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Pakistan: Islamist mob vandalises Hindu temple in Sindh province, destroys Krishna idol on Janmashtami

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Islamist mob vandalises Hindu temple in Sindh province, destroys Krishna idol on Janmashtami

While Hindus across the world celebrated Sri Krishna Janmashtami on Monday, August 30, radical Islamists in Pakistan have vandalised a Hindu temple and broken the idol of Lord Krishna at Khipro in the Sanghar district of Sindh province of Pakistan.

The incident happened when locals were celebrating Janmashtami rituals at the temple.

Journalist Aditya Raj Kaul took to Twitter to share the pictures of the vandalised Krishna Idol. In one picture, the idol can be seen lying desecrated on a piece of red and white cloth. The hands and one leg of the idol have been broken, as can be seen in the picture. In the other three pictures shared by Kaul, a section of Hindu devotees can be seen carrying and attempting to secure the broken pieces of the Krishna idol together.

He also shared a snippet where an elderly Hindu woman, who was an eyewitness to the crime, is heard categorically saying that some Islamists desecrated the Krishna idol.

In Pakistan, there has been an increase in attacks against religious minorities’ houses of worship in recent years. The international community has repeatedly chastised the country for failing to protect the interests of its minority. Despite this, the Imran Khan government has done little to address the situation.

Ganesh temple vandalised in Punjab province of Pakistan

Earlier in the month, a violent mob of Pakistani men had vandalized a Ganesh temple in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the temple were burnt down and idols were desecrated. The mob attacked the temple on August 4, at Bhong city of Rahim Yar Khan district. 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. 

7 Hindu temples vandalized and destroyed by Islamists since 2020

OpIndia had on August 5 also reported about 7 such Hindu temples which were vandalized and destroyed by Islamists since 2020 in Pakistan. As per an India Today report, out of 365 Hindu temples in Pakistan, only 13 are being managed by the Evacuee Trust Property Board board, leaving the responsibility of 65 to the persecuted and impoverished Hindu community, abandoning the rest to the land mafias.

CM Vs CM: Haryana CM ML Khattar hits back at Amarinder Singh, holds him responsible for farmer protests

OpIndia Staff
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CM Vs CM: Haryana CM ML Khattar hits back at Amarinder Singh, holds him responsible for farmer protests

A lathi charge by Haryana police on alleged farmers protesting violently against the Farm Bills in Karnal has triggered a war of words between the Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Haryana CM ML Khattar.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh reacting to the incident demanded the resignation of Haryana CM ML Khattar and also asked him to issue an apology to the protesting ‘farmers.’ Singh had described the police action as “brazen brutality”.

Calling it a ‘government-sponsored attack’, Singh asked Khattar to compensate the injured farmers. “This is no way to treat our annadaatas (farmers),” remarked the Punjab CM. 

“Who is he to demand my resignation?” 

Khattar while responding to a media query on Singh’s demand, remarked, “Who is he to demand my resignation? He should be the one to resign as he is responsible for the farmers’ agitation.”

“We are taking care of our farmers in Haryana. No farmer from Haryana is sitting at the Tikri or Singhu border,” stated Khattar further.

Khattar also accused Singh of instigating protests. “In Punjab, he (Captain Amarinder Singh) is instigating farmers. In Haryana, (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda saheb and other Congress leaders are instigating them. You think we don’t know?”

While disapproving Karnal SDM Ayush Sinha’s alleged remarks that stirred controversy, Khattar asserted that strictness has to be maintained to ensure law and order. “I am getting calls from people that the farmers need to be dealt with sternly but we are exercising restraint as they are our people,” said Haryana’s Chief Minister. 

‘Who is anti-farmer’ questions Khattar, exposes Punjab govt

Continuing the tussle, ML Khattar shared a thread highlighting the work done by his government for the farmers of his state. 

Tagging the Punjab CM in his Tweets, Khattar informed that Haryana procures as many as 10 crops at MSP making use of Direct Benefit Transfer. He questioned Singh as to how many crops does the Congress-led Punjab government procures at MSP.

Khattar continued to inform that the Haryana government provides an incentive of Rs 7000/- per acre to every farmer who wants to move away from paddy cultivation and pays an incentive of Rs 5000 per acre to the farmer who adopts direct seeding of rice technology, asking what incentive Punjab provides to its farmers. 

ML Khattar’s Twitter thread.

“Haryana has been paying the highest MSP in the country for sugarcane to its farmers for the last 7 years,” said Khattar in a Tweet. The Haryana CM further listed the various initiatives undertaken to support horticulture and micro-irrigation schemes. He added that his government pays interest at the rate of 12% to the farmers if the payment is delayed beyond 72 hours from the approval of the I-form, asking if Punjab does the same.

Khattar added that Haryana supports farmers growing horticultural produce by instituting the Bhawantar Bharpayee Yojana to insulate them from price fluctuations below cost. He asked what does Captain Amarinder’s government does to incentivise horticultural farmers.

In a stern reply to Singh’s anti-farmer allegation on Khattar, the Haryana CM ended his thread by asking, “Who is anti-farmer, @capt_amarinder ji? Punjab or Haryana?”

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind bats for Talibani diktat, opposes co-education even for non-Muslims

OpIndia Staff
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Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind bats for Talibani diktat, opposes co-education even for non-Muslims

Prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has asked for separate schools for boys and girls and asked non-Muslims to not send their daughters to co-education schools and colleges to ‘keep them away from immorality and misbehaviour’. Jamiat also asked wealthy and influential people to construct separate schools for boys and girls.

Maulana Arshad Madani claimed that no religion teaches immorality and obscenity and is condemned in every religion in the world. He said these things ‘spread misbehaviour’ in the society. Madani therefore urged non-Muslims to not send their children to co-education schools.

The Jamiat working committee met on Monday to discuss ‘ways to reform society’. The members discussed that separate schools for boys and girls are needed in a religious environment for girls. The committee also discussed ways to reform the society.

Referring to incidents of alleged mob violence, Madani claimed that they were all planned and aimed at uniting the majority against the minority by inciting religious extremism. He further claimed that in today’s situation, people need good madarsas and higher ‘secular’ educational institutions for children to provide equal opportunity for education. He also urged Muslims to ‘b’ their children with higher education at any cost.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind

Recently, Deoband based Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had come to the rescue of alleged Al Qaeda terrorist in Uttar Pradesh and offered legal aid to him. “The process of using terrorism as a weapon to destroy the lives of Muslim youth continues. Our legal struggle will continue till the honorable release of innocent Muslims,” said Maulana Arshad Madani had said. Madani is also the chief of Darul Uloom Deoband. Taliban is believed to have drawn inspiration from the same Deobandi movement.

‘Why open bars and keep temples shut’: Anna Hazare offers support if people protest in Maharashtra

OpIndia Staff
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‘Why open bars and keep temples shut’: Anna Hazare offers support if people protest in Maharashtra

Anna Hazare, the social activist, has raised questions over the Maharashtra government’s orders to open bars and pubs in the state while the temples are still closed. Hazare has offered his support if devotees hold protests to lift curbs on the temples in the state.

In his statement, Hazare added that the government seems fine with the big queues outside liquor shops in the state, but they are not okay with reopening the temples. Reportedly, he met a delegation of people demanding the reopening of the temples across the state.

He said, “Why the state government is not opening temples? What danger the state government sees in opening temples for people? If COVID-19 is the reason, then there are big queues outside liquor shops.” Hazare has assured support for the delegation and offered to be with them if they stage an agitation to reopen the temples.

BJP staged protests to reopen temples

On August 30, Chandrakant Patil, state chief BJP, held a ‘shankhnad andolan’ and sought the reopening of temples for the public. Protests were held by the party workers outside temples across the state in cities including Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, Nagpur and Solapur. The party workers marched towards the temples blowing conch shells. Patil said, “The shankhanad is necessary to wake up the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which is in deep slumber. Pleas demanding the reopening of temples have gone unheard for the past 15 months.”

While the state government has allowed several sectors to function in the state and have allowed fully vaccinated people to travel in local train, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government is still unwilling to open temples claiming it may lead to further spread of Covid-19 in the state.

Covid-19 in Maharashtra

On August 30, Maharashtra reported 3,741 new cases of Covid-19. There are 51,834 active cases in the state. So far, the state has reported 64,60,680 cases of Covid-19. 62,68,112 people have recovered from the disease. A total of 1,37,209 people have lost their lives due to complications associated with coronavirus infection. So far, the state has administered 5.7 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

USA leaves behind 51 contract working dogs in Kabul, military veterans trying to raise funds for their evacuation

OpIndia Staff
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USA leaves behind 51 contract working dogs in Kabul, military veterans trying to raise funds for their evacuation

On August 30, 2021, the last of the American troops left Kabul, ending the 20-years-long Afghanistan war leaving behind a devastated nation back in the hands of the radical Islamist group. Amid the stories of disappointments and bereavement, another sad picture emerged when it was reported that while leaving the country, US troops also left 51 contract working dogs behind.

Now NGOs and veterans are trying to rescue the dogs from Afghanistan.

An organization named Kabul Small Animal Rescue (KSAR) launched a last-minute rescue operation codenamed Operation Hercules to save the stranded dogs on Kabul that included the contract working dogs.

Tommy Amenta, veteran and author, issued a video statement on August 30 describing the situation. He said that the last few hours in the rescue operation were chaos, and he was not sure if the chartered plane they had arranged for the dogs would be able to land or not. He further added that Joshua T. Hosler, President of Veteran Sheepdogs of America, has offered to take the military dogs in the plane that was already on the ground.

Quoting his tweet, Joshua urged the top businessmen to provide funds for the rescue operations. He wrote, “WE NEED A MIRACLE! We need @elonmusk @BillGates @JeffBezos to pay for a plane for 51 military dogs left in Kabul. NOT taking seats from humans. This will also save Americans & interpreters lives! We are working on funding for after also. Please RETWEET & tag anyone who has the $.” Reportedly, such rescue operations are expensive.

In a tweet, Veteran Sheepdogs of America had mentioned that the rescue operation is costing them at least $1.67 million. It said, “It costs $1.67 million for a 737 plane out of Kabul. We are working with our contacts for donations. We have the majority of the funds to fly out at least 140 and 51 military working dogs! Anything will help! Dogs need to leave tonight.”

American Humane condemned the US government for leaving the dogs behind

American Humane, a 150-years old national humanitarian organization, has condemned the US government for leaving 51 contract working dogs behind in Afghanistan. In a statement, Dr Robin R. Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane, stated that he was devastated to learn that the American government left behind US military contract working dogs “to be tortured and killed at the hand of our enemies.”

The statement read, “These brave dogs do the same dangerous, life-saving work as our military working dogs, and deserved a far better fate than the one to which they have been condemned.” It further read that American Humane is ready to help transport the contract K9 soldiers back to the US and provide them lifetime medical care.

The organization has worked with the US military for over 100 years to rescue military animals. Ganzert said in the statement, “In fact, our famed rescue program began on the bloody battlefields of WWI Europe, at the request of the US Secretary of War. Since that time, American Humane served as a pioneer in the development of animal therapy for returning veterans, and today brings home retired military working dogs and pairs veterans with life-saving service dogs.”

The organization urged the government to classify contract working dogs on the same level as military serving dogs to avoid such incidents in the future.

What are Contract Working Dogs?

There are two types of dogs used by the military in the US. First are the Military Working Dogs or MWD that are owned by the US Military. These dogs are trained by military professionals for different jobs such as providing support in rescue missions and identifying explosives etc. Due to the increased demand for such dogs in the military, contractors started to provide privately owned trained dogs for military operations. These dogs are known as Contract Working Dogs or CWD.

According to a post by Military & LEO Working Dogs on Facebook, contractors that provide CWD are generally veterans who started to work as contractors after getting discharged from the military service.

India brings back 3 dogs of ITBP that worked to secure Kabul embassy

Earlier this month, when India evacuated its staff and security personnel from Kabul, 3 dogs from the ITBP that were deployed for the security of the Kabul embassy were brought back in the IAF C-17.

Ruby. Maya and Bobby, the three ITBP dogs were brought back along with the ITBP commandoes from Kabul on August 18.

Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi bats for Taliban, claims they have come with ‘positive mind’

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi bats for Taliban, claims they have come with ‘positive mind’

After harbouring and nurturing Taliban on its soil for years, Pakistanis now seem to have taken upon themselves to water down their barbarity as it seeks to establish a legitimate government in Afghanistan.

Latest to join the Taliban PR team seems to be Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi. In a video shared by Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat, Afridi during a media interaction welcomed the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. 

“Taliban have come with a very positive mind. They’re allowing ladies to work,” said Afridi to the media. The former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team also asserted that the Taliban are fun cricket-loving chaps. “I believe Taliban like cricket a lot,” said Afridi. Taliban follows strict Islamic Sharia where any form of entertainment, including cricket is ‘haram’. In its early years, Taliban had banned cricket and football as they thought it keeps men away from prayer but as it turns out, of all sport, cricket is one sport the ‘new’ Taliban ‘enjoys’.

These statements by the Pakistani cricketer come at a time when Afghanistan is gripped by terror and killings. Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had also said that Taliban are ‘normal civilians‘ who are just returning to their country. Pakistan has been long accused of helping the Taliban militarily, financially, and with intelligence inputs in their fight against the Afghan government, however, Imran Khan claimed that it was “extremely unfair” to make such accusations.

Bomb attack outside Kabul airport

As many as 103 people including 13 US service members were reported dead in a suicide bomb attack outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul last week. 

Reportedly, the explosion was caused by ISIS suicide bombers who detonated an IED near the Abbey gate of the Kabul airport and near the Barron hotel. 

Local artists being executed

After banning music in the country, the Taliban dragged folk singer Fawad Andarabi in Kishnabad outside his home and killed him.

In the month of July, popular comedian Nazar Mohammad aka Khasha was kidnapped from his home by the Taliban. Hours later he was found hanging from a tree. 

Asks women to stay at home

Just a week after promising that they will respect the freedom of women in a press conference, the Taliban has admitted that the women are not safe from their soldiers. Now the group has asked the women in Afghanistan to stay at home, saying they need to train the Talibanis first on how to respect women.

The Jihadi organization also threatened journalist Shabnam Dawran and barred her from working. We reported earlier how a woman was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan for not wearing a burqa. 

China restricts online gaming for children to three hours a week

OpIndia Staff
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China restricts online gaming for children to three hours a week

Beijing is all set to curb the gaming hours for minors as the notice released by China’s National Press and Publication Administration has imposed limits on the time that children can spend on online gaming. Starting September 1, the video game companies are ordained to restrict gaming time to three hours a week—from 8 PM to 9 PM on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Defending the restrictions, the National Press and Publication Administration said the online gaming has an impact on both the physical and mental health of minors.

In order to ensure that minors abide by the rule, the game companies will have to use a real name-based registration system that Tencent started using in 2018 to restrict playtime on Honor of Kings, a widely popular online game.

However, at that time, the restrictions were not so rigorous as children up to the age of 12 could play one hour per day, and up to two hours a day for children in the age bracket between 13 to 18. The authorities were then concerned about exacerbating myopia among minors.

As per the system, the users have to go through an ID verification system while signing in, which means that a user can only have one account associated with his or her real name. It is also being alleged that the regulators will routinely examine if the companies are complying with the mandate.

Interestingly, the new rules issued by China came a month after a particularly scathing article published by state media, which described the online games as “spiritual opium”. Although the phrase was later removed, it served as a harbinger of what was about to follow.

It remains unclear as to console games and foreign games will also have to implement the new real name-based registration system and comply with China’s laws curbing the gaming hours of minors.

After the news of China limiting online gaming hours for minors, gaming behemoth Tencent issued a statement. “Tencent expressed its strong support and will make every effort to implement the relevant requirements of the Notice as soon as possible,” the company says.

Al-Qaeda leader and former Osama bin Laden aide Amin-ul-Haq returns to Afghanistan under Taliban

OpIndia Staff
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Al-Qaeda leader and former Osama bin Laden aide Amin-ul-Haq returns to Afghanistan under Taliban

Former aide of Osama Bin Laden, and senior Al-Qaeda leader, Amin-ul-Haq returned to his hometown in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province on Monday, August 30, after the province and the rest of the country fell to the Taliban, 15 days ago. Sources believe that Amin-ul-Haq was a close aide to former al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was killed by US forces in Pakistan’s Abbottabad in 2011.

Al-Qaeda leader Amin-ul-Haq was the security in charge of Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora

Amin-ul-Haq was the security in charge of Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora and became close to him in the 80s when he worked with Abdullah Azzam in Maktaba Akhidmat.

It is pertinent to note here that as a part of the Doha Agreement, the Taliban had assured the United States that it will not host or allow the al-Qaeda and Islamic State terrorist groups to operate in the areas under their control. 

Taliban’s ties with Haqqani is violation of Qatar peace talks

Taliban spokesperson Zabibullah Mujahid, while speaking to NBC News on August 26, when asked if the Taliban will provide a safe haven to al-Qaeda, said that the Jihadist organization has repeatedly promised it will not let anyone use Afghan soil for terrorism. 

However, at first, the Jihadist group was seen delegating the security of Kabul to the members of the dreaded terrorist organisation – Haqqani Network, which has close ties with foreign Islamic terrorist groups, including a long-standing association with Al-Qaeda. Now, the return of the dreaded leader of the Al-Qaeda only goes on to prove beyond doubt that the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan will once again be used as a safe haven for terrorists.

According to the reports, Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, is currently taken control by nearly 6,000 jihadis of the Haqqani Network led by Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the network.

Following the capture of Kabul, Anis Haqqani, son of Jalaluddin Haqqani and brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current head of the terrorist group and one of three deputy leaders of the Taliban, has been negotiating with Afghanistan’s National Reconciliation Council, comprising former President Hamid Karzai, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the Hizb-e-Islami political and paramilitary group, and Abdullah Abdullah, the deposed administration’s chief peace envoy.

On Thursday, after meeting the Haqqanis, Abdullah Abdullah had indicated publicly that the terror outfit would be overseeing security in the Afghan capital. He had said that the Haqqani network had provided assurances that they would “work hard to provide the right security for the citizens of Kabul.”

Pakistan based JeM and LeT may rope in Taliban to foment terror in Jammu and Kashmir, intel reports suggest

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan based JeM and LeT may rope in Taliban to foment terror in Jammu and Kashmir, intel reports suggest

Days after the Taliban walked into Kabul and effectively took control of Afghanistan, the Indian security agencies in their assessment stated that Pakistan based terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad would intensify their efforts to infiltrate into Indian territory and carry out terror attacks.

Speaking about the heightened risk of threat from JeM and LeT, a government official, as quoted by the Hindu, said, “The primary aim of these terror outfits is to create trouble in Jammu and Kashmir. Over the years, they have extended their support to the Taliban to fight against foreign forces. JeM has been deploying senior commanders and trained cadres for Taliban operations. LeT has also been a major source of armed men fighting along with the Taliban and Haqqani Network. They share the same ideology.”

The official further warned that once the dust settles in Afghanistan, the terrorists belonging to the JeM and LeT fold would cast their evil eyes towards India. Among the hundreds of prisoners released from Afghan prisons, a large number of them belonged to LeT and JeM, the source said.

In an intelligence report accessed by Times Now, it was stated that Pakistan-based JeM and LeT supplied cadres to the Taliban for training their men to wage war in Afghanistan and Kashmir. The intelligence also threw light on the ISI involvement in handling and controlling the integrated command of LeT, JeM in assisting the Taliban to realise its goal. The security agencies fear that once the Americans and NATO forces depart Afghanistan, it would redeploy the JeM, LeT and even the Taliban terrorists to execute its nefarious designs in Kashmir and India.

The same intelligence report also highlighted the involvement of senior Lashkar-e-Taiba members, Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi mobilising funds for operations in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

Earlier last week, it was reported that Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar was in Kandahar following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan to congratulate the terror group over its victory and seek its support to foment terror in India.

Citing sources, a report published in India Today said Maulana Masood Azhar met Taliban leaders, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the political committee. Azhar has reportedly asked for help from the Taliban to stir unrest in the Kashmir Valley and help JeM for its operations in the Indian Union Territory.

A report published in ANI also stated that leaders of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) met with the Talibanis in the 3rd week of August. While quoting senior Intelligence officials, the news agency reported that JeM sought the help of the Islamist organisation in ‘India-centric operations. The forcible takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, coupled with its recent meeting with Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists, has raised concerns about cross-border terrorism. The Indian intelligence agencies are expecting an influx of terrorists from Pakistan into the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Taliban’s crucial role in securing the release of Masood Azhar who later formed Jaish-e-Muhammad

As such, the Taliban teaming up with the Jaish-e-Muhammad should not come as a surprise, given that the group had played a pivotal role in the formation of Masood Azhar’s terror outfit.

Twenty-one years ago, on December 24, 1999, the Indian Airlines IC 814 carrying 178 passengers and 11 crew members from Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked by Pakistan-based Islamic terrorists. The airline was hijacked by Harkat-ul-Mujahideen with the active support and assistance of the Pakistan Army before landing at Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan. At that time, Kandahar was the base of the Taliban government and was headed by Mullah Mohammed Omar. 

The hijackers demanded the release of 35 terrorists from Indian prisons, including the dreaded terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar in addition to $200mn in cash. However, Ajit Doval was able to bring the numbers down to 3. On December 31, 1999, after seven days, the hostage crisis came to an end as India agreed to release three of the top terrorists including Masood Azhar. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.

After his release, Maulana Masood Azhar regrouped his terror organisation, renamed his terror outfit ‘Harkat-ul-Ansar’ to ‘Harkat-ul-Mujahideen’ (HuM). A year later, Maulana Azhar, with a renewed vigour, started a new outfit – ‘Jaish-e-Mohammed’ (JeM). Azhar was actively backed up by Pakistan Army, who provided all the assistance. Even the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden and multiple Sunni sectarian organisations based in Pakistan helped Azhar to set up his new terror organisation.

JeM-LeT-Taliban share the same ideological roots: The Deobandi school of Sunni Islam

The myriad India-centric terror organisations in Pakistan working in cahoots with the Taliban not only extend tactical and strategic support to each other but also share the same ideological moorings: The Deobandi school of Sunni Islam.

Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad have both emerged from the radical Deobandi movement that has its roots in the UP town of Deoband. The two terror organisations use the extremist interpretation of Islam to draw fresh blood to their fold and continue their Islamic ‘jihad’ against India.

Similarly, the Taliban also draws its inspiration from the Deobandi movement. The Taliban’s association with the UP town of Deoband was also highlighted in an article published in the New York Times in 2002. The article titled “Indian town’s seed grew into the Taliban code” discussed how the ideology of radical Islamism that germinated in a town in Uttar Pradesh went on to influence the jihadist movement on the other side of the Durand Line, the line that separates Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

A recent article in the Guardian also characterised the Taliban as “employing a narrow interpretation of Islamic sharia law inspired by the Deobandi fundamentalist school”. Deobandi is an Islamic revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that formed around the Darul Uloom Islamic seminary in the town of Deoband. The seminary was founded in 1866 by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, and several other figures. The Deobandi movement’s political wing, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, was founded in 1919.

It is alleged that Deobandi Islam is the most popular form of pedagogy in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and several prominent Afghan and Pakistani Taliban leaders have studied in Deobandi seminaries.

Even though the Taliban has held out an olive branch for India, there is no denying the fact that the Taliban has an ideological and tactical convergence with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad. Given the current dynamics and the Taliban’s reputation of reneging on its promises, it cannot be discounted that Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad might rope in the Taliban to further their terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The parting gift: Joe Biden continues proud US tradition of killing Afghan children, as ‘human rights’ groups lecture others

K Bhattacharjee
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The parting gift: Joe Biden continues proud US tradition of killing Afghan children, as ‘human rights’ groups lecture others

Days before USA is set to exit the country under Joe Biden, a US drone strike on Sunday in Kabul, Afghanistan killed as many six children among 10 civilians in what they called a ‘defensive airstrike’ against “multiple suicide bombers” associated with the Islamic State of Khorasan Province. Initially, US CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Bill Urban had claimed that they were “assessing” the possibility that civilians were killed which was only confirmed a few hours later.

It was not the first time that Afghan children had been killed in US drone strikes and the tradition certainly did not begin under Joe Biden. George Bush, during the end days of his presidency, managed to bomb an Afghan wedding at the Wech Bachtu village of Shah Kot Wali district in Kandahar. Of the 40 reported dead at the wedding bombing on the 3rd of November, 2008, 23 were children and 10 were women. The bride was among the scores wounded.

From George Bush to Joe Biden: The atrocities under US Presidents

Hamid Karzai, the then President of Afghanistan, requested incoming president Barack Obama to stop the killing of civilians or consequences would be severe. He said, “Civilian casualties should completely stop. The war in the villages of Afghanistan will never give fruit.”

Naturally, the Nobel Peace Prize winner only did what was appropriate: Apologise after killing Afghan children during his own presidency. Two years after Barack Obama ascended to the White House, a US airstrike in Kunar province in the year 2011 killed nine children. In the previous two weeks, there had been four such instances where 80 civilians had died. Obama called President Karzai and expressed “deep regret” over the same.

Two years later, twelve civilians were killed in Kunar again during a NATO airstrike. Of the twelve, eleven were children and the other a woman.

After all was said and done, the US air force attacked a hospital in Afghanistan in 2015, again demonstrating that Obama was just Bush with better PR. It could be a subject of great philosophical debate, what is worse, bombing a wedding or a hospital. The hospital was managed by the group ‘Doctors Without Borders’. At least 42 were killed and 30 injured. Obama, ever the gentleman, personally apologised to the head of the group.

Donald Trump, too, participated in what has become a traditional sport for American Presidents. In only 10 airstrikes between 2018 and 2019, 115 civilians were killed in the war-torn country. Of that, 70 were children. That is more than a 60% child kill rate. It does appear that Trump was trying his best to get accepted by the Washington DC establishment but no matter how hard he tried, it was never going to be enough.

Maybe if he had started that war with Iran, he would have finally received the approval of the Washington elite. Joe Biden, it seems, did not wish to let down the proud tradition established by his predecessors and thus, two days before leaving the country, he managed to smash six on his record.

The Love for American Imperialism

These are only a few instances mentioned in the article but surely, both, George Bush and Barack Obama had managed to rake up their numbers much beyond what has been mentioned here during their presidential tenures. And yet, for all their supposed concern for human rights around the world, the American mainstream media and the NGO-academia establishment has remained surreptitiously silent over the catastrophe.

The American media and ‘human rights’ groups pompously lectures other countries on matters of human rights violations and yet, when it comes to the United States of America, they either turn a blind eye or issue an obligatory condemnation which they forget within a week. Another intriguing aspect is that when such crimes against humanity are committed by US forces, they always blame it on individual follies rather than the existing political structure but when it comes to other countries, it is always the other way around.

But how could American war crimes be blamed on individual follies when the same horrors have been perpetrated by four successive US Presidents over the course of 20 years in Afghanistan? And the presidents are equally divided between both parties, two each from the Republican Party and Democrats. It is as the joke goes, one bombs with ‘Make America Great Again’ posters planted on its war planes, the other with BLM and LGBT flags.

Their love for American imperialism is touching indeed. The media plays a great role in whitewashing the American crimes against humanity as well. As Glenn Greenwald observed in 2015 in the aftermath of the Afghan hospital bombing, the CNN and the New York Times for 36 hours attempted to obscure who was responsible for the atrocity.

The journalist, hated by the western mainstream media establishment, wrote, “The U.S. and its allies — in both the Afghan government and its own media — have now switched course from the “it was a collateral damage mistake” cliché to the proud “yes we did it and it was justified” boast. But from the start, not even the U.S. military had the audacity to try to obscure that they did this. They left that dirty work to their leading media outlets, which, as usual, are more than eager and happy to comply.”

Human Rights as an instrument of Geopolitics

The American media-NGO industry love to point fingers at others for acting in self defense while giving their own US Presidents guilty of war crimes a free pass. One only needs to take a cursory glance at the manner in which it treats India, which has been fighting Pakistan sponsored radical Islamic terrorism in Kashmir for decades now.

When Indian forces respond to stone pelters with rubber bullets, the American media rushes to the defense of Islamic extremists and pretends that an apocalypse has descended on Earth. When India abrogated Article 370 to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the Valley, it was dubbed a violation of human rights.

When India did something so noble as passing an Act to expedite the citizenship process of persecuted minorities in neighbouring countries, the American media-NGO industry labeled it religious discrimination. When Indian law enforcement authorities cracked down on rioters, it was again branded an instance of police brutality.

But take a glance at the manner in which the western media is treating Joe Biden after the killing of six Afghan children. There is hardly any outrage over it. They even gave Donald Trump, a US president whose election they branded the second coming of Adolf Hitler, a free pass over the murder of civilians in Afghanistan. It is an absolute scandal.

The message is clear. The US establishment believes that Afghan lives do not matter and American imperialism is so pious that it has divine sanction to murder children. If Americans wish to comprehend why they could not win over Afghan hearts and minds in 20 years, then the events of Thursday are a good place to ponder over.

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