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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.

Trump derangement syndrome patient Sam Harris admits he is embarrassed over enthusiastic welcome for ‘adults in the room’ involved in botched Afghan withdrawal

K Bhattacharjee
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Trump derangement syndrome patient Sam Harris admits he is embarrassed over enthusiastic welcome for ‘adults in the room’ involved in botched Afghan withdrawal

Atheist Sam Harris has been one of the most vocal unhinged critics of former US President Donald Trump. In his hatred for Donald Trump, he claimed that notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden was less morally reprehensible than the 45th president of the United States of America.

When Trump was banned by social media platforms simultaneously, Sam Harris cheered for it despite the ominous signs of censorship. It was a decision that was condemned widely by leaders across the world, including Emmanuel macron of France, Angela Merkel of Germany, the president of Mexico, members of the Parliament of India and many others.

Sam Harris on Donald Trump
Source: Twitter

There were many who warned Harris that he was widely wrong about Trump and although the former president is a fundamentally flawed individual, he is certainly not the worst thing to have happened in the United States. But Harris remained adamant in his assumptions. Thus, on the 20th of January, when Joe Biden took oath as president, he heralded the occasion as the second coming of Jesus Christ.

On Thursday, however, after the Kabul suicide bombing, when the cost of Biden’s botched Afghan withdrawal became evident, he finally conceded that he was embarrassed about the glee with which he had welcomed the ‘adults in the room’.

On the 20th of January, Harris had said on Twitter, “Feeling overwhelming gratitude for the adults in the room.” But by the 26th of August, it turned into an embarrassed “Publicly eating these words… syllable by syllable.”

Source: Twitter

Sam Harris is the same person who had once infamously declared, “Osama bin Laden, as a person, is far more understandable to me and far less reprehensible, personally, psychologically, than Trump.”

Earlier, he had said, “I find Trump more despicable than I found Osama bin Laden… With Osama bin Laden, it’s just obvious to me that he could have been a mensch in some sense, right? He’s making serious sacrifices for ideas that he deeply believes in. He’s committed to a cause greater than himself.”

It is not clear whether Harris still holds on to those opinions, given that over 100 lives have been lost to the Kabul airport attack, which was committed by ideological compatriots of Osama bin Laden, even if they belonged to a different terrorist outfit.

Whatever his opinions maybe, his opinions regarding the ‘adults in the room’ certainly appears to have undergone a radical change. Sam Harris is greatly fond of the American national security establishment, the class of individuals who are responsible for the current mess in Afghanistan and unleashing devastating carnage in the Middle East that has absolutely destroyed the region.

In 2016, the ‘rational atheist’ hoped for Hillary Clinton to win, a certified warmonger who presided over the destruction of an entire region during her tenure as Secretary of State. However, now he is forced to reckon with his ridiculous assumptions about the competence of the managerial class he loves so much.

But not everyone is ready to give Harris a free pass over the hysterical nonsense he peddled about Donald Trump. Gad Saad, a Lebanese-Canadian Evolutionary Psychologist, said, “Some of us tried to warn you but you were drowning in your hysterical and irrational Trump hatred. Next time around, don’t reject those with whom you share many values simply because of your tribal blind hysteria.”

He stated further, “Are you going to publicly eat your words regarding supporting that Trump be banned from Twitter? Deontological principles should NEVER be sacrificed at the altar of tribal hate.” Political commentator Mike Cernovich was particularly caustic in his remarks, suggesting that the ‘bin Laden admirer’ had gone into damage control mode.

Sam Harris is not the only person who has to contend with their flawed assumptions regarding Joe Biden. The mainstream media, which had worked hard to elect him as president, appears to have abandoned a sinking ship as well. No longer in a position to defend his botched handling of the Afghan withdrawal, even they are harshly criticising the decisions he has made in recent weeks.

At the same time, Biden’s approval ratings are at an all time low as he struggles to cope with the fallout of the Afghan crisis. And with the death of US marines and calls for him to resign, his approvability is expected to plummet further.

Mumbai Police initiates probe against Amitabh Bachchan bodyguard after allegations of him earning 1.5 crores a year

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai Police initiates probe against Amitabh Bachchan bodyguard after allegations of him earning 1.5 crores a year

Amitabh Bachchan’s police bodyguard Jitendra Shinde has been transferred over allegations of him earning Rs 1.5 crore per year surfaced online.

According to the reports, the Mumbai Police department has initiated a departmental inquiry after allegations rose against constable Jitendra Shinde, claiming that he has an annual income of over 1.5 crores.

The Mumbai Police is probing to establish whether Shinde received such money from Big B or some other sources. Shinde has been posted as Bachchan’s bodyguard for several years now.

Reportedly, Jitendra Shinde informed the police officials that he runs a security agency that provides personal bodyguards to other celebrities and renowned personalities. Shinde claimed that his wife runs the agency in her name and that Amitabh Bachchan did not pay him Rs 1.5 crore.

Jitendra Shinde has been deployed in Amitabh Bachchan’s security since 2015, as per reports. Amitabh Bachchan is granted X-grade security with two constables always posted with him, one of which was Jitendra. As per Mumbai Police, police officials cannot be deployed in one place for more than five years.

Following the controversy, Jitendra Shinde has been transferred to a police station in South Mumbai.

Congress mired in another internal conflict, Chhattisgarh Congress MLAs flock to Delhi amidst widening rift within state unit: What we know so far

OpIndia Staff
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Congress mired in another internal conflict, Chhattisgarh Congress MLAs flock to Delhi amidst widening rift within state unit: What we know so far

Infighting seems to have become a hallmark of the Congress party of late. After Rajasthan and Punjab, there seems to be another internal strife brewing between the two factions within the state Congress unit in Chattisgarh as chief minister Bhupesh Baghel hightailed it to New Delhi to meet senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, a second meeting between the two over the reported ongoing power tussle in the Chhatisgarh unit of the party.

On Tuesday this week, Baghel had travelled to the capital to have talks with Rahul Gandhi, who also had talks with TS Deo to hash out a solution to the stalemate in Chhattisgarh, allegedly caused by the disagreement over power-sharing agreement put in place when the government was formed in December 2018.

Since then there have been rumours doing the rounds that Chhattisgarh can have a change of guard even though Baghel and his supporters have vehemently denied the possibility of having any such development.

At the heart of the issue lies the contentious two-and-a-half-year-power sharing formula for the chief minister’s post in the state. The rift over sharing the post on a rotational basis has been in talks ever since Congress came into power in December 2018. It is being reported that Baghel is refusing to honour the agreement while TS Deo is insisting that the power-sharing agreement that was decided at the time of forming the government in the state be followed.

Amidst looming uncertainty, as many as 35 Congress MLAs from Chhattisgarh flew down to Delhi on Thursday night. It is being reported that 20 more are expected to travel to the capital and a total of 55 are likely to stand in support of Baghel, out of the total of 68 MLAs the party has in the state.

With considerable speculations of growing resentment among a faction of Chhattisgarh state Congress unit, PL Punia, in charge of the state’s Congress unit, tried to understate the crisis, saying that said that the talks among Baghel, Deo, and Gandhi centred around developmental issues and not leadership change. He further added that the Congress leadership has not “summoned” any of the state’s legislators to the national capital.

Though the Congress party would naturally play down the internecine conflict among the leaders in Chhattisgarh, the statements issued by Baghel and TS Deo lays bare the rift that plagues the party’s state unit.

After meeting Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, Baghel proclaimed that those who want to implement “two and a half years’ (power-sharing formula) in the state are trying to foment political instability. On the other hand, TS Deo, who has remained in Delhi since the meetings on Tuesday, said, “If a person plays in a team, then doesn’t he think of becoming the captain? Everyone thinks about that but the question is not about thoughts, it’s about capabilities. The high command takes a decision.”

Sidhu vs Singh tussle in Punjab escalates as the former launches attack against state government over sugarcane pricing

The crisis in Chhattisgarh is succeeded by the imbroglio Congress faces in Punjab as President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Navjot Singh Sidhu trained his guns on chief minister Amarinder Singh. Thirty MLAs of Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu’s camp, including four ministers, have sought the removal of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. A delegation of the rebel MLAs will be meeting the party high command in Delhi with their demand.

Earlier this week, Sidhu launched a blistering attack against the Congress government in the state and hailed neighbouring BJP-ruled states for higher State Assured Prices(SAP) for Sugarcane.

Sidhu on Monday posted a tweet calling for an increase in State Agreed Price (SAP) for sugarcane in Punjab, asserting that despite the higher cost of cultivation in the state, the SAP is lower than that received by farmers in BJP ruled states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

“The sugarcane farmers issue needs to be immediately resolved amicably…Strange that despite the higher cost of cultivation in Punjab the state assured price is too low as compared to Haryana/UP/Uttarakhand. As a torchbearer of agriculture, the Punjab SAP should be better!” Sidhu tweeted.

A 7 year old song on YouTube is getting comments after meme goes viral: Here is what ‘Mera Yeshu Yeshu’ is all about

OpIndia Staff
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A 7 year old song on YouTube is getting comments after meme goes viral: Here is what ‘Mera Yeshu Yeshu’ is all about

A meme has gone viral recently. The meme was sparked by a video, which appears to be from a Christian missionary event, where a boy can be seen weeping profusely. Then, a man, presumably the pastor, asks him if his sister could speak earlier. The boy answers in the negative. Then he is asked whether she could speak now, and this time he answers in the affirmative. The song that was playing in the background is ‘Mera Yeshu Yeshu’.

The mannerisms of the boy are quite comical and the video, on the whole, is extremely funny. Thus, naturally, a torrent of memes involving the video flooded social media websites. A lot of mashups were available on the internet with the ‘Mera Yeshu Yeshu’ video.

The original video, as it is, is actually just as funny.

Perhaps the funniest, however, is the doge meme that is doing the rounds of the internet.

The ‘nahi bol sakti thi’ and ‘bolne lagi’ bit of the video has also received a great deal of attention.

‘Mera Yeshu Yeshu’ here basically translates to ‘My Jesus Jesus’. The song, quite obviously, was meant as a tool for religious conversion to Christianity. The video itself is likely from a Christian evangelical event where such hilarious scenes are frequently observed in the name of ‘miracles’.

As it turns out, ‘Mera Yeshu Yeshu’ is actually a song from 2014, first uploaded seemingly by one Jo Mathew on YouTube. The song has typical elements of Bollywood item song numbers with a distinctive Arabic feel to it. The singers croons for a full 8 minutes and appears inspired by Himesh Reshammiya, with the special emphasis on “ooooooooo”.

The song hails ‘Yeshu’ as someone who relieves the devotee of all his distress, among other similar incantations.

After the meme went viral, the song has received new found attention on YouTube. It has been bombarded with new comments ever since the meme went viral. Most comments are related to hailing Hindu Gods while some emphasize the unintended hilarity of it all.

Some commented ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while others declared ‘Har Har Mahadev’.

Mera Yeshu Yeshu
Source: YouTube comments section

There were a few ‘Hari Bol’ and ‘Om Namah Shivaay’ as well.

Mera Yeshu Yeshu
Source: YouTube comments section

Jo Mathew, as it so happens, has his personal website where he has listed lyrics of many songs, which he has composed presumably. The songs are in English, Hindi, Tamil, Russian and Malayalam. But his most song, nonetheless, remains the meme-worthy song from 2014.

Not just weapons and helicopters, US also left biometric data in Afghanistan, gave the Taliban list of US citizens and Afghan allies

OpIndia Staff
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Not just weapons and helicopters, US also left biometric data in Afghanistan, gave the Taliban list of US citizens and Afghan allies

Days after the Taliban took over the reins of Afghanistan, it has now come to light that the United States and the United Kingdom have left their allies 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. Although the US officials had claimed that the objective behind the decision was to evacuate stranded people as fast as possible, they faced sharp criticism from military officials and lawmakers. Politico reported that US President Joe Biden had been relying on the radical Islamist outfit for the security of its citizens and allies.

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. “Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list… It’s just appalling and shocking and makes you feel unclean,” remarked a US defence official anonymously. During a news conference on Thursday (August 26), President Biden reacted to the revelations made by Politico and did not deny the fact that the US had handed names of ‘vulnerable individuals’ to the Taliban.

After the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban following the collapse of Afghan security forces, the Taliban had put up roadblocks across the city. As both foreigners and locals rushed to the Hamid Karzai International Airport to leave the country, they had to cross these roadblocks. To ensure smooth movement of US citizens and Afghan allies, the US administration had handed over the list of people going to the airport, so that the Taliban can allow them to go ahead. Even though the intention was good, this also meant that the Taliban now has the list of all the Afghans who had worked with the NATO forces.

Taliban has access to biometric information of Afghan allies

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 potentiall 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.

Even though the Taliban may not have the tools and expertise to process the data they have access to now, the ISI of Pakistan has. This means that the Talibani regime can easily process the data with the help of their allies.

Republican Congressman and former Afghan veteran Jim Banks informed, “We now know that due to the negligence of this administration, the Taliban has access to $85 billion worth of American military equipment. That includes 75,000 vehicles, over 200 airplanes, and helicopters, over 600,000 small arms, and light weapons. The Taliban now has more black hawk helicopters than 85% of the countries in the world.”

“They just don’t have weapons. They also have night-vision goggles, body armour, medical supplies…The Taliban now has biometric devices which have the fingerprints, eye scans, and the biographical information of the Afghans who helped us over the last 20 years…This administration has no plans to get the military equipment and supplies back,” he concluded.

Biden administration did not deny revealing names to the Taliban

“There have been occasions when our military has contacted their military counterparts in the Taliban and said this, for example, this bus is coming through with X number of people on it, made up of the following group of people. We want you to let that bus or that group through. So, yes there have been occasions like that. To the best of my knowledge, in those cases, the bulk of that has occurred and they have been let through. I can’t tell you with any certitude that there’s actually been a list of names. There may have been. But I know of no circumstance. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist, that here’s the names of 12 people, they’re coming, let them through. It could very well have happened,” the US President said in a statement.

Besides Joe Biden, National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Emily Horne also conceded that the US officials had shared information with the Taliban in ‘limited cases’ for facilitating their ‘successful evacuation’ from Kabul. The matter came to light during a ‘classified briefing’ in US Capitol Hill, wherein top officials contended that they had been coordinating with the Taliban for keeping the ‘Americans and Afghans safe.’ They claimed that the objective was also to prevent a shoutout between the US forces and the Talibs at the Hamid Karzai International airport.

Taliban going door-to-door in search of Afghan interpreters

Among the list of names handed over to the Taliban, it included Afghan allies who collaborated with the United States during the 20-year-long ‘war on terror’. While speaking about the matter, a US official admitted, “They had to do that because of the security situation the White House created by allowing the Taliban to control everything outside the airport.” Politico reported that once the security situation at the Kabul airport worsened due to the overwhelming rush of people, the US government requested everyone to wait for their turn.

From that point onwards, the Biden administration stopped feeding the names of Afghan allies to the Taliban. From August 25 onwards, the US government began evacuating only US passport and green cardholders. Earlier this week, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby contended that the US officials were ‘in daily communication with the Talibs. Politico 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.

Suicide bombing by ISKP at Kabul airport kills stranded Afghans

On Thursday, August 26, bomb blasts inside Hamid Karzai international airport in Afghan’s capital Kabul killed more than 100 people, including 13 US troops, disrupting the ongoing Afghan evacuation of tens of thousands of stranded civilians. Soon after the attacks on their forces, the United States officials attributed attacks that killed more than 100 people at the Kabul airport to Islamic State’s regional affiliate Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). The ISKP has also taken responsibility for the bombing of the Kabul airport and has released images of the terrorist who blew himself up inside the Kabul airport. Abdul Rehman Al-Loghri of the ISKP was allegedly the suicide bomber.

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