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Is the Modi govt really ‘selling off India’ as claimed by Rahul Gandhi? Here is what Asset Monetisation Plan is and what Congress does not tell you

OpIndia Staff
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Is the Modi govt really ‘selling off India’ as claimed by Rahul Gandhi? Here is what Asset Monetisation Plan is and what Congress does not tell you

Earlier this week, the union government unveiled the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), through which several national infrastructure assets are being monetised. The plan lists the assets that will be monetised through leasing in the next four years. Expectedly, the Congress party has launched an attack on the scheme, alleging the Modi government of selling the country to crony capitalists.

In his first tweet after his Twitter account was restored, Rahul Gandhi criticised the move terming it as ‘Rashtriya Mitrikaran Yojana’, implying it is a scheme to benefit few friends of PM Modi.

Continuing with his familiar rant, the Kerala MP said that these assets have been built over 70 years and they are being handed over to 3-4 industrialists as gifts, even though the scheme has only been announced and no asset has been handed over to anyone yet.

The Congress party has posted several tweets alleging that national assets are being sold to the friends of PM Modi. They alleged that everything is being sold to the friends of the Prime Minister at cheap rates.

They termed it Monsoon Offer Sale for the friends of BJP, where national assets are being sold at discounted rates.

However, as always, the allegations of the Congress party are completely false and baseless. First, the plan was announced only on Monday, and it is too soon for any asset to monetised in just one week. The scheme will go through detailed tendering processes, where the higher bidders will be able to acquire the monetised assets. At present, nobody knows which company will win which infrastructure.

Therefore, it is more than premature for the Congress party to allege that the plan is designed to benefit Modi’s friends. But this is not the only falsehood being spread by Rahul Gandhi and his party, most of the allegations they are levelling are false.

Contrary to the Congress claim that the Modi govt is selling not just land but also the air, actually, land assets are not included in the monetisation pipeline. Only brownfield assets will be monetised to unlock their value.

The most important point of the scheme is that the assets will not be handed over to the private sector forever, and their ownership will remain with the government. The assets are being leased out, and after the expiry of the lease period, the assets will be mandatorily taken back by the government.

The government has made it clear that only ‘rights’ of the assets are being monetised, not the ‘ownership’. The Asset Monetisation Pipeline does not even include monetisation through disinvestment and monetization of non-core assets such as land and real estate, therefore, it does not including ‘selling’ of anything.

Therefore, the union government is not selling the assets, but only leasing them to generate cash, which is needed for various development and welfare activities. The funds raised from the monetisation of the assents will be used for further augmentation of and maintenance of infrastructure, therefore, it will lead to improvement of the infrastructure in the country.

The National Monetisation Pipeline, developed by NITI Ayog, has identified infrastructure assets including roads, ports, airports, telecom, railways, warehousing, energy pipelines, power generation, power transmission, hospitality and sports stadiums for monetisation. Apart from these, assets from mining and housing redevelopment sectors have also been identified.

Highways and Railways will contribute the most value through the plan, followed by power, oil & gas pipelines, and Telecom, which constitute the top 5 sectors.

Sector wise Monetisation Pipeline

Even though the pipeline has been announced now, the monetisation program of infrastructure is already going on in several sector. For example, the public-private partnership is already widely used in the Highway sector. NHAI has started the Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) for monetisation of Highways and plans to offer 19 projects worth Rs 35,000 crore under this model.

Under this model, the assets are placed in an InvIT in which investors invest money, and the income generated from such assets is paid as dividends to the investors.

Asset monetisation in Railways is also going on with Railway stations, good sheds, freight corridors etc being handed over to private players. The Railways is also in the process of allowing the private sector to run passenger trains.

Similarly, public power transmission and telecom companies have established extensive infrastructure which can be monetised and their value can be unlocked. Powergrid has already monetised some of its transmission lines, and BSNL and MTNL have cellular transmission towers and fibre optic networks which will be offered for monetisation.

Ownership of all these monetised assets will remain with the government, as they will be handed over to the private partners only on long term lease basis under various models of PPP, like BOT (Built Operate Transfer), ROT (Rent Operate Transfer) etc. The assets will be leased for various periods ranging from 4 to 10 years. After the expiry of the leases, the assets will return to the govt, if the lease is not renewed.

The govt is generating money from these assets without outright selling them, contrary to what the Congress party is claiming. The Indian government plans to raise ₹6 lakh crore in the next 4 years through monetisation of assets, in the 2022-2025 period.

The NMP is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategic divestment policy, under which the government will retain presence in only a few identified sectors, in line with “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance”, and the rest will be handed over to the private sector to operate them. This asset monetisation will unlock resources which will lead to value unlocking of underutilised brownfield assets which have been languishing for decades. This will also create productivity gains in the concerned sectors.

The objective of the asset monetization programme is to unlock the value of investment made in public assets which have not yielded appropriate or potential returns so far. It is designed to serve as a medium-term roadmap for identifying potential monetisation ready projects across various infrastructure sectors.

The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) seeks to create infrastructure assets of Rs 111 lakh crore in the next few years. Given this huge funding requirement, the govt has come up with the Asset Monetisation Pipeline to partly fund it.

‘Eent se eent baja dunga’: Threatens Navjot Sidhu if not given decision-making power in Congress

OpIndia Staff
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‘Eent se eent baja dunga’: Threatens Navjot Sidhu if not given decision-making power in Congress

Newly appointed Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu in a recent speech threatened to create chaos if he is not given decision-making power in the party. “The party high command should allow me the freedom to take decisions,” demanded Sidhu intensifying the ongoing feud in Punjab Congress. 

Speaking at an event in Amritsar on Friday, Sidhu roared, “Eent se eent baja dunga (won’t spare anyone).”

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of party affairs in Punjab, Harish Rawat reacted to the unwarranted statement by the state president.

“Who will have the power to take decisions if not the state presidents?” remarked Rawat specifying that state chiefs are free to take their decisions within the party’s norms and constitution. He added thatg he cannot comment on the basis of media speculation and he has to first understand the context of Sidhu’s comments. Rawat will reportedly meet Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi tomorrow.

Sidhu’s statement comes at a time when his advisor was in the line of fire for making sensitive comments on Kashmir and Pakistan.

Advisor to the Sidhu, Malwinder Singh Mali had stirred controversy after he in a social media post said if Kashmir was a part of India then what was the need to have Articles 370 and 35A.’ “Kashmir is a country of Kashmiri people,” read his post further. 

Sidhu received severe criticism from not just the opposition but also his own party ministers. Congress MP Manish Tewari said in a Tweet, “I urge Harish Rawat, AICC Gen Secy in-charge Punjab to seriously introspect that those who do not consider J&K to be a part of India and others who have ostensibly Pro-Pakistan leanings should be a part of Punjab Congress.”

Mali resigns as adviser

Owing to the backlash for his social media post, Sidhu’s adviser Mali has tendered his resignation. “I withdraw my consent given for tendering suggestions to Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu,” wrote Mali in a letter. 

He, however, alleged that a hate campaign was orchestrated against him by some political leaders. 

Karnataka: Men caught ferrying 25 fruit bat carcasses, were taking to sell for meat

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Men caught ferrying 25 fruit bat carcasses, were taking to sell for meat

As many as 25 fruit bat carcasses were recovered from the Tumakuru district while being transported in a four-wheeler on Wednesday night. While the 34-year-old man ferrying the dead fruit bats was arrested, his three aides managed to escape when stopped by forest department officials at Hanumanthapura.

As reported by TOI, Range Forest Officer Nataraja L informed that a nylon net used to capture and kill the mammals was recovered from the vehicle carrying the carcasses. As per forest officials, fruit bats are killed for meat and supplied to Tumakuru and Bengaluru. 

Taking cognizance of the matter, deputy conservator of forests S Ramesh said, “I got information that fruit bats are being killed in the district and sent to non-vegetarian hotels in Tumakuru and other areas. The department will step up patrolling and take action to prevent such incidents.”

“Killing fruit bat for meat rampant”

As per Times Now report, Environmentalist BV Gundappa said, “Killing fruit bats for meat is rampant in Devarayanadurga forest, Jagannathapura, Sira taluk and Huliyurdurga of Kunigal taluk in Tumakuru.”

The large-eyes bats fly out in search of fruits and get trapped in the nylon nets erected between trees where they are found the most. People then gather them from the nets, put them in bags and sell. The bat meat seller sits at one place, sends out a message to the villagers who then come and purchase the meat, informed the environmentalist. 

Gundappa further informed that only two types of bats: Salim Ali’s Fruit Bats and Wroughton’s Free-Tailed Bats are legally protected under the Wildlife Protection Act. Since others are considered ‘vermin’, killing bats for meat is rampant in some areas. 

Economic crisis, starvation, chaos or stability and possible partnership with the USA? The road ahead for Afghanistan under the Taliban

K Bhattacharjee
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Economic crisis, starvation, chaos or stability and possible partnership with the USA? The road ahead for Afghanistan under the Taliban

The Kabul airport attack was what so many feared would happen following the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan. Before the USA invaded Afghanistan, the country was a haven for global terrorists under the Taliban and many feared that once US forces left, it will again turned into a rallying point for Global Jihad.

After the Taliban managed to capture Afghanistan on the 15th of August, it stands on the precipice of a new era, the dawn of a new chapter in its history. At such a juncture, there is much to fear for the future of the country and at this point in time, there is very little that gives hope.

Human rights and women empowerment is already receding in Afghanistan and in addition to that, there are grave implications of a Taliban regime in India’s neighbourhood. Thus, it is perhaps an appropriate time to discuss the primary areas for concern not only India but for the whole world.

Economic Crisis in Afghanistan

After the collapse of the Afghan Government, the US froze $9.5 billion of Afghan funds and has blocked its access for the Taliban. Moreover, ATMs are running out of cash and banks are closed. Furthermore, according to the World Bank, 40% of Afghan GDP came from international aid.

Under such an environment, a grave economic crisis looms over the country. The state of the job market is unlikely to improve, given the instability in the country. And a flailing economy is a recipe for further chaos. It is a self-perpetuating cycle. Poor economy fuels instability and instability destabilizes the economy.

Ahmal Ahmady, former head of the Central Bank in Afghanistan, said in an article for Financial Times, “I expect the economic impact to be felt in three main ways. First, the afghani currency will probably decline, increasing inflation. There are already reports that wheat prices have doubled in Kabul. Even those depositors with money will not be able to fully withdraw their savings.”

Due to the Taliban takeover, top donors have suspended aid to the country. At the same time, there is risk of widespread starvation. One-third of Afghans are estimated to be at risk of severe or acute hunger. According to the United Nations, half of its children under five are already malnourished.

All of this is likely to get worse within the next few months.

The End of Civil War?

The Kabul Airport Attack was a rude awakening to the obvious reality that the civil war in Afghanistan may be far from over. After 20 years of warfare against US forces, Taliban, it appears, might have to go to war against Islamic State of Khorasan Province next.

Taliban has condemned the attack, which it was expected to do given its penchant for international legitimacy. But the condemnation rings hollow as soon after their takeover, they had released hundreds of prisoners from Afghan jails, many of whom were affiliated to Al Qaeda or Islamic State of Khorasan Province, the very same group which has claimed responsibility for the terror attack.

The relationship between Taliban and ISKP are a bit complicated. Although they have collaborated in the past to commit terror attacks, there is significant infighting between the two as well. Omar Khorasani, aka Mawlawi Ziya ul-Haq, was reportedly executed by the Taliban. He was the head of ISIS-K.

Also, multiple clashes have been reported between the two groups in the past. Thus, while some have suggested that the Taliban was in cohorts with the ISIS-K with regards to the terror attack in Kabul, it appears more likely that the terror attack was committed without the ruling Jihadist group’s prior knowledge.

It also has to be conceded that it does not make sense for the Taliban to orchestrate or participate in a terror attack that could jeopardise their victory. It is not to say that they are not capable of such a thing, it is only an admission that conventional wisdom dictates that it is unlikely for the Taliban to have participated in the attack.

But even so, the possibility that Taliban did have some degree of culpability for the attack cannot be negated altogether. There are also speculations that they colluded with ISKP for the attack. For instance, it is a known fact that Taliban released ISKP prisoners after they took over the administration of the country. Were any of them involved in Thursday’s attack?

Surely, the Taliban was aware that some of them presented a legitimate threat to internal stability but they released them anyway. Why did they so if they were aware that some of them might go on to commit suicide attacks or aide them? But most importantly, did they permit the attack to happen because they wanted to humiliate the US further for two decades of warfare? These are tough questions the international community must ask of the Jihadist outfit.

Jeff Smith, research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, pointed out, “Folks (are) having trouble grasping that ISIS and Taliban can both have links to the Haqqani Network or ISI, and still dislike each other. Those two assertions are not incompatible. Unless US military commanders giving firsthand accounts of brutal ISIS/Taliban clashes are all lying.”

That, however, does not present a very rosy picture for them either. It means that they are not as much in control of the country as they would want to be and should they be unable to prevent such attacks in the future, it would be to the detriment of their own credibility.

A large section of Afghans did support them because they were viewed as means to stability, however warped their notion of laws and societal structure might be. If they are unable to deliver on that promise, it could prove to be catastrophic for them.

And this is entirely without taking into consideration the situation in Panjshir Province, which has still not fallen to the Taliban. Amrullah Saleh has declared himself the caretaker president of the country. The events of Thursday have certainly strengthened his position at the negotiations table as Taliban is unlikely to wish to fight a civil war on two fronts.

A strategic alliance between the United States and Taliban

While some may be shocked by the suggestion, there is sufficient indication that there is great collaboration underway already between the USA and Taliban. US officials have revealed that they are relying on the Taliban for security around the airport and according to reports in the media, US authorities have also handed over a list of Americans and their Afghan allies to the Jihadist group in order to felicitate their save evacuation.

Furthermore, US forces had left billions of dollars of military equipment for the Afghan forces, which are now in the hands of Taliban. While the US would obviously deny there is a strategic understanding between the two but there are far too many coincidences to deny the possibility. The first time is chance, second is coincidence and the third is a pattern.

And a pattern is what we see here. Too much weight should not be placed on boastful claims made by the US that “we do not negotiate with terrorists” or that negotiating with “terrorists” and “terrorist outfits” are beyond what the US is capable of.

It is a known fact that the US armed Jihadists against Basshar al-Assad in Syria, groups which were associated with Al Nusra and Al Qaeda. It is also widely known that the rise of ISIS was directly fueled by US policies in the Middle East. Furthermore, the US also arms neo-Nazis in Ukraine against Russia.

Therefore, it is certainly not beyond the realm of possibilities for USA to form a strategic partnership with the Taliban. If they can form a tactical alliance with Al Qaeda, responsible the most devastating terror attack on US soil, they can certainly partner with Taliban, even though they have spent two decades at war against them.

The alliance between USA and Pakistan is the greatest evidence of it. The USA is fully aware that Pakistan aided the Taliban against them and yet, it has not soured relations between the two countries to any significant degree.

The partnership would make sense for the Taliban as well, which would aid them in securing international legitimacy and access to international aid and funds from abroad. For the US, it could mean an assurance that Afghan soil will not be used to plot attacks against them.

In turn, the Taliban would wipe out terrorist outfits such as ISKP for Americans. It is not an unrealistic stretch to assume that the military equipment left by the US could be used by Talibs against ISKP. The distinct possibility arises that USA had to choose between the government it had backed in Afghanistan, which was unpopular, and the outfit opposing the said government.

Thus, the US came to the conclusion that its objective or preventing Afghan soil from being used against them would be better served by opting to back Taliban over the latter. And everything that has happened in recent weeks is a logical conclusion of the decision made by USA.

But there are downsides to such an arrangement. The Afghan Government was unpopular among significant sections of Afghans because it was perceived to be allying with ‘foreign invaders’. Now, if Taliban is seen to be doing the same, it might lead to disenchantment with them as well.

Subsequently, it might inadvertently strengthen support for the ISKP. Nonetheless, the situation in Afghanistan as of this moment remains tense and only the future would reveal what is in store for the nation.

Uttar Pradesh Ex-IPS officer Amitabh Thakur arrested in abetment to suicide case after woman who immolated herself dies: All you need to know

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh Ex-IPS officer Amitabh Thakur arrested in abetment to suicide case after woman who immolated herself dies: All you need to know

Retired IPS officer Amitabh Thakur was on Friday arrested for abetment to suicide after a woman who had set herself fire outside the Supreme Court a few days ago succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Delhi. A case was registered against Thakur in which the retired IPS official was accused of provoking the woman for taking the extreme step.

A video of Thakur being arrested by the UP police officials has surfaced on social media websites. In the video, Thakur could be seen desperately trying to resist the arrest as police officials shove him inside their vehicle.

The arrest came hot on the heels of the death of the woman who had self-immolated herself outside the Supreme Court complex earlier this month. The UP Police says it arrested Thakur based on a complaint filed by the deceased victim on November 10, 2020. In her application to SSP Varanasi, the victim had alleged that Amitabh Thakur took money from BSP MP Atul Rai for tampering with the evidence in the case. The Hazratganj police said Thakur was charged with abetment to suicide.

A woman and a man had immolated themselves outside the Supreme Court complex on August 16. The man had sustained 65 per cent burns and had died last Saturday while the woman had suffered 85 per cent burns before succumbing to her injuries on Tuesday this week.

The duo had accused jailed BSP MP Atul Rai of sexual harassment and alleged that several police officers, including Amitabh Thakur, had supported the accused.

It is worth noting that Rai has been in judicial custody in the case for the last two years. Before committing suicide, the woman, along with her colleague, had recorded a Facebook Live Video session, in which they had disclosed their identity and claimed that they had filed a rape case against the BSP MP in 2019.

Thakur was reportedly kept under house arrest earlier this month

Significantly, Thakur had earlier accused the UP Police of keeping him under house arrest. In a video released on social media websites, Thakur said when he was preparing to leave, the Gomti Nagar police arrived and told him that he can’t go ahead with the planned visit citing security reasons.

The former IPS officer had asserted that the police didn’t let him go even when he asked them to provide him security instead of cancelling the visit.

Before his arrest, Amitabh Thakur had announced floating a new political party to fight against Yogi Adityanath

Interestingly, as UP assembly elections approach, Thakur had earlier today announced that he will float a new political party soon. “After consulting my supporters and well-wishers, I have decided to float a new political party,” Thakur said.

He named his new political party Adhikar Sena and asked his supporters to suggest more names, along with the purpose, mission and structure of the party.

The Yogi Adityanath government had issued a directive for Thakur’s premature retirement on March 23 this year, stating that he was “not found fit to be retained for the remaining tenure of his service”.

Thakur’s wife Nutan Thakur had also recently announced that her husband would be fighting the forthcoming UP assembly elections against CM Yogi Adityanath.

“Yogi Adityanath has presided over several undemocratic, improper, suppressive, harassing and discriminatory steps during his tenure as chief minister. Hence, Amitabh shall be contesting the election against Adityanath from wherever he contests,” she had said.

Amitabh Thakur is a B-Tech graduate, an IIM Lucknow pass out and an IPS officer of the 1992 batch. An officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Thakur would have retired in 2028, but his service was cut short in 2015, days after he accused the Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav of threatening him. A vigilance inquiry was also initiated against him.

But the Lucknow Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal stayed his suspension in April 2016 and ordered his reinstatement with full salary with effect from October 11, 2015.

Ketto says fundraising campaigns run by Rana Ayyub are under probe by agencies, large amounts of funds still not utilised

OpIndia Staff
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Ketto says fundraising campaigns run by Rana Ayyub are under probe by agencies, large amounts of funds still not utilised

Fundraising platform Ketto has informed that funds raised by Rana Ayyub in fundraising campaigns were not properly utilised, and parts of the money are still lying in the accounts of the campaigns. In a mail sent to donors of campaigns run by the journalist, Ketto said it has been informed by Indian law enforcement agencies that the funds raised by Rana Ayyub were not utilised for the purposes mentioned in the campaigns.

Rana Ayyub had raised funds on Ketto in three campaigns, Funds for slum dwellers and farmers, Relief work for Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra, and Help for Covid-19 impacted people in India. Doubts were already raised about the legality of the campaigns, because despite being a journalist, Ayyub was accepting foreign donations without FCRA registration, thus violating FEMA guidelines.

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Mail sent by Ketto to donors

According to the platform, Rana Ayyub has informed them that she had received around ₹2.69 crore in the campaigns, which included ₹1.90 crore from Indian donors and $1.09 lakh in foreign donations. Out of the total ₹2.69 crore collected, she has spent on around ₹1.25 crore, and she is yet to pay ₹90 lakh from the fund as taxes. This means, around ₹1.44 crore is still lying in the accounts. Out of this, ₹90 lakh is tax liability, while the rest ₹54 lakh never reached the intended beneficiaries.

Ketto said they are informing the same to the donors of the campaigns because the matter has been taken up by law enforcement agencies in India. It said that it does not validate, confirm or supervise the use of funds raised through campaigns on its platform, and said donors have to contact the campaigners for details of funds used.

Rana Ayyub had ended her Covid-19 fundraiser for relief work after potential illegality of it was exposed. There were concerns that she was flouting the country’s FCRA Laws, she was using her personal bank accounts instead of running the campaign through an NGO, following which she had decided to end her fundraising campaign in May this year. She had said that she could find an FCRA registered NGO for her campaign.

While Rana Ayyub had announced that she will be refunding the foreign donations to avoid the violation of FCRA, the Ketto mail makes it clear that she didn’t refund any foreign donations. She had collected $1.09 lakh in foreign donations, and the Ketto mail does not mention any refund, which means she had lied about returning the donations.

SC rejects NIA appeal, upholds Bombay HC bail order to Areeb Majeed, one of the first ISIS recruits from India

OpIndia Staff
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SC rejects NIA appeal, upholds Bombay HC bail order to Areeb Majeed, one of the first ISIS recruits from India

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) plea against Bombay High Court’s order granting bail to one of the first Islamic State recruits from India, Areeb Majeed. 

Additional Solicitor General Raju argued that Majeed was granted bail just because of his behaviour in jail. However, Majeed’s case has been filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as he had visited Syria and returned to India to bomb the police headquarters. 

Rejecting the plea, the Supreme Court Bench ordered that Majeed had already spent 6.5 years in jail and that stringent conditions have been imposed on him. 

Majeed was granted bail by the Special Court on March 17, 2020, which was contested by the NIA. In March 2021, the Bombay HC had upheld the bail order. 

Bombay High Court grants bail to Majeed

Majeed who has been accused of being involved with the Islamic State (IS) terror network, was granted bail by a Division Bench of justices SS Shinde and Manish Pitale of the Bombay HC in March this year. 

“He has already undergone incarceration for more than six years and there is a likelihood of the trial being delayed for a considerable period,” noted the Bench while granting him bail. 

The Court had further observed, “Mr Majeed is an educated person, who was completing his graduation in Civil Engineering when he left for Iraq at the age of 21.”

“He categorically stated before us that as a 21-year-old, he was carried away and that he had committed a serious mistake, for which he had already spent over six years behind bars,” the Bench added. 

The Court also considered his family background and ordered, “His father is a doctor of Unani medicine and his sisters are also doctors. His brother is an engineer. This shows that he comes from an educated family and that if stringent conditions are imposed upon him, with an undertaking to cooperate with the trial proceedings before the NIA Court, his release on bail may not be harmful to the society at large and it would not adversely affect the trial proceedings.”

NIA in its case had specified how Majeed along with three others had fled on the pretext of undertaking a pilgrimage in Iraq. However, the group had never visited the pilgrimage sites and had escaped to Syria to join the IS and undertake Jihadi activities. 

Majeed was arrested by the NIA on November 29, 2014, and was lodged at Arthur Road jail.

‘Taliban denying ISIS link is like Pakistan denial on Quetta Shura’: As Biden gives clean chit to Taliban, here is what Afghan President Amrullah Saleh said

OpIndia Staff
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‘Taliban denying ISIS link is like Pakistan denial on Quetta Shura’: As Biden gives clean chit to Taliban, here is what Afghan President Amrullah Saleh said

On Friday, the acting President of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh said that the Taliban denying links to the Islamic State terrorist outfit is identical to Pakistan’s denial on Quetta Shura, the Taliban’s council of leaders.

According to the reports, President of the Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh said that the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP) has links with the Taliban and the Haqqani network that has taken control over Afghan capital Kabul.

Hitting out at Pakistan and the Taliban, Saleh said the Taliban denial of its links with ISIS, the terror group responsible for the Thursday Kabul airport blast that killed over 100 innocent civilians, is similar to the denial of Pakistan on Quetta Shura. Quetta Shura is a radical Islamic organisation operating from Baluchistan’s Quetta since the fall of the previous Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001.

“Every evidence we have in hand shows that IS-K cells have their roots in Talibs and Haqqani network, particularly those operating in Kabul. Talibs denying links with ISIS is identical/similar to the denial of Pakistan on Quetta Shura. Talibs have learned very well from the master,” Amrullah Saleh said in a tweet.

Earlier, Saleh had accused Pakistan of setting up terrorist factories and camps that provide explosives materials to the Taliban to create chaos in Afghanistan. He had called Quetta Shura nothing else but a title for the Pakistani military to implement their plans.

At least 100 innocent civilians, including 13 US forces, were killed and more than 140 injured after a series of deadly suicide blasts occurred inside Kabul international airport in Afghanistan on Thursday.

The ISKP, known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), has claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks on the Kabul airport. The Islamic State said that a suicide bomber managed to reach a large gathering of translators and collaborators with the American army at ‘Baran Camp’ near Kabul Airport and detonated his explosive belt among them, killing more than 100 and wounding more than 140 others, including Taliban fighters.

US President Joe Biden gives clean chit to Taliban after Kabul airport blast

US President Joe Biden on Thursday gave a clean chit to the Taliban, saying there was no evidence to indicate collusion between the terror group and ISIS in carrying out the fatal attacks in Kabul yesterday.

However, Biden pledged to exact revenge for the attacks that killed thirteen US Marines and about 60 Afghans in two explosions whose responsibility was claimed by ISIS.

“Know this,” Biden said to the attackers. “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he added.

“The lives we lost today were lives given in the service of liberty, the service of security, the service of others, in the service of America,” he said from the White House.

Biden said the situation on the ground in Kabul was still evolving and that the U.S. will target the assets, leadership and facilities of ISKP, the Islamic State affiliate that has reportedly claimed responsibility for the terror attack.

Rakesh Tikait could not answer questions on Farm Laws, resorts to personal attacks on anchor Rubika Liyaquat

OpIndia Staff
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Rakesh Tikait could not answer questions on Farm Laws, resorts to personal attacks on anchor Rubika Liyaquat

Self-declared farmer leader and andolanjeevi Rakesh Tikait was seen fumbling for words and diverting the topic when ABP News journalist Rubika Liyaquat asked him to point out the specific problems with the three Farm Laws. 

Tikait who has been leading the farmers’ protest in India for eight months now, was left red-faced when the anchor asked him to highlight the specific sections of the law which were problematic for him or to prove his claims about the laws.

Liyaquat who was sitting with the copies of the agricultural laws asked Tikait if he had read the laws against which he has been protesting and what exactly bothered him. Totally unable to specify sections of the farm laws that say what he claims, Tikait cross-questioned Liyaquat and asked how many mandis have been shut since the laws were proposed.

Finding no answer to Rubika’s questions, Tikait shifted the goalposts again. He asked, “Parliament me kanoon pehle bane ya ye godam pehle bane (What was built first? The Laws or the godowns?)”

The anchor once again asked Tikait to point out the section which gives leeway to private companies to occupy a farmer’s land, as per his claims. “If you don’t know the answer then tell me and I will read out the portion of the clause which explicitly says that no entity is entitled to take over a farmer’s land,” said Rubika. 

Rattled by the questions, Tikait resorted to ad hominem attacks against the anchor, accusing her of working for the ruling party. “Aap sarkar ke kis post pe hai? (At which post are you working for the ruling government)” questioned Tikait.

He further stated that the laws in their entirety are ‘black laws’ and that they have stated their problems in front of the government already. This was a lie too. The government had met the so-called farmer leaders nearly a dozen times. But the farmer leaders have not been able to point out specific sections of the laws which are problematic to them. They have just been demanding a complete withdrawal, just for the sake of protests.

It is notable here that the farm laws were passed after years of discussions with various farmer groups and the liberty to sell outside the monopoly of mandis has been a long-standing demand of the very same farmer unions that are now opposing the laws.

Well, Tikait has been in news for giving overzealous statements and threats in media with no real logic. From asking the government to solve the problem by either ‘talking or firing bullets‘ to threatening suicide, Tikait has been entertaining the media with his antics for quite some time. 

The British embassy left details of its Afghan staff behind for the Taliban to find: Here is what had transpired

OpIndia Staff
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The British embassy left details of its Afghan staff behind for the Taliban to find: Here is what had transpired

After Kabul fell at the hands of the Taliban, the British embassy was quick to evacuate its staff members. However, in a hurry, the Foreign Office left documents containing information about Afghans who worked for the British, reported The Times.

On Tuesday (August 24), the Times found documents of 7 Afghans lying on the floor of the British embassy, which was being patrolled by the Talibs. The papers contained the curriculum vitae (CV), addresses of applicants who had applied for the job as interpreters. One of the documents reportedly contained information of a leading member of the embassy staff. It must be mentioned that the British embassy was evacuated on August 15 after the Taliban laid siege on Kabul. During the evacuation process, the embassy staff did not adhere to security protocols such as destroying personal data and shredding confidential documents.

Following the controversy, the British Foreign Office claimed on Thursday (August 26), “During the drawdown of our embassy every effort was made to destroy sensitive material.” The Times had handed over the details of three Afghan allies and their 8 family members to the Foreign Office. However, the newspaper could not locate 2 job applicants who had applied for the post of interpreter and had been missing since the Taliban’s siege of Kabul. “Crucially we have now been able to get these three families to safety. The drawdown of our Embassy was done at pace as the situation in Kabul deteriorated. Every effort was made to destroy sensitive material,” an official spokesperson said.

Screengrab of the news report by The Times

Inquiry to be initiated regarding the security lapse

Conservative MP and ex-Afghan veteran Tom Tugendhat emphasised that the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee will conduct an inquiry into the matter. “How FCDOGovUK handled this crisis will be the subject of a coming CommonsForeign inquiry. The evidence is already coming in,” he had tweeted.

“This is what defeat looks like. Defeat is when you don’t control any of the processes anymore and if you are lucky you just about get out with your lives and a bit of your equipment and that’s what we are doing at the moment. We don’t have any control, we don’t have any say. It’s a defeat…The sun setting over some really pretty terrible decisions by the West over a number of years,” he told BBC Radio 4.

British Foreign Secretary refused to speak to his Afghan counterpart regarding the evacuation of Afghan interpreters

It has come to light that about 48 hours prior to the fall of Kabul, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab refused to speak to the Afghan Foreign Secretary to discuss plans of evacuating the Afghan allies. Taliban has a history of brutally killing those Afghans, who had sided with the NATO forces during the 20-year-long ‘war on terror.’ On Wednesday (August 25), he informed that ‘almost all’ Uk citizens had been evacuated from Afghanistan. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has assured to complete the evacuation of remaining stranded citizens, despite the terror attacks at the Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul.

Not just weapons and helicopters, US also left biometric data in Afghanistan

Days after the Taliban took over the reins of Afghanistan, it has now come to light that the United States has also left itsallies in Afghanistan vulnerable to attack by the radical Islamist outfit. As per an exclusive report by Politico, the Biden administration had handed out a list of American citizens, Afghan allies, and green card holders to the Taliban so as to allow their evacuation from the Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul. Despite being well aware that the Taliban has a history of killing US allies, the decision to provide specific names to the Islamist outfit by the Biden administration has put their life in jeopardy.

Not just the lists, the Taliban reportedly also have biometric data of all Afghans who had worked with US and NATO forces. After the capture of Afghanistan, a large number of biometric devices, along with weapons, vehicles, and ammunition left behind by American and fleeing Afghan forces were captured by the Taliban. With the US-built military devices, the Taliban now potentially have the access to the biometric database of Afghans. Some devices also store local copies for such databases, which will be easily accessible to the new tech-savvy Taliban. Politico also reported that The Taliban is now going door-to-door in search of Afghan interpreters and US allies, after the Biden administration ‘outsourced’ the security to the Taliban.

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