Al Qaeda terrorists are back in Kabul under the Taliban regime and they know that Taliban has not reformed. He pointed out the fact the Jihadist paraded its suicide vests in the Afghan capital.
“But there’s still time for the West to save its reputation and credibility. Biden was determined to end America’s ‘longest war’ and would no longer countenance keeping even a few thousand soldiers in my country to support our own Afghan forces – despite our enormous sacrifices and the advice of his own generals,” he said.
Amrullah Saleh blames lack of air support for fall of Kabul
Amrullah Saleh also called upon the West, in addition to moral and material support where possible, “also to use this opportunity to press for a political settlement with the Taliban, a settlement that has the backing of the Afghan people and the international community.”
The caretaker president of Afghanistan also said that the lack of air support from the USA accelerated the fall of Kabul. “Whenever our troops confronted a concentration of the Taliban, the Americans would cite the Doha Agreement – negotiated with the Taliban – to say they could not strike them except in very limited circumstances.”
‘We are going to Panjshir and the road is already taken,’ Saleh told his chief guard Rahim. ‘We will fight our way through. We will fight it together. But should I get injured, I have one request of you. Shoot me twice in my head. I don’t want to surrender to the Taliban. Ever.’
Caretaker president of Afghanistan says Taliban took over Afghanistan with help from Pakistan
Saleh also said that it is Pakistan which is in power in Afghanistan and the Taliban have not won “any hearts and minds”. “The Taliban’s spokesperson receives directions, literally every hour, from the Pakistani embassy. It is the Pakistanis who are in charge as effectively a colonial power. But this is not going to last because they and their clients will not be able to erect a functioning economy or create a civil service,” he said.
Amrullah Saleh had earlier clarified that he is still in Panjshir after rumours were afloat that he has fled to Tajikistan amidst the Taliban onslaught. “There are some media reports being circulated around that I have fled my country. This is absolutely baseless. This is my voice, I am calling you from the Panjshir valley, from my base. I am with our commanders and our political leaders,” he said.
He added, “We are managing the situation. Of course, it’s a difficult situation, We are under the invasion of the Taliban and Pakistanis and Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. We have held the ground, we have not lost territory.”
There is no end to Islamist politicians in India praising the Taliban after the group captured Afghanistan. The latest to do so is PDP leader Naeem Akhtar, who praised the Taliban for being ‘more tolerant’ to protests in comparison to the Indian government. In a recent tweet, Akhtar criticized the Indian government quoting visuals of the Women protest in Kabul, Afghanistan. It is the same protest where the protesters accused the Taliban of using tear gas shells against them.
Screenshot of the tweet
Naeem Akhtar said, “Terrorist Sarkaar (government) looks more tolerant to protest than some celebrated democratic spaces. Even the apprehension of a funeral procession can imprison an entire region.” It is clear from the tweet that Naeem Akhtar finds the Taliban more tolerant than the Indian government because the Indian govt had imposed restrictions to prevent any violence following the death of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
The women protest in Kabul Afghanistan turned violent, after the Taliban stopped the protesters from entering the presidential place in the city. It is also alleged that the Taliban used tear gas shells against the protesters. The protesters had taken to the streets to demand women’s rights in Afghanistan before being attacked by the Afghanistan forces. Women with less or no rights after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan have been protesting against the Taliban for equal rights and opportunity for full political participation while the Jihadist regime looks set to implement the fundamentalist interpretation of the Islamic Sharia law in the country.
And with the tweet, Naeem Akhtar joins the list of Taliban sympathizers who openly defend Taliban operations. Earlier Jharkhand Congress MLA Irfan Ansari made similar comments when he criticized the US government and supported the Taliban. He had said, “They (Taliban) should be lauded as they chased the Americans away from Afghanistan. We all know the kind of excesses the American forces committed in Afghanistan.”
Naeem Akhtar, an aide to PDP President Mehbooba Mufti, was under house arrest after his release from 5-month preventive detention at the MLA Hostel in Srinagar. First detained in August 2019 and then booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA), he was released on June 10 after 10 months of detention and then again taken into custody in December 2020.
New Delhi based think tank Law and Society Alliance released a study report titled “Mapping Chinese Footprints and Influence Operations in India” on 3rd September in an online event. Several China-related experts participated in an online discussion following the release of the report. The experts discussed how China has bought support for itself among academia, think tanks, media, trade bodies, tech companies, filmdom, and political parties in India to influence public opinion and destabilise the nation from within.
Online event to release Study Report on #China Influence Operations in #India through universities, institutions, tech firms, think-tanks, cinema, political parties, & diplomats. @ 6 pm India time tomorrow. Email to [email protected] with your short bio for password pic.twitter.com/eDjt47XNJF
The 76-page Study Report explored the covert and overt influence operations carried out by the Communist Party of China led by Xi Jinping in cultivating, funding, and sponsoring institutions in India, including the media and individual opinion-makers.
Participating in the discussion following the release of the report, exiled World Uyghur Congress Director for Chinese Affairs Department Ilshal Kokbore said that the contents of the report shocked him, as he learnt the deep penetration Communist China had done inside a democratic India.
Speaking from New York, he said that CCP is really adept at twisting reality and spreading propaganda in its favour, not just in India but globally. Ilshal Kokbore said that while CCP-controlled media is hostile towards India, China treats Indians with contempt and views the country as a third world nation. But despite that, China has invested billions of Dollars in India in several sectors, including cinema, technology, Apps makers, fintech firms, edutech companies, and academia.
“China continues to take bolder steps to erode India’s democracy and is also subtly influencing Afghan policies through its support of Pakistani and Afghan extremists,” he said. Kokbore said the report reminded him of Uyghur history when CCP had occupied East Turkistan pretending to offer help, but now is throwing Uyghurs in concentration camps. A similar history has played out in Tibet and is now playing out in Hong Kong, where the Chinese govt is overthrowing democracy, he added.
Sheng Xue, Canadian Coalition Against Communism co-founder and vice president, said that the report shows that some vigilant Indians are standing up against the China’s silent effort to harm India through its fifth column operations. She said that the study report is a wake-up call for democracies around the world against the CCP’s devious designs.
“The report by Law and Society Alliance is convincing evidence as to how invasive China’s influence is and also enables scholars to draw a footprint of Beijing’s propaganda strategy,” she said. Xue further added, “the democratic world must group together to protect itself and fight back against the overt and covert influence operations of CCP.”
New Delhi-based strategic affairs analyst Aarti Tikoo said that the Study Report exhaustively maps CCP’s influence in India, which is much more than what the British had among Indians when they ruled the country. She said that Indian film and entertainment industry will bend over backwards to please China, to the extent of declaring Tibet to be a part of Communist China.
“No one in the mainstream media talks about the ongoing genocide in East Turkestan, called as Xinjiang by CCP, or the plight of the Uyghurs. The insidious way in which the CCP has infiltrated into almost all critical sectors of Indian society is something we as Indians should be wary of,” she said. Tikoo added that almost every major Indian company has received investments from CCP, and are subservient to Beijing’s whims in some shape or form.
Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center Diretor Enghebatu Togochog, said he is one of the unfortunate Mongolians, whose land Southern Mongolia is now under CCP’s occupation. Enghebatu said there is a similarity in China’s operations in India and what had happened in Southern Mongolia 70 years ago.
“China first entered Southern Mongolia proclaiming peace and prosperity, but over the years reduced my country to a mere colony. I want the people of the world democracies to see the example of Southern Mongolia to understand what happened to those who come under CCP’s ‘generosity’,” he added.
Enghebatu said China colonized Southern Mongolia by four means: Economic Control, Population Transfers, Sinicisation and Resources Exploitation. He added that Beijing has moved large population of Han Chinese to Southern Mongolia and reversed the population ratio to five Han Chinese to every Mongolian. “CCP has attacked the Mongolian language and culture. And plundered the natural resources and destroyed the environmental balance and ecology in Sourthern Mongolia,” he said.
Geneva-based The Tibet Bureau’s United Nations Advocacy Officer Kalden Tsomo said the study report captures how entrenched CCP is in India’s key sectors that impact the impressionable young minds. “Beijing is currently attempting to use its current economic might to challenge the prevailing world order. China is attempting to re-write history in order to fit its own narrative. Because of this, the CCP’s point of view on Tibet, Hong Kong and COVID-19 is permeating throughout the world with pliable media platforms playing the amplifier role,” Kalden said.
