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9 players from the Indian national hockey team for Tokyo Olympics came from Punjab’s Surjit Singh academy. Read details

OpIndia Staff
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9 players from the Indian national hockey team for Tokyo Olympics came from Punjab’s Surjit Singh academy. Read details

9 of the 18 players from the Indian men’s hockey team at the Tokyo Olympics, underwent training at just one institute near Sansarpur village in the Jalandhar district of Punjab, reported India Today. The institute, named Surjit Singh Academy, has been producing high-quality players consistently for the past 7-8 years.

Even this time, the academy has sent 9 of its players to the 18 member-contingent in field hockey at the Summer Olympic Games. The athletes include Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Hardik Singh, captain Manpreet Singh, reserve goalkeeper Krishan Pathak, Dilpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Shamsher Singh, and Simranjeet Singh. They were part of the Indian hockey team that scripted history by securing a bronze medal for the country after 41 years.

Screengrab of the Bronze medal match result, via olympics.com

Training regime at the Surjit Singh Academy

Surjit Singh Academy was founded in the year 2005 and has so far produced about 30 hockey players for the country. While speaking to India Today, head coach Avatar Singh emphasized that the Indian hockey team has been reaping the benefits of a systematic process and years of hard work. “We have not won this medal overnight. It has been the hard work of the past 16 years.

When Pargat Singh became Punjab’s director of sports, it was his vision to build a world-class hockey academy, and these players are part of that vision,” he added. It must be mentioned that Avtar Singh has been a part of the academy since the year 2008.

While pointing the systematic process to led to India’s historic victory over Germany, Singh explained how a player is selected and trained to represent the nation. ”Our motto was very clear, we want to build a structure, where we can pick the players from a very early age, give them the right training. It starts with a five-day selection trial, where we used to get 300 kids, and the number has risen to around 1,100 over the years. The trials are followed by a three-day physical fitness test that gives us a brief idea of how far the kid can go ahead,” he said. Thereafter, the academy shifts the focus on the physical aspect of the game such as building speed, agility, flexibility, endurance, strength, and plyometrics.

Impact of the sporting nursery on India’s field hockey performance

Harmanpreet Singh, who had trained at the academy, scored 2 crucial goals in 2017 to defeat Pakistan by a margin of 7-1. He had begun training at the institute from a very early age, as per the report by India Today. Shamsher Singh, the son of a farmer, was accepted by the Surjit Singh Academy when he was a student of Class 7. He was eventually selected in the Indian national side in 2019. A resident of Attari with humble beginnings, Singh spent 6 years at the institute. He is still unable to fathom the fact that he represented India in the Tokyo Olympics.

According to coach Gurdev Singh, who works at the Surjit Singh Academy, India’s performance at the Summer Olympics will inspire a new generation of children to take up the sport. He remarked, “You will see more kids playing hockey. This medal is going to build a culture that was lost for the past 30 years or so. We will have Manpreets, Harmanpreets, and Mandeeps to inspire the next generation, and that’s the difference a medal can make. The bronze medal win will make them role models for the ones who are now in the age group categories and dreaming of making it to the 2028 Game.”

It must be mentioned that the academy is named after the iconic hockey player Surjit Singh, who was a part of the winning team in the 3rd Edition of the World Cup Hockey Tournament in 1975. As a deep defender, he participated in the 1974 Asian Games, 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, and 1978 Asian Games. Following his retirement from the sport, he died in a tragic road accident near Kartarpur in the Jalandhar district of Punjab. The Indian government posthumously awarded him the Arjuna Award in 1998.

Who is ‘hamaari behan Najma’ from the viral video clip by a Pakistani watching Olympics? Read

OpIndia Staff
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Who is ‘hamaari behan Najma’ from the viral video clip by a Pakistani watching Olympics? Read

A hilarious commentary on Pakistan’s Olympic athlete Najma Parveen has taken social media by storm. The commentator Waqar Zaka recorded Najma’s performance at the Olympics and added his two bits tickling the funny bones. 

Zaka who has been doing such commentaries for every Pakistani player at the Tokyo Olympics started, requesting his community to pray for Najma. He then hurled a few sexist remarks on the other athletes competing with Najma. 

“Ye ladkiyan hain ki nahin hain (Are these even girls or not?),” remarked Zaka when the camera panned into other athletes from Jamaica, Greece and Germany. 

He then asked, “Hamaari behan ka muqaabla ho kinse raha hai (Who is our sister competing with?),” “Ye kya item hai bhai? (What is this ‘item’?),” exclaimed Zaka commenting on the looks and built of other athelets. 

“Chalo bhaago Najma. Common Najma. (Run Najma),” cheered Zaka for Najma before he was left in search of her on the TV screen. 

“Bhaag Najma bhaag. Sabse peeche hogayi kya? Najma kahan hai? (Run Najma run. Is she the last? Where is Najma?),” Zaka was left bewildered. 

Worried for Najma, Zaka once again tried to spot Najma leaving the netizens in a split. “Najama kahan hai? Najma meri behan. Cooking kar rahi thi? Kinko bheja hua hai? Najma kahan hai bhai? (Where is Najma? Najma my sister. Was she cooking? Who have we sent? Where is Najma?),” Zaka repeated in utter panic. 

“Pakistan ki sabse tez bhaagne wali khatoon hai lekin yahan nahi bhaag saki. Kahan hai Najma? (She is the fastest running woman in Pakistan. But where is Najma?),” Zaka kept asking. 

The video since then has gone viral. Zaka, though dejected, sounded hopeful for the next time.  

Watch the full video. 

Zaka, however, in his video pointed out how the Pakistani Sports Authority might have sent no coach along with Najma. Though proud of Najma, he highlighted the absolute ignorance by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan resulting in the failure of their athletes. 

Suggesting there’s much more than just cricket, Zaka in his video and then in his series of Tweets took on the AFP authorities and the government for utter ignorance towards other sports and players. 

“After an hour (6:30AM) our Pakistani Najma Parveen will be competing in 200 meters race, Tokyo Olympics 2020 – I know you all will say it’s about budget, training, facilities etc to win such a race but I say let’s see if your Dua can help her win?” Zaka Tweeted before the game.

In a follow-up Tweet, Zaka blamed the authorities and not the players. “What the video? this is no rocket science or technology stuff that you can’t build, issue is not with players or talent, it’s the administration and coaches, we need to expose the culprits, no need to blame players,” he wrote. 

Zaka also slammed Imran Khan’s government for sending “tourism lovers” with players to Tokyo Olympics rather than coaches. 

“What kind of corruption is this? @ImranKhanPTI @DrFMirza that Instead of coaches, some random Tokyo tourism lovers officials were sent from Pakistan, let’s find names and reasons who went to Olympic like who the hell is Wajid who went with Mahnoor for badminton?” Zaka Tweeted. 

Zaka had also revealed that there is a need to check on the Pakistan Sports Board President Fehmida Mirza who has been occupying the chair for quite some time. Miffed with Pakistani players standing either at 6th or 8th positions, he urged the authorities to see who is being sent to the Olympics and also question the budget allocation.

This is not where Zaka stopped. He has been posting similar commentaries on Pakistani Olympics players and their performance. 

Who is Waqar Zaka?

Zaka is a popular TV host and a top social media influencer in Pakistan. He enjoys a following of 460k followers on Instagram, 1.17 million subscribers on YouTube and over 3.8 million followers on Facebook. 

Zaka as per his profile now also trades in cryptocurrencies and regards himself as a philanthropist. 

Who is Najma Parveen?

Najma is Pakistan’s best female sprinter, who holds the national record of Women’s 200m at 23.69 seconds but finished last in women’s 200m heat at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday morning.

As per reports, Najma’s Olympic journey was almost halted when her entry was withdrawn by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP), without consent. Reportedly, AFP and Pakistan Olympic Association are at loggerheads for multiple reasons but the Olympic Association managed to send Najma for the Olympics at the last minute. 

Tweet of ‘journalist’ given a platform by NewsLaundry and ThePrint calling for the rape of Mamata Banerjee goes viral, he refuses to delete

OpIndia Staff
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Tweet of ‘journalist’ given a platform by NewsLaundry and ThePrint calling for the rape of Mamata Banerjee goes viral, he refuses to delete

Journalists in India have a penchant for saying the worst things on social media. A tweet of one such ‘journalist’, Aveek Sen, who writes for Left portals like Newslaundry and Shekhar Gupta owned The Print, went viral. In the tweet that went viral, Aveek Sen could be seen calling for the rape of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

In the tweet from 2013 that went viral, Aveek Sen was seen quoting TimesNow, saying that Mamata Banerjee had called the Barasat rapists ‘CPIM supporters’. To that, Aveek Sen had responded saying “Its high time these cpm supporters rape Mamta!”

Interestingly, Aveek Sen has been given a platform on various Left portals because he claims to “fight hate” online.

This abusive tweet against the Chief Minister of West Bengal went viral after Aveek Sen made it his mission to doxx those with who he does not agree ideologically. Aveek Sen has, as late as 27th July 2021, written for The Newslaundry about how one can protect themselves from “Online snooping”.

Newslaundry profile

Aveek Sen had also written for The Print, owned and run by journalist Shekhar Gupta, as late as 2020.

ThePrint profile

Journalist who called for the rape of Mamata Banerjee runs an account ‘fighting hate online’, doxxes people regularly

Interestingly, Aveek Sen, who called for the rape of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee runs a handle on Twitter where he claims to “fight hate” online. The handle that he runs is called @hateSWATteam, which claims to be a “SWAT Team Against Hate & Fake Posts”.

Twitter account of @hateSWATteam

On August 3rd, Aveek Sen claimed that he had launched “Hate SWAT Team” “to track troll farms making hate speech & fake news viral in India”. Launching a platform to doxx people he did not agree with, Sen even asked people to “donate to him for this work”.

He also revealed that in a stunning case of joblessness, he also maintains an elaborate excel sheet where he records the names of those he wishes to doxx and target. All of the individuals on his list were those from the non-left.

It is pertinent to note that Aveek Sen has been doxxing Twitter user @theskindoctor13 for several weeks now and recently, had managed to get his account suspended from Twitter. He had then urged even those retweeting the account to be suspended.

Aveek Sen stands by his tweet calling for the rape of Mamata Banerjee

Team Saath, the handle that is associated with actor Sushant Singh, who had participated in the anti-CAA protests that led to the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, claims that they had “approached” Aveek Sen as they were working for the “same cause”. Team Saath has also regularly doxxed people from the non-Left and has run hate campaigns against those who are ideologically aligned with the non-Left and support Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, Team Saath that regularly hounds people said that they were “wrong to approach him” because he had called for the rape pf Mamata Banerjee. They even called for his account to be suspended.

To this, Aveek Sen responded standing by his tweet that called for the rape of Bengal CM.

He said that his “past is an open book” and he will not delete the tweet unless Twitter asks him to.

It is interesting to note that an individual who claims to “fight hate” has refused to delete a shameful tweet that targets a Chief Minister and a woman, no less, with rape.

Aveek Sen, who was then possibly scared that his Left credentials would be cancelled, proceeded to try and prove that he was a non-Left supporter and now, he has changed his ideology.

India summons top Pakistani diplomat to lodge protest against vandalism of Ganesh temple in Pakistan, Imran Khan condemns incident and orders action

OpIndia Staff
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India summons top Pakistani diplomat to lodge protest against vandalism of Ganesh temple in Pakistan, Imran Khan condemns incident and orders action

India has summoned Pakistan’s top diplomat, the Pakistani chargé d’affaires (C’dA), to voice a strong protest over the vandalism of a Hindu temple in Rahim Yar Khan’s Bhong City in Pakistan.

“Firm protest was lodged expressing our grave concerns at this reprehensible incident” and the “continued attacks on the freedom of religion of the minority community and their places of religious worship”, Arindam Bagchi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson said at a virtual weekly presser on Thursday.

Pakistan must “guarantee the safety, security, and well-being of its minority groups,” said MEA spokesperson.

The video of the despicable act has been widely circulating on various social media platforms since the incident took place yesterday. However, now, Pakistan PM Imran Khan has taken to Twitter to condemn the incident and said that the perpetrators would be brought to books. He also assured that the Pakistan Govt would restore the temple, and informed that he has ordered the police to ensure the arrest of all culprits and take action against any negligence by police.

Islamists in Pakistan attack and burn Hindu temple in Punjab province

The statement came in the aftermath of the attack on a Ganesh Temple in Pakistan on August 4 (Wednesday), which was telecasted live on Facebook. OpIndia reported how hundreds of Islamists had vandalized a Ganesh temple in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the temple were burnt down and idols desecrated. 

Taking cognizance of the matter, ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf parliamentarian Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani took to Twitter to post videos of the temple attack and urged the law enforcement agencies to stop the “burning and vandalizing” of the temple. 

“The attackers were carrying sticks, stones and bricks. They smashed the deities while raising religious slogans,” Vankwani said. 

Condemning the attack on the temple in a series of tweets, Vankwani demanded arrests of the culprits. He also urged the Chief Justice to take immediate action. 

Police officials confirmed that the temple has been damaged badly. As per reports, when the police failed to control the mob, the Pakistan Rangers had to be called to control the situation. However, no arrests have been made so far. 

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had also, Wednesday shared the videos of the vandalization and hit out at those opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), an Act that provides Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities in the neighbouring country.

In the advent of this particular incident of vandalism, we listed, 7 such incidents of attacks on Hindu temples by Islamists in Pakistan since 2020.

It’s disgraceful that while Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan leaves no international platform (related or unrelated) to make incoherent rants about the alleged oppression of minorities in India, he seldom looks in his own backyard to check the condition of Hindu, Sikh and Christian minorities grappling for survival in Pakistan. 

Donald Trump mocks US women’s soccer team for failing to win Gold, mocks ‘purple haired woman’ and other ‘wokesters’: Read full statement

OpIndia Staff
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Donald Trump mocks US women’s soccer team for failing to win Gold, mocks ‘purple haired woman’ and other ‘wokesters’: Read full statement

Donald Trump has slammed the US women’s soccer team after their disappointing end to the Olympics. Huge favourites to win the tournament, the team had to settle for a Bronze Medal after losing to Canada in the semifinals.

“If our soccer team, headed by a radical group of Leftist Maniacs, wasn’t woke, they would have won the Gold Medal instead of the Bronze. Woke means you lose, everything that is woke goes bad, and our soccer team certainly has,” the former US President said in a statement.

Donald Trump on the US women’s soccer team

Donald Trump continued, “There were, however, a few patriots standing. Unfortunately, they need more than that respecting our Country and National Anthem. They should replace the wokesters with Patriots and start winning again.”

He also appeared to mock Megan Rapinoe in particular, the same footballer who had once refused to visit the White House after winning the World Cup 2019 when Trump was president. Donald Trump said, “The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job!”

A significant section of Americans had celebrated the US women’s soccer team’s defeat in the semifinals. Their primary grouse was that the team is ‘woke’ and does not reflect American ideals. Gwen Barry, another ‘woke’ athlete, was also mocked and her disappointing 11th position finish was also celebrated by Americans.

The team that USA lost to in the semifinals, Canada, is what Trump and his supporters would call ‘woke’ as well. The Canadian team had Quinn, the first trans male player to participate in the Olympics.

Although she is biologically female, she identifies herself as ‘male.’ Her first match against Japan at Sapporo made her the first ‘openly transgender’ to participate in an Olympic event. She was a member of the Canadian soccer team at the 2016 Rio Olympics as well, which saw the country win a bronze medal. At that time, she participated in soccer events as a female player.

41 stolen artefacts returned during 7 years of PM Modi regime, Congress brought less than 10 pcs: Culture Minister

OpIndia Staff
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41 stolen artefacts returned during 7 years of PM Modi regime, Congress brought less than 10 pcs: Culture Minister

The Union Minister of Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy on Thursday informed that since the time the Modi government came to power in 2014, India has repatriated 41 heritage artefacts back to the country which is more than 75% of the total objects returned to date.

In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Reddy said that a total of 54 antiquities have been retrieved from foreign countries till date since 1976, out of which 41 have been repatriated under PM Modi’s leadership.

Giving more details later, Shri G Kishan Reddy said: “It is a matter of pride that we have been able to retrieve many of our stolen heritage objects from abroad. The number of antiquities recovered in the last seven years is the highest ever. Since 2014, India has repatriated 41 heritage objects back to India which is more than 75% of the total objects returned.

He credited PM Modi for his relentless efforts, which led to the retrieval of the heritage antiquities, said Reddy. “I believe that the recent success is because of our continuously improving cultural relations that were made possible due to the warm personal relations that our Prime Minister shares with various heads of states and hence their expeditious return was made possible”, the Culture Minister added.

Reddy also lauded the tireless efforts of various government agencies like ASI, CBI among others in this endeavour.

Congress brought back less than 10 antiquities in its 25 years of ruling

He further claimed that the Nehru-Gandhi family’s succeeding leaders were more concerned with amassing wealth for themselves than with safeguarding India’s cultural and civilisational wealth.

“Since 1976 the Congress government which has ruled for close to 25 years, brought back less than 10 antiquities. This shows a total lack of commitment and respect that successive Congress governments showed towards preserving our Indian civilizational heritage. Successive leaders of the Nehru-Gandhi family were more interested in accruing wealth for themselves rather than protecting India’s cultural and civilisational wealth,” Reddy added.

Australia decides to hand over 14 artefacts to Modi Govt

Only a week ago, the National Gallery of Australia had decided to return 14 artefacts of cultural significance to the Indian government. On July 29, OpIndia reported that a total of 14 artefacts being repatriated, includes six bronze or stone sculptures, a brass processional standard, a painted scroll, and six photographs. The collection is worth about $2.2 million (approximately Rs 16.34 crore). Some of them date back to the 12th Century.

The director of NGA, while speaking on his decision, contributed it to the relationship Australia and India shared with each other. “This is the right thing to do, it’s culturally responsible and the result of collaboration between Australia and India.”

Finance Ministry introduces bill to withdraw retrospective tax and refund collected amounts, says the tax is a sore point for investors

OpIndia Staff
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Finance Ministry introduces bill to withdraw retrospective tax and refund collected amounts, says the tax is a sore point for investors

One of the worst legacies of the UPA government carried forward by the Modi government, the provision for Retrospective Tax, is finally set to be buried. The union finance ministry on Thursday informed the Lok Sabha that it is bringing an amendment to the Income Tax Act, 1961 to this effect. The move comes even as the govt has challenged international arbitration awards against the govt in the Vodafone and Cairn Energy retrospective tax cases.

In a statement issued in the parliament today, the ministry said, “The Bill proposes to amend the Income-tax Act, 1961 so as to provide that no tax demand shall be raised in future on the basis of the said retrospective amendment for any indirect transfer of Indian assets if the transaction was undertaken before 28th May, 2012 (i.e., the date on which the Finance Bill, 2012 received the assent of the President).”

Moreover, tax demands already made for indirect transfer of Indian assets made before 28th May, 2012 will be nullified under this amendment, subject to fulfilment of certain conditions, such as undertaking that the companies will withdraw all cases or that they will not file any case against the govt of India, and that they will not claim any cost, damage, interest etc.

Accordingly, the draft for the amendment has been prepared, which says that section 9 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 will be amended to ensure that no tax demand shall be raised in future on any income arising out of the sale of assets in India as a result of the transfer of a share or interest in a company or entity registered or incorporated outside India before 28 May 2012.

The amendment also says that if any amount was already paid in respect to such retrospective tax demands, such amounts will be refunded. But no interest under section 244A will be paid on such refunds. However, to get the benefits of these amendments, companies facing retrospective tax demands will have to withdraw all petitions and appeals they may have filed in High Court, Supreme Court, arbitrators etc.

The retrospective amendment was brought in by the UPA govt in 2012 after the Supreme Court of India has ruled that based on the existing laws in the country, the govt had no power to demand tax on gains made on indirect asset transfer in India arising of transactions taking place outside India. In response to this verdict, the govt had introduced the amendment with retrospective effect, which meant it now had the authority to demand such taxes.

The statement issued by the ministry said that this amendment had invited criticism because these were given retrospective effects. The major criticisms were that such retrospective amendments militate against the principle of tax certainty and damage India’s reputation as an attractive destination for investment. While several major reforms have been initiated in the financial and infrastructure sector in recent years which has created a positive environment for investment in the country, the retrospective tax provision and the demand made under it remain a sore point with potential investors, the statement said.

Therefore, the government of India decided to bring an amendment to the Income Tax Act to remove the provisions of Retrospective tax demand.

YouTuber Karl Rock romanticises Pakistan’s treatment of Hindu temples a day after a mob desecrated one: Here are the details

OpIndia Staff
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YouTuber Karl Rock romanticises Pakistan’s treatment of Hindu temples a day after a mob desecrated one: Here are the details

New Zealand vlogger Karl Rock, who was blacklisted by the Indian authorities for violation of multiple visa norms on multiple counts, has posted a series of videos on Pakistan and the Hindu temples situated in the Islamic Republic in an attempt to play down the atrocities against the Hindus in the country.

In a series of three videos, the New Zealand-based controversial vlogger attempted to depict Pakistan as a ‘safe haven’ for Hindus by visiting a few Hindu temples in Pakistan to show how the Islamic country is ‘preserving’ the culture of Hindus.

In his first video published a week ago, Karl Rock visited a Hindu temple on the outskirts of Mirpur city in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Youtuber travels inside the Ramkot Fort situated on the huge Mangla Dam to unearth the Hindu temple that was ravaged by the Muslim rulers of Kashmir.

The remains of the Shivling hidden inside the fort overseeing the Mangala Dam was shown by Karl Rock in his video.

However, he fails to explain why did Muslim invaders destroy the Hindu temple present at the spot to raise a fort on top of it.

In his second video, published a few days ago, he visited another temple in the old city of Mirpur, the city which is submerged following the construction of Mangala Dam on the Jhelum river. The ancient Hindu temple, offshore the Mangala Dam, can be seen ravaged due to its sinking under the Jhelum river. In the video, Rock said it is not just the temple alone, but a mosque and a gurudwara are submerged after the Pakistan government decided to construct a dam on the banks of Mirpur.

In the following video released on Thursday, Karl Rock travelled to Sialkot to have a glimpse of the Shiva temple. He then casually tells the history of the temple that was built by Sardar Teja Singh and how the temple was sealed in 1947 following the partition.

Interestingly, Rock also highlights that miscreants partially demolished the temple in 1992 following the Babri Masjid demolition in Pakistan. More than 30 temples across Pakistan were attacked by Islamists in 1992 as a reaction to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in India. However, Karl Rock glosses over the atrocities committed by the Islamists against the Hindus in Pakistan by simply saying the act was ‘wrong’.

Karl Rock whitewashes atrocities against Hindus, glorifies Pakistan

However, he does not stop there. Karl Rock goes on to continue to peddle pro-Pakistan propaganda by claiming that Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a goodwill gesture to Hindus, had reopened the temple to Hindus after 72 years.

“In 2019, the Pakistan government renovated and formally handed over the centuries-old Shivala Teja Singh Temple to the Pakistan Hindu Council for facilitating pilgrim visits and other rituals,” the Youtuber said in an attempt to romanticise how ‘secular’ and tolerant’ Pakistan was in terms of treating its minorities.

Shockingly, Karl Rock has released his pro-Pakistan propaganda videos to glorify Pakistan just a day after Islamists had vandalised and burnt down a Ganesha temple in Pakistan’s Punjab province. The mob had attacked the temple on Wednesday at Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district. This is just one attack in the ongoing series of attacks against Hindus by Islamists in Pakistan.

The video of the incident had stoked massive outrage on the internet, with several Hindus worldwide condemning Pakistan for its continued atrocities against Hindus. Yet, strangely, just a day after the brutal incident, Karl Rock uploads his videos to show Pakistan in a good light and misinform people that everything was well for Hindus in Pakistan.  

Karl Rock, who is a frequent visitor and often an influencer working to push the pro-Pakistan narrative on social media platforms, seems to have uploaded his videos on Hindu temples in Pakistan to create a narrative that Hindus are safe in the Islamic country and to peddle propaganda in favour of Pakistani establishment that they were treating the minorities well.

It is not the first time that Karl Rock has been pushing such a pro-Pakistan agenda through his videos on Youtube. He has posted several videos in the past from Pakistan, which may be one of the reasons why the Indian government took an extreme step to blacklist his visa.

Karl Rock and his love for Pakistan

For several months, Karl Rock has stayed in Pakistan, a country he had claimed to have left abruptly just three years ago because the ISI was watching him, suspecting him of being a spy. In recent months, he has posted several videos on his YouTube channel chronicling his visit to various places in Pakistan.

Karl Rock had even visited Pakistan occupied Kashmir. In January and February this year, he had posted several videos showing his visit to the ‘other side of Kashmir’. While he is a traveller and he has the right to pursue his interest, his visit to PoK had raised eyebrows in the Indian security establishment.

As Karl Rock repeatedly violated his Visa norms in India, the Indian government blacklisted him from entering India over multiple Visa violations in July this year.

Afghanistan: Taliban terrorists kill historian Abdullah Atefi, torture and execute him in Chora, Uruzgan

OpIndia Staff
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Afghanistan: Taliban terrorists kill historian Abdullah Atefi, torture and execute him in Chora, Uruzgan

The Taliban terrorists are fast gaining control over large chunks of Afghan territory. As areas fall under the Taliban’s control news of torture, and executions are filling in. As per the latest reports, Abdullah Atefi, a noted Afghan poet and historian was brutally killed by the Taliban last night.

As per reports in Afghan media, the incident occurred in southern Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province.

Afghan Vice President Amarullah Saleh has confirmed the news. Saleh has stated that Atefi was taken out of his home in the Chora district of Uruzgan by the Taliban. He was later shot in the head. He added that the Taliban killed Atefi because he was a scholar of economics and history.

The Vice President added, “The Afghan brain is under attack. Taliban and its backers in Pakistan want a wasteland.”

Atefi’s home district of Chora has been under Taliban control since June this year. The Taliban is yet to comment on the murder.

A number of prominent voices in the region have condemned the murder, stating that Atefi’s murder shows that the Taliban is against education and awareness. Atefi was reportedly educating Pashtun young men and was playing a crucial role in deviating them from violence.

Earlier, a popular comedian named Nazar Mohammad alias Khasa Zwan was brutally killed by the Taliban. In videos that were circulated later, Taliban terrorists were seen assaulting the comedian before killing him. In July, Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was also killed by the Taliban. Though the media tried to whitewash the incident saying he was ‘caught in a crossfire’, it was later revealed that the Taliban was aware of his identity as an Indian.

Siddiqui, who had taken shelter in a mosque after getting a bullet injury, was reportedly dragged out and brutalized before being riddled with several bullets.

While pontificating about the pandemic, SP and Congress carry out massive rallies violating COVID protocols even as threat of third wave looms large

OpIndia Staff
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While pontificating about the pandemic, SP and Congress carry out massive rallies violating COVID protocols even as threat of third wave looms large

Unruffled by the looming threat of the third wave of Covid-19, opposition parties like the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) have reportedly taken out massive rallies in the heart of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh respectively today.

According to reports, the Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a huge gathering of people in the national capital today. In a place like Delhi, which became the epicentre of India’s Covid mismanagement, both during the first and the second wave, hundreds of thousands of people, were seen flouting the Covid norms, as they accumulated to catch a glimpse of the Gandhi scion.

As seen in the video, shared by BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya, most of the people, who are not even wearing masks, are falling on each other, as Rahul Gandhi takes the center stage to address the crowd.

Likewise, in Uttar Pradesh, keeping an eye on the upcoming Assembly elections, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav embarked on a ‘cycle yatra’ to attack the BJP government both in the state and centre over issues like price rise, unemployment, farm laws and crime rate.

In the video of this event too, thousands of SP supporters, flouting the Covid-19 norms, are seen huddling together. Most of the Akhilesh Yadav supporters, who have thronged the streets of the state capital, are seen without masks. Together with disrupting traffic during heavy traffic hours, the Samajwadi Party members are also shamelessly risking the lives of thousands of citizens amidst the ongoing pandemic.

Samajwadi Party-friendly ‘journalist’ Rohini Singh, who is notoriously known for fake news and propaganda and had come under scrutiny over her coverage of 2017 UP election coverage for appearing to be too ‘pro-Samajwadi Party’, shared a snippet of the event on Twitter captioning it: “Noida channels would keep asking where is the opposition but will refuse to see the opposition whenever it is on the streets”.

On expected lines, the self-proclaimed journalist Rohini Singh, in her Tweet, goes on to pontificate Uttar Pradesh journalists but does not even mention once how the Samajwadi loyalists and supporters have completely disregarded the Covid protocols while embarking on their show of strength before the UP Assembly elections.

Pictures and videos of these two events doing the round on social media platforms have invited the wrath of Netizens, who have called out Congress bigwig Rahul Gandhi and the SP supremo for their hypocrisy.

Congress former party leader Shehzad Poonawala Tweeted how for these ‘Lutyen experts’, “”Secular” cycle rallies are Covid proof! Eid celebrations in Kerala are Covid proof Sansad Gherao by Rahul Gandhi & IYC is Covid proof Only Kumbh Mela is a SUPER SPREADER”.

Sharing a snippet from the past in which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tries his utmost best to vilify the Hindu’s Kumbh Mela characterising it as a Covid ‘super spreader’ event, Shehzad Poonawala, in another Tweet writes: “If hypocrisy had a face it would look like this”.

It becomes important to recall here, how the exposed Congress Toolkit entailed a plan of action for the Congress leaders and supporters to exploit the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in the country to target the Modi government and revive its own moribund political fortunes.

The document titled ‘Cornering Narendra Modi & Covid Mismanagement’ in the toolkit had highlighted how the ‘Kumbh mela’ is to be used to malign the Hindu festival and the ruling party. The “toolkit” suggested politicizing the congregation by repeatedly labelling it as a ‘super spreader’ to hint at BJP’s Hindu politics. 

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