BJP leader Kirit Somaiya today took to Twitter to allege that his car was attacked by Shiv Sena party goons in the Washim district of Maharashtra.
Somaiya also shared a video on his Twitter page wherein his car could be seen sprayed with black paint along with police officials, who were probably trying to bring the situation under control.
Today ShivSena Gundas attacked My Car at Washim… Such attack can’t stop My Fight against Corruption.
I am sure actions against MP Bhavna Gavli, Milind Narvekar, Yashwant Jadhav, MLA Yamini Yashwant Jadhav, Anil Parab & Pratap Sarnaik will reach to logical end in few days. pic.twitter.com/aIeJumiQwV
The BJP leader said his convoy was attacked with stones and ink, adding that perpetrators belonged to the Shiv Sena party, although the identities of the attackers cannot be independently verified.
Somaiya said he was being attacked because of his anti-corruption crusade and hinted that actions against MP Bhavna Gavli, Milind Narvekar, Yashwant Jadhav, MLA Yamini Yashwant Jadhav, Anil Parab & Pratap Sarnaik will reach a logical end in the coming days.
In another tweet, Somaiya shared pictures of his ink-sprayed car, saying that three big stones and ink were hurled at him while he was in his visit to Washim.
Gundas of Shivsena Assaulted My Car, Thrown 3 Big Stone on My Car, which Heat Window/GlassScreen where I am Seating
Convoy had Police Vehicle also. Incident happened 12.30pm when My Car was Passing through MP Bhavna Gavli ₹100 Crore SCAM, Balaji Particles Board Karkhana, Washim pic.twitter.com/xTlecR2deF
Some people were detained in the case but subsequently released later, a police official said. A case has been registered against the miscreants for attacking the convoy of Kirit Somaiya.
Somaiya says Thackerays had land deal worth crores with late Anvay Naik’s wife
Somaiya has been at the vanguard of anti-corruption crusade waged again Shiv Sena leaders in Maharashtra. The BJP leader in November 2020 made a sensational claim that the Thackeray family had land deals worth crores with late Anvay Naik’s wife.
Somaiya had then said land records of Murud Raigad on the Maharashtra Government Website of Land Records suggest Uddhav Thackeray’s wife had a land transaction with Late Anvay Naik’s family. He has sent the concerned documents to SP and Collector.
Anvay Naik was the same man in whose suicide case journalist Arnab Goswami was arrested and lodged in Taloja Jail.
Then in December, Somaiya trained his guns on Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik. He convened a press conference in which he accused Sarnaik of cheating middle-class home buyers, alleging that the building constructed in Thane by Sarnaik’s Vihang group did not have permissions to increase its floors from nine to 13 and that the Thane Municipal Corporation had given orders to demolish the structure. He also added that the construction at Thane’s Vihang Garden by Sarnaik’s Group is illegal.
“TMC Declared Both Buildings illegal. In 2012, Thane Municipal Corporation ordered the demolition of 9 to 13 floors. However, no action has been taken till now. OC is not received till date,” he added.
Around 60 Sikhs who had taken shelter in a Kabul Gurudwara have been shifted to a safe place by the Indian embassy officials. According to a report by the Times of India, they have been shifted from the Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Karte-Parwan in Kabul to the safe place before their evacuation to India. The Sikhs claim that Hindus are also included in the contingent.
Since the Taliban started to take over Afghanistan, around 285 people have taken shelter in the Gurudwara. The people who have been shifted include two members of the Afghanistan parliament from the Sikh community, Anarkali Kaur Honaryar and Narender Singh Khalsa. Narender Khalsa is the son of Afghan Sikh leader Awtar Singh Khalsa, who was killed in the 2018 Jalalabad terror attack.
Most of the people staying at the Gurudwara however do not want to be evacuated to India, and they prefer to go to the US or Canada. Around a dozen Sikhs taking shelter at the Gurdwara had issued a video message a couple of days ago, where they had requested that they should be rescued from Kabul and evacuated to either Canada or the United States.
Afghan Sikh and Hindu community in Kabul have sent out an appeal to be rescued from the Gurudwara Karte Parvan where they have sought shelter.
They had said that the situation in Afghanistan is very bad and the future is uncertain. They had appealed to the Sikh organisations in Canada and the USA to help evacuate them to those countries. Although the Taliban had said that they will ensure the safety of Sikhs and other minorities, the minorities in Afghanistan are not willing to trust them. “A Taliban delegation came here and said they won’t harm our gurdwara. But there is no saying what will happen when their laws come into effect. We can’t trust the Taliban government,” a man staying at the Gurudwara had said.
These people don’t want to come to India as they feel that the condition of people who have been evacuated to India has not been good. They also say they don’t have any roots or connections with India now. Only around five Afghan Sikhs are willing to come to India as they have work and properties in the country, while the rest prefer shifting to Canada or the USA. “Most of the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus do not have any settlement in India and want to be evacuated to Canada or the US. Our first preference for evacuation is Canada and US, and not India,” a Sikh from Kabul told TOI over the phone.
The man added that officials had asked the people living in the Gurudwara to shift to a different place in batches of 50. He also alleged that the Gurudwara members ‘pressurised’ them to leave the premises, while they liked it or not. However, his name was not on the list of the first batch, hence he is still at the Gurudwara.
The Sikh mane also informed that the first group has been shifted to the basement of a building, which is considered a safe place, and they are likely to be evacuated to New Delhi. When asked why they don’t want to return to India, he said that some Afghan Sikhs were evacuated to India after the 2018 Jalalabad, and now they are living in miserable conditions. Fearing the same for them, they prefer to go to Canada or the USA instead.
The Zydus-Cadila ZyCoV-D Covid-19 vaccine has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Drug Comptroller General of India (DCGI) on the 20th of August. It is the world’s first DNA based Covid-19 vaccine and it has been developed indigenously in India. The Zydus-Cadila vaccine can be administered in children as well and is applicable for use for ages 12 years and above.
The Government said in a press release, “Developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India under the ‘Mission COVID Suraksha’ and implemented by BIRAC, ZyCoV-D has been supported under COVID-19 Research Consortia through National Biopharma Mission for Preclinical studies, Phase I and Phase II Clinical Trials and under the Mission COVID Suraksha for Phase III Clinical Trial. This 3 dose vaccine which when injected produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response, which plays a vital role in protection from disease as well as viral clearance. The plug-and-play technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring.”
It added, “Interim results from Phase-III Clinical Trials, in over 28,000 volunteers, showed primary efficacy of 66.6 per cent for symptomatic RT-PCR positive cases. This has been the largest vaccine trial so far in India for COVID-19. This vaccine had already exhibited robust immunogenicity and tolerability and safety profile in the adaptive Phase I/II clinical trials carried out earlier. Both the Phase I/II and Phase III clinical trials have been monitored by an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB).”
The Government said that the Vaccine Technology Centre (VTC), vaccine research centre of the Zydus group, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Interactive Research School for Health Affairs (IRSHA), Pune, GCLP Lab set up under the Department of Biotechnology – National Biopharma Mission (NBM) also played a vital role in the development of the vaccine.
“It is a matter of great pride that today we have the EUA for the world’s first DNA COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D by Zydus developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology and supported through Mission COVID Suraksha. The Indian Vaccine Mission COVID Suraksha was launched under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package 3.0 being implemented by BIRAC, is aimed at the development of safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccines for public health. We are confident that this will be an important vaccine for both India and the world. This is an important milestone in our Indigenous Vaccine Development Mission and positions India on the Global Map for Novel Vaccine Development,” said Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT and Chairperson, BIRAC.
Chairman of the Zydus Group, Pankaj R. Patel. stated, “We are extremely happy that our efforts to put out a safe, well tolerated and efficacious vaccine to fight COVID-19 has become a reality with ZyCoV-D. To create the world’s first DNA vaccine at such a crucial juncture and despite all the challenges, is a tribute to the Indian research scientists and their spirit of innovation. I’d like to thank the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India for their support in this mission of Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Indian Vaccine Mission COVID Suraksha.”
The ZyCoV-D is the second indigenously developed vaccine to have received the DCGI approval. It has become the sixth vaccine to have received the approval. Earlier in August, Johnson & Johnson’s single dose vaccine was granted approval.
The other vaccines already approved in India are Covishield developed by Astra Zeneca and Oxford University, Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech, Sputnik V developed in Russia and the vaccine developed by Moderna in the USA.
Hospitals in the United States are turning down non-vaccinated people for critical operations, including organ transplants, a Washington state patient lamented during the ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ show on Fox News on Wednesday.
The patient, Derek Kovick, told host Tucker Carlson that the University of Washington Medical Center is striking down the names of the patients on transplant lists if they refuse to get Covid-19 vaccines.
Kovick said he has been on the transplant list for a third liver transplant since last fall. This past week, when he went to the University of Washinton in Seattle to have a procedure done, he was shocked to find his name removed from the transplant list.
“Before I came up, a nurse called me and said that the infectious disease team had met and decided that all of his transplant patients now have to have a vaccine, otherwise we will be placed ‘Status 7’ which means you aren’t going to be on the transplant list – you don’t have to requalify, but you basically have to adhere to the rules which including having a COVID vaccine,” Kovick recounted.
Kovick said he was informed about the decision at the “last minute” and was told by a hospital staffer he should be getting vaccinated as soon as possible to get his name back on the list.
“The conditions naturally changed because the issues that I had with my liver: a high fever and other side effects that are blatantly what some of my peers have experienced are a side effect from any of the COVID shots,” he said, adding that the symptoms of his liver condition are those of the coronavirus shots are exactly the same.
He said that taking COVID-19 shots to qualify for being on the transplant list could aggravate his conditions since he is already having the symptoms that patients suffer after taking the shots.
“I thought that maybe my medical freedom was starting to be challenged a little bit for myself: I’ve seen it happen through the whole United States, but nowhere it is in my kitchen.”
Tucker also patched in Seattle journalist Jason Rant, who said another man identified as Sam Allen had made a similar claim that hospitals were turning away patients that had not undertaken vaccine shots. Allen said he had received a letter to that effect after he told his doctor he wouldn’t take a vaccine shot because of the risks of cardiac problems for someone who is already ailing from a weak heart.
“Your name has been removed from the waitlist at the University of Washington Medical Center. This was done in follow-up to your recent conversation with providers regarding the heart transplant selection committee’s concerns about compliance with COVID-19-related policies and recommendations,” the letter issued by the hospital said, KTTH reported.
The letter also said that they would reconsider the application should the patient comply with the hospital mandate.
“We can re-assess you for reinstatement on the waiting list should the compliance concerns resolve in the future or, if you wish, refer you to another centre for evaluation in the meantime,” the letter read.
Tucker Carlson came down hard against such preconditions, describing the situation as “beyond belief” for essentially abandoning the patients to die just because they refused to comply with unrelated medical procedures.
Resistance forces in Afghanistan have liberated three districts from Taliban control, Republic has reported. Pol-e-Hasar, Deh Salah and Banu districts in the Baghlan Province have fallen to the anti-Taliban forces, reports say.
#Breaking Pol-e-Hesar, Deh Salah and Banu districts in #Baghlan provinces have been captured by the Public’s Resistance Forces, & a number of Taliban killed & injured. Local reporters from Baghlan pic.twitter.com/tW1ENliWOK
Photographs of alleged resistance forces are circulating on social media. Intense clashes were reported with heavy casualties on the Taliban side. A meeting is also reportedly underway between the Jihadist group and Ahmad Massoud, a prominent military commander in Afghanistan.
قیام اندراب
ولسوالی پلحصار از طالبان پس گرفته شد و جنگ به شدت در ولسوالهای ده سلاح و بنو جریان دارد. منابع محلی می گویند که از چندین منطقه بالای طالبان حمله انجام شده و تلفات سنگین داده اند. pic.twitter.com/MaF4C6Rj0t
Earlier, Vice President of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh had declared himself the caretaker president of the country. Citing constitutional provisions, he had implored others to ‘join the resistance’ against Taliban.
Earlier, it was reported that Saleh’s forces had recaptured the Charikar area in the Parwan province north of Kabul. Unconfirmed reports had suggested that remaining forces loyal to the Afghan government, under the command of Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Muhammad Nur Ata Noor, were linking up with the forces loyal to Saleh to take control of the entire Panjshir region.
Panjshir, the only province that remains outside the Taliban control, have reportedly hoisted the resistance flag of the Northern Alliance all over again. A resistance force, led by Ahmad Massoud, son of late Afghan leader Ahmad Shah Massoud – known as the “Lion” of Panjshir, were reported to be gaining in strength in the Panjshir valley, north of Kabul.
The Jihadist group managed to capture Afghanistan on the 15th of August. Chaotic scenes have been observed at the Kabul Airport since then. Reports of human rights violations have also emerged with journalists being allegedly hunted down and attacked by the outfit.
Taliban has taken over Afghanistan, again, after a futile pretence of an expensive and wasteful war by the USA was finally brought to an end and American troops just packed up and left, leaving the hollow Afghanistan ‘government’ to crumble and shatter. As expected, chaos ensued. People are so scared of the Taliban that they were clinging on to departing US C-17s, desperately trying to flee.
Shop owners are blackening or tearing away the pictures of women displayed on the front of their businesses, sales of burqas have gone up and thousands of Afghan nationals are flocking to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, every hour since August 15, in a desperate bid to escape from the Taliban rule.
Why are people flinging their babies over wire fences inside the airport into the hands of strangers? Why were thousands of people running away, why were they so desperate that they clung to the landing gear of a C-17, hoping against hope to escape their own homeland? Are those images a joke? Are all those people trying to flee from the Taliban just because they are misinformed? They are fleeing because the fear is real.
A certain group that calls itself ‘secular-liberal’ is on a mission, mission to mainstream, legitimise and hail the Taliban. We saw them praising the Taliban for holding a ‘press conference’. So what if they fling gay men from rooftops, they held a press conference. So what they stone women to death over vague allegations of adultery, they held a press conference. So what they killed Danish Siddiqui brutally, didn’t they say sorry?
The art of legitimisation is subtle. It takes time. It includes multiple steps. First, create an aura that they are ok, they are normal. Come Munawwar Rana and Shafiqur Rahman. Taliban are “freedom fighters” Taliban are heroes”. Hail them as better than democratically elected governments. “Wow, they held a press conference”.
Now, a dedicated bunch of “fact-checkers” are busy washing the Taliban’s laundry. They are sifting through the millions of images, videos shared on social media and trying to check whether the precise date, timestamp and geographical locations are in accordance with the current group of Talibani forces active in Afghanistan. The parameters obviously do not match, so the “fact-checkers” declare that X claim against the Taliban is fake, Y picture is from 2018, THAT image is not THIS Taliban at all. Here are some examples.
Recently, AP, Reuters and AltNews took it upon themselves to “clarify” that an image of where three women were seen with chains tied to their ankles and a man leading the chain was fake. It was apparently from Iraq and the chain was morphed. Fine. but does that mean Taliban atrocities against women were false claims? No.
Image via Twitter
Mainstream media is busy ‘fact-checking’ claims of Taliban atrocities. Those claims exist because the atrocities are real. No matter how many press conferences the Taliban hold, no matter how many “fact-checks” are done, no one can negate or deny what the Taliban did.
People are sharing information, images and videos not because they are a part of some political campaign against the Taliban, not because they don’t want the Taliban to win the next elections in Afghanistan or they just don’t want to vote for them (as if that was even an option). They are sharing images and videos because they are scared. The images and videos exist because the Taliban was, and continues to be a radical Islamist regime that ruled with utmost barbarity.
The following are legitimate images, one by Reuters and another by France 24. The images, if shared now by some social media user, may or may not correspond to an exact date, time or location to pass the stringent standards of these so-called “fact-checkers”, they may be representational in some news reports, but they exist because Taliban atrocities exist.
2010 news report by France 24, Incident happened in a village in Kunduz that was under Taliban controlReuters image from a 2015 incident, Taliban lashing a woman for ‘adultery’ A man and woman were given 100 lashes in public over allegations of ‘adultery’. The incident happened in Ghor, under Taliban control2015 News: Afghan woman was stoned to death by a group of men in Ghor, under Taliban control
The images of women displayed in posters before beauty salons being blackened, torn are real too. Taliban atrocities and the fear in the minds of people who do not conform to their regime of radical Islam and stringent Sharia law are as real as the footage of two men falling from the C-17.
The people who are sharing the images of horror, past and present, do not need to check the date, time and individual facial identities of Taliban radicals inflicting those horrors. They do not have to. Because that horror has been lived and experienced by the millions in Afghanistan.
Terror is terror, whether it happens in Pakistan or Afghanistan
A video was shared by many including ANI’s Smita Prakash, where a group of terrorists were seen dancing to a western song holding assault rifles. Prakash had shared the video with a jovial comment, “What is this Taliban, no shame or what”. Alt News “fact-checked” it so diligently that they reached out to one of those people brandishing assault rifles at a wedding, who apparently lives in Pakistan, and claimed that the video was from a wedding at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Their “fact-check” was that crazy men dancing with assault rifles are not “recent”, they were dancing in March 2021 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Image via Twitter
All those so-called “fact-checks” are of the same format. This murder happened in that year, This Taliban atrocity happened X years ago, how can you say it is recent, etc etc. Twitter had even flagged Prakash’ tweet as ‘out of context’.
Alt News clarifying on behalf of the Taliban that the video of Mujahideen threatening India and Modi is from 2 years ago.
A video of AK rifle-wielding terrorists issuing threats to Modi and India is apparently from 2 years ago, Alt News has informed us. Oh, that horrible image of a woman brutally mob lynched to death? that is not now, come on, that happened in 2015, Alt News has announced to reassure the world.
अफ़गानिस्तान की महिला पायलट साफ़िया फिरोज़ी की हत्या के दावे के साथ एक तस्वीर वायरल हुई. दरअसल, ये तस्वीर 2015 की है जब काबुल में कुछ लोगों की भीड़ ने पत्थर मार-मारकर फ़रखुंदा मलिकज़ादा की हत्या कर दी थी. पढ़िये #AltNewsFactCheck | @Priyankajha0https://t.co/HkrJE52shS
Just because Islamists killed THAT particular woman X years ago, the Taliban did that horrible thing in X location, and the exact date of the Y brutality is wrong, does not mean that Taliban has changed. They are still radical Islamist terrorists.
They fired bullets at unarmed civilians in Jalalabad just 2 days back. They dragged an injured Danish Siddiqui from a mosque and riddled him with bullets just a few weeks back. While the “fact-checkers” add more detergent to wash their laundry, the Taliban have already started killing people and attacking journalists. No amount of press conferences or fact checkings are going to convert them into fluffy little bunnies, because they are radical Islamist terrorists who kill people, blow up centuries-old monuments and impose barbaric laws. Because that is who they are.
Not just Alt News, many international media organisations, even Twitter, are busy “fact-checking” whether the videos and images of the Taliban’s atrocities are accurate in terms of a dozen different parameters or not. They need to understand that the date, time, precise geographical locations, facial features, the colour of garments, manufacturing year of those assault rifles, pixel qualities, etc of those images do not matter at all. People are not sharing them out of malicious intent, or political motivations. They are being shared because the fear is real. The fear is real because the tales of brutalities are real. The Taliban are, and always have been a brutal, radical Islamist organisation and even after 1000 whitewashing attempts, they are going to stay the same.
Former United States President Donald Trump hit out at ex-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani calling him a crook. Reacting to the worsening situation of the war-torn country of Afghanistan, Trump said, “never had full confidence in Ashraf Ghani.”
Trump in a media interaction further alleged that the senators were always in Ghani’s pockets. “He spent all his time wining and dining our senators,” he alleged. “I said that openly and plainly I thought he was a total crook,” added Trump.
In the live-streamed interview, Trump lambasted Ghani for negotiating a deal with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, the Taliban’s co-founder, in February in Doha for drawing down US troops. This ‘condition-based’ deal allegedly entailed that if the Taliban resorted to violence against the US or its allies, the US would retaliate with airstrikes on the Taliban.
Spilling some more beans, Trump accused Ghani of getting away with murder in many, many different ways. Trump, however, did not give details of what murders or what these ways were.
The former US President also cast aspersion on Ghani’s intentions and alleged that he had fled the country with cash.
Not just Ghani, Trump also took a jibe at the present US government. “I don’t think in all of the years our country has ever been so humiliated. I don’t know, would you call it a military defeat or a psychological defeat? There’s never been anything like what’s happened here,” Trump said.
On the other hand, Ghani has denied claims of him fleeing the country with bags of cash. Ghani releasing a video statement urged his people to not fall prey to rumours of him abandoning the country. The former Afghan President claimed that he was “forced to leave Afghanistan with one set of traditional clothes, a vest and the sandals I was wearing”.
In a counter to a virtual conference titled “Dismantling Global Hindutva”, scheduled to be held from September 10–12, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has written to all 41 universities listed as event co-sponsors urging them to distance themselves from the politically motivated Hinduphobic event.
Launching a grassroots campaign, the HAF has called for students, alumni and concerned citizens to send their own letters to every university sponsoring the aforementioned event.
Today, @HinduAmerican announced that it will launch a grassroots campaign to enable students, alumni and concerned citizens to send their own letters to every university ostensibly co-sponsoring the DGH event. Details released shortly. Please join @HinduAmerican & take action! pic.twitter.com/b783DgbRGi
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) August 19, 2021
The Foundation has also expressed concerns over potential attacks on Hindu students for opposing Hinduphobic content and has demanded security.
We demand that the safety of Hindu students be ensured leading up to the DGH event. @SuhagAShukla:
“Hindu students are targeted and report feeling under attack for opposing Hinduphobic depictions of their religion in the classroom and for opposing anti-Hindu hate on campus.” 7/ pic.twitter.com/OEEy2KACUK
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) August 19, 2021
The HAF in its letter to the universities also highlighted the potential threat to the reputation of the institution for hosting a highly partisan event. “The DGH organizers trade on the prestige of your institution’s name to host, not an academic conference, but a partisan event related to politics in India. The event platforms activists with extensive histories of amplifying Hinduphobic discourse even while denying the existence of Hinduphobia.” reads the letter.
HAF’s letter to universities sponsoring “Dismantling Global Hindutva” conference
“Many of these activists equate the whole of Hinduism with caste bigotry and other social ills; deny the subcontinental indigeneity of Hindus and Hinduism; and support or minimize violent extremist and separatists movements and deny the resulting genocides and ethnic cleansings of Hindus,” the letter states further.
In a series of Tweets, the HAF also brought out the problematic content of the Hinduphobic event. “-Deny the internal unity of Hindu traditions followed by 1.2 billion people calling it: “continuously under contestation” “contradictory.” -conflate Hinduism with caste. -erase Hinduism’s inherent pluralism asserting that Sufis made ancient Hinduism syncretic!” it said in a Tweet highlighting the objective of the “Dismantling Global Hindutva” event.
DGH #Hinduphobia: -Deny the internal unity of Hindu traditions followed by 1.2 billion people calling it: “continuously under contestation” “contradictory.” -conflate Hinduism with caste. -erase Hinduism’s inherent pluralism asserting that Sufis made ancient Hinduism syncretic!
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) August 19, 2021
The HAF further elaborated on the ‘esteemed speakers’ and their background of Hindu hate. Attaching screenshots of ‘speakers’ known to peddle misinformation and Hinduphobia, the HAF Tweeted, “Speaker list includes activists who: -equate Hinduism with caste bigotry -deny indigeneity of Hindus to South Asia -support the violent Kashmir militancy -deny Hinduphobia & systemic oppression Hindus face throughout South Asia (Pak, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir).”
Speaker list includes activists who:
-equate Hinduism with caste bigotry -deny indigeneity of Hindus to South Asia -support the violent Kashmir militancy -deny Hinduphobia & systemic oppression Hindus face throughout South Asia (Pak, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir)
— Hindu American Foundation (@HinduAmerican) August 19, 2021
Concluding the letter the organization said that it promotes free speech and ‘while academics at institutions may choose to engage in political partisan activism concerning India, we hope you would agree that your institution should not.’
HAF’s letter to universities sponsoring “Dismantling Global Hindutva” conference
The Foundation has also asked for the removal of the university’s branding saying, “The use of your university’s name and logo, in this regard, implies overt institutional partisanship and endorsement of the event’s political and discriminatory motive.”
In an indirect attack aimed at China, India on Thursday told at the UNSC that countries should refrain from placing unwarranted “blocks and holds” on requests to designate terrorists, cautioning them that any double-dealing and making distinctions between terrorists might come back to haunt them in future.
“Throughout the world, it is a collective wisdom that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations must be condemned. There cannot be selective denouncement or justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of the motivation behind such acts,” EAM S Jaishankar said in the UNSC, allusively pointing towards China’s repeated attempts to shield Islamic terrorist Masood Azhar, who continues to live in Pakistan.
While chairing the UNSC Briefing on Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts held under India’s Presidency of the Council, Jaishankar referred to the remarks he had made to the Council in January this year when he had floated an eight-point action plan intended for completely eliminating the menace of terrorism.
“Summon the political will: don’t justify terrorism, don’t glorify terrorists; No double standards. Terrorists are terrorists; distinctions are made only at our own peril; Don’t place blocks and holds on listing requests without any reason,” he said.
The reference to China, a permanent member of the UNSC, was hard to miss, given that Beijing has steadfastly placed technical holds on attempts made by India and other nations to designate head of Pakistan=based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed Masood Azhar.
After years of blocking attempts to enlist Masood Azhar in the list of global terrorists, China lifted its hold on a proposal to blacklist him under the Security Council’s Sanctions Committee in 2019 that eventually paved the way for the United Nations to designate Azhar as an international terrorist. This resulted in the imposition of the arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on the JeM head, 10 years after India first moved to have him blacklisted at the UN.
Jaishankar also made a case against eclusivist thinking, urging member nations to be vigilant about the use of new terminologies and false priorities. He added that enlisting and delistig should be done objectively, not on the basis of political or religious considerations.
The External Affairs Minister of India also stressed the need to recognise the interconnection between organised crime, support and strengthen the FATF, and provide more financial support to UN Office of Counter Terrorism.
“I urge to Council to unitedly build on these principles. It is also important therefore to end the stalemate preventing the adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, which India has championed for so long,” he said.
Jaishankar also said there cannot be exception or justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of the motives behind such acts. He further added that the world should acknowledge the menace of terrorism and not link it with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group.
But, he also highlighted the resilience of terrorists and their networks to keep devising new methods of motivating, resourcing and executing acts of terror despite progress made to tighten the legal, security, financing and other frameworks to fight terrorism.
“Regretably, there are some countries who are undermining and subverting our collective resolve to combat terrorism. This cannot be allowed to pass,” Jaishankar said, his reference to Pakistan’s role in abetting and sponsoring terrorism unmistakable.
Pune-based author and speaker Shefali Vaidya, also famous on social media for her collection and knowledge of Indian textiles and sarees has been appointed as a member in a specially constituted committee formed by the Ministry of Textiles.
The Ministry led by Piyush Goyal had announced an initiative on the National Handloom Day for doubling the production and quadrupling the exports of handlooms in a span of three years.
Handloom textiles and weavers welfare is a cause very close to my heart. I am grateful to @TexMinIndia and @PiyushGoyal for giving me a chance to make a difference towards the cause I truly believe in. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/fwIR9bDgyz
Speaking to OpIndia, Shefali Vaidya said, “Handwoven textiles are the original #MakeInIndia product. Even today, the handloom sector employs the second-largest no of people in India after the agriculture sector.”
“Handwoven textiles have been my passion for a long time, and I have been working in my own way to help weavers and popularise handloom. I am grateful to the government of India, Ministry of Textiles and Piyush Goyalji for giving me the chance to make a greater difference,” she added speaking on her appointment.
The letter dated August 19 lists other members of the committee, detailing their roles and responsibilities. The committee has been asked to recommend ways to partner and collaborate with handloom weavers, buying houses, institutions and exporters.
The committee will also be working towards improving the marketing of handloom products in the domestic market apart from suggesting strategies to improve the quality of handloom products.
In addition to this, a number of initiatives have been rolled out by the Ministry to boost, improve and promote the enormous handloom industry of India.
