Three committees in West Bengal have collaborated for creating idols of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as ‘Goddess Durga’ ahead of the Pujo festivities.
West Bengal | 3 committees collaborate to make idol of Goddess Durga resembling CM Mamata Banerjee
“Every person in Bengal considers her as Goddess Durga. The benefits she provided to people haven’t been seen in world,” says Partha Sarkar, Vice Pres, Nazrul Park Unnayan Samiti pic.twitter.com/wZZzUlUTBc
As reported by news agency ANI, Partha Sarkar, Vice President of Nazrul Park Unnayan Samiti claimed that every person in Bengal considers her as Goddess Durga. “The benefits she provided to people haven’t been seen in world,” he claimed. Recently, Calcutta High Court ordered a court monitored CBI probe into the human rights violations in the large scale post poll violence that took place in the state after TMC’s Mamata Banerjee returned to power on May 2.
There have been allegations of gang rapes and murders across the state allegedly perpetrated by the workers and cadres of the ruling party TMC on the political opponents. The NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) report has detailed the victims’ allegation of torture and brutality inflicted upon them. The High Court has entrusted all the cases to the SIT for investigation which will be monitored by the court. The cases related to the murder and crimes against women mentioned in the NHRC will be probed by the CBI while other cases will be probed by the SIT.
The NHRC Panel in its report concluded that the current situation of the state, is a manifestation of ‘Law of Ruler’, instead of ‘Rule of Law’. It added that the loss of faith in state administration among victims is very evident. The statutory body added that a list of 57 complaints related to women was received from the National Women Commission.
At least three Palestinians died inside a smuggling tunnel between Gaza and Egypt after the Egyptian army pumped toxic gas into the tunnel, according to reports by Israeli and Palestinian media. The tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border are used by the Palestinians to smuggle various items into the Gaza strip.
To bypass the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and Gaza, the Palestinians use the tunnels to smuggle food, fuel, arms and ammunition into the Hamas ruled Gaza strip. The tunnel which was targeted by the Egyptian army stretches from the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt to the Gaza Strip. The victims in the incident were workers working in the tunnel. Sources in Gaza said that they have lost contact with the workers in the tunnel.
However, this is not the first time the smuggling tunnels have been attacked by Egypt. In 2010, Egyptian forces had pumped gas into one of such tunnels, killing 4 Palestinians and injuring 9. In 2009, Egypt had started building a steel barrier along the 4 km border with Gaza to stop the smuggling tunnels.
Hamas maintains an extensive network of tunnels along the borders of Gaza strip, which are known as “Hamas Metro”. In May this year, Israel had bombed several tunnels on the Israel-Gaza border in retaliation to rocket bombings in Israel by Hamas.
On September 1, while denying bail [PDF of the judgement] to one accused of cow slaughter, the Allahabad High Court said that cows should be declared national animals of India and cow protection should be the fundamental right of the Hindus. The court further adds that when the culture and faith of a nation are hurt, the nation becomes weak. The court was hearing the bail plea of Javed, who was accused of stealing and slaughtering a cow.
The High Court said that Javed not only stole the cow but also killed it by slitting its throat. He was identified by the eyewitnesses when he and the other accused were collecting cow beef in the forest close to the home from where they stole the cow of Khilendra Singh. Javed and the other accused had slaughtered a total of three cows that day, as per the reports. The bail was rejected by a single judge bench comprising of Justice Shekhar Yadav. “This is not the first offence of the applicant. Earlier too he had committed cow slaughter which had disturbed the harmony of society,” Justice Yadav said.
Right to life is above all
The court said that beef eaters alone do not have fundamental rights. Those who worship the cows and whose livelihoods are based on the cows also have the right to lead a meaningful life. The court added that the right to live is above all. The right to kill a cow to eat beef cannot be placed above that.
Many religions understand importance of cows
The court said that the cow’s usefulness remains intact even if she gets old. Cow dung is used to make manure, and cow urine is used in medicines. The court also noted that the cow, even if it is old, is worshipped as a mother in the Hindu religion. The court observed that the cow is considered an important part of life not only by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists but also by many Muslims and Christians. Many emperors understood the importance of cows and declared cow slaughter a punishable offence. During the time of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, cow slaughter was an offence punishable by death, the court observed.
Government should consider naming cow a national animal
The High Court noted that the government of India should consider making cows a national animal. The court said that there are rules and regulations in place to save the cows. The court added that it is very said that those who once talked about cow protection have now started consuming beef. The court also pointed out the bad conditions of cow shelters. It is said that governments make cow shelters, but the caretakers are often negligent. The High Court objected to the death of cows in cowsheds due to hunger and disease.
The court said at times, cows are kept in a dirty environment, and they do not get enough food. They start eating polythene that leads to their death. The court also pointed out that how cows are abundant by their owners once their stop giving milk. The court added seeing all this, one may question the intentions of those who call themselves cow protectors.
Two weeks after capturing Afghanistan, the Taliban is keen on demonstrating its military capabilities to the rest of the world. After parading Blackhawk helicopters during the “victory lap” on the streets of Kandahar, the spiritual heartland of Taliban, the Taliban has now held another parade to showcase its military might.
On Wednesday, the Taliban held a victory parade to showcase the weaponry it plundered following the fall of the US-backed Afghan national government. In the parade, the Taliban displayed its suicide attackers, car bombs, barrel bombs, vest explosives etc.
The event was telecast on Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), a public broadcaster of Afghanistan.
In the parade, the Taliban displayed one of its showpiece weaponry – suicide bombers – to the elders of the radical Islamic outfit. A group consisting of various martyrdom-seekers squadrons or suicide bombers were seen parading carrying the Islamic Emirate’s flag.
This is National TV of Afghanistan, broadcasting parades of Taliban’s Suicide attackers, Car bombs, barrel bombs, vest explosives. pic.twitter.com/BnRczQQ4Xy
The Taliban also showcased light weaponry, heavy weaponry, mines, yellow barrels and car bombs during the event. A Taliban commentator said that the weapons would be used against invaders and their puppets in defence of independence and dear country.
The most prominent among this weaponry is the yellow barrel, vest bomb and car bomb, said the Taliban, adding that the yellow bombs are the greatest invention of the military industry of Mujahideen that could destroy vehicles of the enemy.
During the parade, the Taliban also displayed vest bombs and car bombs, which they termed as the weaponry of the military industry of Mujahideen intended to be used in the martyrdom-seeking operations to destroy enemy moving and static targets and enemy’s key installations.
In another video shared by Iranian journalist Tajuden Soroush, Taliban fighters were seen impressing the elderly Mujahideen leaders of the Taliban with their Karate skills.
It is important to note that the weaponry that the Taliban are displaying does not belong to them. Most of the weaponry accessed by the Taliban is due to the large scale loot carried out by the Taliban fighters from the erstwhile Afghan national forces. The United States of America had provided massive arms and ammunition to the Afghan national forces during their war against the Taliban.
After the US forces withdrew from Afghanistan and the Afghan forces either surrendered to the Taliban or fled from their posts, and followig the subsequent take over of the war-torn country by the Taliban, these arms were passed on to the Taliban. Besides local arms, the Taliban has laid its hands on the sophisticated American weaponry and vehicles that the US troops left behind in Afghanistan.
The US-led forces that formally left Afghanistan on August 31, 2021, left behind military equipment worth almost USD 80 billion. The US had provided Afghan forces since 2003 with more than 16,000 night-vision goggle devices, 600,000 infantry weapons, including M16 assault rifles, and 162,000 pieces of communication equipment.
Besides, there are more than 6 lakh small arms like rifles, machine guns, pistols, grenade launchers, and RPGs that have fallen into the Taliban fighters’ hands. Apart from this, the Taliban has secured surveillance equipment, radio systems, drones, etc., making it one of the heavily armed fighting units in the world.
Amidst this, there are concerns that China may get access to state-of-the-art weapons, military equipment, aircraft and other equipment, which may then be reverse-engineered to be used against India and the United States – the two hostile powers of China.
The Congress party, which is witnessing internal troubles in several states, has formed an ‘agitation committee’ to run agitations against the Modi government. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) today informed that party president Sonia Gandhi has formed a committee under the leadership of Digvijay Singh to plan sustain agitations on the national level.
Apart from former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh as the chairman, this ‘agitation committee’ is comprised of party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Telangana MP Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Congress leaders Manish Chatrath, BK Hariprasad, Ripun Bora, Udit Raj, Ragini Nayak and Zuber Khan.
Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi has constituted the following committee to plan sustained agitations on nation issues, with immediate effect. pic.twitter.com/KYCJqvckFZ
Interestingly, while Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is a member of the committee, her son Rahul Gandhi is not. Rahul Gandhi has been at the forefront of launching attacks on Modi governments, mostly on false and baseless claims.
The committee will devise strategies for the Congress party to run agitations against the Modi government on various issues like price rise, farm laws etc ahead of the assembly election in five states. “No meetings have been held so far, but on issues like price rise, farm laws and other issues need sustained agitation. It is the need of the hour, need of the country, need of the people. Rahul ji is fighting, farmers are also fighting, but it should be more sustained,” said Congress leader Udit Raj, who is a member of the newly formed committee.
The Congress party had raised various issues of farm laws, price rise, Pegasus etc in the recently concluded monsoon season of the parliament, where the Congress and other opposition MPs had resorted to vandalism.
This 9-member agitation committee has been formed by the Congress party after it had formed a 11-member committee to plan celebrations for 75th year of independence. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh is the chairman and Congress leader Mukul Wasnik has been appointed as convenor of that committee. Senior Congress leaders AK Antony, Meira Kumar, Ambika Soni, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Pramod Tiwari, Mullappally Ramachandran, KR Ramesh Kumar and Pradyut Bordoloi are the other members of the committee. This committee will oversee the yearlong celebrations of the 75th year of independence by the Congress party, which will run parallel to the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Reportedly, there were dissatisfaction among several Congress leaders over the composition of that committee as included several leaders from the G-23 faction like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Mukul Wasnik.
On Wednesday, actor Naseeruddin Shah had released a video criticising Indian Muslims who seemed elated at the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Terming the celebration by Indian Muslims over the Taliban’s victory as dangerous, Shah stated that every Indian Muslim should ask himself whether he wants a “reformed, modern Islam” or the “barbaric values” of past centuries.
Shah even went on to say that his ‘Islam’ is inspired by Mirza Ghalib, which is non-political and ‘Hindustani Islam’ has always been different from the Islam that is practised elsewhere and prayed that the Indian version of Islam doesn’t change so much that it is no longer recognisable’
However, Shah, who is usually a favourite of Indian Islamists and so-called ‘secular-liberals’ for his anti-Modi stand, suddenly was ‘cancelled‘. Islamists of all hues and range started condemning Shah’s condemnation, asking him not to preach what Islam should or should not be. Apparently, talking about reforms within the religion is not Islamist enough for Islamists. Here are some samples:
Screenshots from Twitter
Rifat Jawaid of the pro-AAP blog Janta Ka Reporter even went a step ahead and declared Shah as ‘not Muslim enough’ to speak about Islam, “because he is not a practising Muslim and he has no knowledge about some topics.”
Jawaid then went ahead and clarified what “knowledge” he was talking about. As per him, putting geographical tags on Islam is haram. Islam apparently knows no separate kingdoms or regions. Islam remains the same regardless of region. The Caliphate junkies of ISIS would be really proud of him.
The very idea of a Caliphate or global Islamic brotherhood is based upon the idea that Islam itself is the supreme identity and its adherents need not oblige to any other ethnic, regional or cultural identities. ISIS believes in it. The terrorism sponsors of Pakistan believe in it and every other radical who has blown himself up for the sake of ‘Jannah’ or ‘Ummah’ believes in it too. Jawaid just explained it in simpler terms.
Jawaid and Naqvi are just two examples from the so-called ‘elite’, there are dozens of others who are spewing venom on Naseeruddin Shah, declaring him unfit to issue advice and suggestions, even accusing him of trying to appease the Hindus. Just regular ‘Ummah’ things on Indian social media.
‘Swara Bhaskar not woke enough’
Swara Bhaskar was cancelled recently too. She was cancelled because she was seen following the Hindu rituals of Grih Pravesh. For a section of ‘secular-liberals’, following the rituals of one’s own religion, if that religion is Hinduism, is haram. On the contrary, Hindus who openly deride Hinduism, make Gaumutra jokes, eat beef and abuse Hindu Gods, are celebrated instantly.
Any Hindu who praises Islamic values and lifestyle is praised too. No matter how many high-fives Swara had given to Islamists and ‘wokes’, no matter how many Gaumutra jokes she had cracked, she was mercilessly cancelled the moment she was seen following Hindu rituals of Grih Pravesh, under the guidance a Hindu priest.
The comments got so heavy that the actress had to compensate her previous post with an explainer, that being Hindus does not necessarily mean being hateful, such is the power of narrative setting.
Praying to my Hindu Gods & still don’t want to kill or lynch Dalits or Muslims, still don’t believe in or practice discrimination, still believe in social justice, Liberty & equality. Still can raise my voice against injustice, hate & bigotry. Shockingly, it’s possible! ??✨ pic.twitter.com/IYf9HsIvps
Anyone that deviates from the directive is ‘cancelled’
It is not just Swara and Naseeruddin. Not very long ago, Naseeruddin Shah was seen spewing venom against the government of India in anti-CAA protests, instigating Muslims against a law that had nothing to do with them and did not affect them in any way. He had been peddling the ‘Dara Hua Musalman’ narrative for years now. And yet, the moment he speaks about reforms, and warns against barbarism spread in the name of Islam, he gets cancelled. It is a mandate, it is an omerta. You follow the strict directive, or you will be cancelled.
Indian, and for that matter even the global Left-liberal intelligentsia is a slave at the feet of Islamists. The very same ‘feminists’ who cry hoarse over women rights in liberal democracies promptly affirm that ‘Hijab is a choice’, the same ‘liberals’ who proclaim themselves as champions of diversity and inclusion, never dare to speak against homophobic laws in Muslim countries.
For Indian Islamists, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was ‘not Muslim enough’. Sagarika Ghose had called him ‘bomb daddy’, ‘scholars’ had written articles about how the former President and scientist was ‘too-Hindu-friendly’, Arfa Khanum Sherwani had asked why is he eulogised and so on.
The same Naseeruddin Shah was hailed and praised when he harped on how the Indian Muslim is the victim of injustice, hatred. He was celebrated when he asked anti-CAA protestors to agitate against the government. But the moment he talks about reforms, he gets promptly cancelled. Despite being a successful, celebrated actor, loved all over the country, Shah had peddled the fake ‘I am afraid for my children” narrative and was hailed for it by the same Islamists and ‘liberals’ who today cancelled him for speaking about reforms.
Recently, IPS officer Najmul Hoda in an article in The Print, explained how the Indian Muslims and ‘liberals’ are trapped in a toxic relationship. He discusses how the so-called ‘liberals’ kept Muslims confined to a certain mindset of denial, whitewashing over historical instances and making them believe that they are perpetual victims, thus binding the entire population in a mental state where they actively denounce reforms.
The cancellation of Shah is just an example of the larger reality that is the ugly underbelly of the Global Left. It is “my way or the highway”. ‘Liberalism’ in India is about perpetual victimhood peddling, whitewashing and smokescreens.
It was evident when the ‘liberals’, interestingly Swara included, were enthusiastically equating the Taliban with India’s democratically elected government. Imran Khan the terrorism sponsor becomes a star for them, Sharjeel Imam and his separatist buddies are painted as victims but just because he is Hindu, Yogi Adityanath is always a villain. In the case of Indian ‘liberals’, all their intellect, their thought process, and talks of progressive ideologies lie firmly at the feet of Islamist radicals.
The Karnataka government headed by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has taken a decision for a massive vaccination drive on priority basis within a 20-km radius on the borders with Kerala.
We’re vaccinating the population in districts bordering Kerala. Students/employees coming from Kerala have to quarantine for one week &do an RT-PCR test at the end of the 7-day quarantine.We’re taking all possible measures to prevent spread of COVID: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai pic.twitter.com/KBbOrJt7ng
Accordingly, the Karnataka government has directed the south Kannada administration—that shares borders with Kerala — to also vaccinate fishermen and fish traders on priority basis since they visit Kerala.
Bommai also asked the south Kannada administration for deployment check posts on Kerala border to check the travelers.
Despite having a robust Covid control and vaccination management system the Karnataka government is worried about the safety of its people. It is because of the reason as Karnataka shares borders with Kerala which is ruled by a highly incompetent Left government.
The news agency ANI has tweeted “We’re vaccinating the population in districts bordering Kerala. Students/employees coming from Kerala have to quarantine for one week &do an RT-PCR test at the end of the 7-day quarantine. We’re taking all possible measures to prevent the spread of COVID: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai.”
As told and explained; people namely students/employees coming from Kerala to Karnataka will have to stay in quarantine for one week followed by an RT-PCR test.
Currently, Karnataka gets 64 lakh to 65 lakh doses of vaccine a month. But Karnataka will now require more than double of the dose.
The Karnataka government has fixed a target to administer five lakh doses per day. The government has announced a special vaccination camp named Lasika Utsav to be held every Wednesday with a target of 10 lakh doses.
The fear of the Karnataka government is not unfounded. According to a recent report carried by OpIndia and a few others as many as 65 students from Kerala were tested positive for Covid-19 who study at a nursing college in Kolar in Karnataka. They had returned from Kerala carrying a negative certificate.
The fallacious Kerala model of ‘Covid-19 control’ propagated by the Lutyens gang has emerged as a monument of lapses and lies as Kerala has been reporting the highest number of Covid 19 cases. There is a tandem of Left government and Leftist media at play and the lies are still being littered that Kerala has controlled Covid-19. However, such reports read like poor and filthy jokes of some degraded stand-up comedians.
Karnataka is among some of the states of India that has remarkably done well on the front of Covid control and vaccination. Karnataka is quite different from Kerala where the Left government was more interested in minority appeasement and alleging the Narendra Modi government.
The official Covid chart looks like a memo to an incompetent left regime that has failed to protect its people.
Kerala cases
As per data on covid19india.org, Kerala has 2,29,941 active cases as of 2 September, 2021. To put things in perspective, total active cases in all of India stands at 3,82,934. Karnataka, on the other hand, has 18,412 active cases. In such a scenario, it is natural for Karnataka to equip districts that share border with Kerala to fight the pandemic.
With the demise of Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, several netizens took to Twitter to share the gory past of the Hurriyat leader.
Similarly, journalist and Kashmiri Pandit Aditya Raj Kaul shared a video of him asking pointed questions to the separatist leader in 2011 at a press conference which led to threats and intimidation.
Sharing the video Kaul Tweeted, “I met Syed Ali Shah Geelani twice in life. Most interestingly when India Today invited me to speak at their 2011 Conclave in New Delhi where I exposed his links with masters across the border in Pakistan and how he supported terrorism. The crowd booed when he tried to respond.”
I met Syed Ali Shah Geelani twice in life. Most interestingly when India Today invited me to speak at their 2011 Conclave in New Delhi where I exposed his links with masters across the border in Pakistan and how he supported terrorism. The crowd booed when he tried to respond.? pic.twitter.com/oVMv91vrhY
Kaul who stood unabashed in front of the Hurriyat leader regarded him as a mirror image of once dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden for talking about democracy. Sharing an anecdote of the fateful exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the 1990s, Kaul narrated, “I was just nine months old when my mother had to wrap me in a cloth and flee so that people like Geelani do not kill me and hundred other children like me.”
“There were hundreds of children killed and hundreds of women raped,” continued Kaul to suggest that he was talking as a Kashmiri to Geelani and not as a Hindu Pandit.
“What does he (Geelani) have to say about Kashmiri Pandits, Ladakis and Jammu people who have been suffering since all these years,” asked Kaul garnering applause for his unfrightened demeanor.
Kaul then asserted that he does not expect any answer from Geelani knowing his ideology and leaning. He then asked why did the Hurriyat leader get even his own people killed only because they spoke in favor of India.
“You are only faithful to your masters across the border,” said Kaul vociferously accusing accused Geelani of establishing a gun culture in the valley which set the base for the exodus.
To this Geelani giving a rather predictable but shameful answer said that the Hurriyat had no role to play in the exodus of Kashmiri pandits and that it was all a ploy of then-governor Jagmohan Malhotra.
The audience broke into laughter at Geelani’s response and also booed him for it.
Geelani who died at the age of 92 on Wednesday in Srinagar, spent his entire lifetime peddling Pakistan’s agenda in Jammu and Kashmir.
Geelani was a key hardliner separatist leader in Kashmir, who had played a major role in the increase in separatist activists in the region. The only ones to mourn his death were the likes of Mehbooba Mufti.
Bollywood director Faisal Khan, the brother of Aamir Khan, has made some sensational disclosure in his recent interview, saying that his brother pressurised him to grant his signatory rights and locked him up by falsely declaring him as a “mentally ill” person.
Speaking to Navbharat Times, Faisal Khan opened up about his complicated relationship with his brother Aamir Khan in the last few years, especially after its legal tussle with the Bollywood superstar over his custody.
The legal battle between the two brothers had taken place after Aamir Khan’s family had kept Faisal Khan “under house arrest” for about a year. Aamir Khan and his family had allegedly locked up Faisal Khan at his house over suspicion that Faisal was depressed and had paranoid schizophrenia.
Earlier in an interview, in an explosive interview, Faisal Khan had rejected the talks around his depression and mental illness as a lie. He had said he was never depressed or had paranoid schizophrenia and had made some serious allegations against his family.
Responding to the same, in his latest interview, Faisal revealed that he might have forgiven brother Aamir Khan, however, it has not been tough to forget the incident. The actor-turned-producer said that he still fears Aamir Khan and suffers from trauma following his house arrest.
The actor also said that he had to “run away” from home to avoid being a forever prisoner in Aamir Khan’s house.
In the interview, Faisal said despite all the suffering, he wished Aamir Khan and his family the best, however, following the trauma he suffered, he has resolved to maintain a distance from them.
He said he has been trying to regain his lost glory through his new film called Faactory, in which he has acted and also directed.
Aamir Khan wanted my signatory rights, admitted me in a hospital for mental evaluation
In the interview, Faisal further disclosed that Aamir Khan and his family deliberately declared that he was depressed and had paranoid schizophrenia.
The actor-turned-director said that he had to move to the court when Aamir Khan asked him to give up his signatory rights. Faisal Khan said his lawyer had advised him to leave the city for a while, however, he added that Aamir Khan tracked him with the help of the police and forced him to get treatment for the purported mental illness.
“I was given the wrong medication for one year, which was very unfair on the family’s part. I was quietly tolerating it all, hoping that they will finally understand,” Faisal Khan said in his interview.
Faisal Khan, the younger brother of Aamir Khan, said that he was forcefully admitted to Mumbai’s JJ hospital, where he underwent a mental evaluation for twenty days, after which he was declared of sound mind and mentally healthy.
Faisal Khan, who first appeared with Aamir in the critical and commercial dud Mela, is making his comeback with Faactory, which is scheduled to release in the first week of September.
Khan has directed a film Factory whose trailer was recently released. The film is expected to hit theatres on September 3.
The sudden and shaky withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan has embarrassed the Biden government to no end. What can be seen as an attempt to conceal a botched-up exit strategy, the Biden officials are now deleting official data of military equipment deployed in Afghanistan from Federal websites.
A Forbes report based on an admission obtained from the State Department, suggests that the Biden government has instructed federal agencies to erase data of official reports detailing dollars flushed in the 20 years of war in Afghanistan.
The audits and reports asked to be scrubbed include the $82.9 billion spent on military equipment and training provided to the Afghan security forces since 2001. These entail the Black Hawk helicopters, armoured vehicles, hand grenades, night vision devices and more.
Reportedly the US govt has spent billions on 208 aircraft and helicopters; 75,000 war vehicles – including 22,000 Humvees, 50,000 tactical vehicles and nearly 1,000 mine-resistant vehicles; and 600,000 weapons – including 350,000 M4 and M16 rifles, 60,000 machine guns, and 25,000 grenade launchers in the past 20 years of its presence in Afghanistan.
The Biden government has justified its action by saying that ‘it is a move to protect Afghan allies.’ “The safety of our Afghan contacts is of utmost importance to us,” said a spokesperson.
“The State Department advised other federal agencies to review their web properties for content that highlights cooperation/participation between an Afghan citizen and the USG or a USG partner and remove from public view if it poses a security risk,” he said further.
However, it is imperative to note that the Biden administration’s excuse is just an empty defence. In a misguided attempt at evacuation, the US government has already handed over a list of Afghans to the Taliban for clearance.
Audit reports that do not identify military personnel also erased
The Biden officials claimed that the exercise was being undertaken to safeguard the military officials who stood by them in the 20 years of war. However, two reports which did not identify any personnel but just quantified military equipment were also taken down.
A Government Accountability Office spokesperson confirmed, “The State Department requested we temporarily remove and review reports on Afghanistan to protect recipients of US assistance that may be identified through our reports and thus subject to retribution.”
A Special Inspector General For Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) official also admitted that they have received requests to pull down reports from public view.
“In recent days, some SIGAR reports have been temporarily removed from the agency’s public website due to ongoing security concerns in accordance with guidance received from the U.S. Department of State. This is in line with actions taken by other U.S. federal agencies and is out of an abundance of caution,” said the SIGAR spokesperson.
The Taliban are currently in possession of military equipment worth over $80 billions which the Biden administration chose to dump in Afghanistan.
Taliban parade captured US military equipment
Meanwhile, the Taliban on Wednesday paraded the captured Humvees outside Afghanistan’s second-biggest city, Kandahar decorated with white-and-black Taliban flags attached to aerials.
Pick-up trucks laden with supporters cruised by the convoy of military vehicles armed with heavy weapons and machine guns.
Videos of the Taliban trying to fly the Black Hawks have also been doing the rounds on social media.
