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Uttar Pradesh police unearth a Love Jihad syndicate, Sayeed Nizam arrested for raping and converting several Hindu girls by disguising as ‘Tantrik’

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh police unearth a Love Jihad syndicate, Sayeed Nizam arrested for raping and converting several Hindu girls by disguising as ‘Tantrik’

The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested one Sayyed Nizam, the mastermind of a Grooming Jihad syndicate from Badaun district in the state. According to the reports, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested Sayyed Nizam, a resident of Jagatpur in Bareilly district, who used to convert Hindu girls into Islam by disguising himself as a ‘Tantrik’. Sayyed Nizam lured Hindu girls by claiming to be a ‘Tantrik’. He used to visit their house by claiming that he would solve their problems by using ‘Tantra Vidya’. in a pinch. 

Later, he would trap those young women in their house and rape them. He would then forcefully convert them into Islam.

During the investigation, the accused has confessed to having converted more than a dozen girls from Hindu to Muslim. In addition, he has admitted that he looted at least Rs.25 lakhs from the victims by lying and threatening them. 

The video of the Nizam confessing to his crime has also surfaced, in which he is seen admitting that he has forcefully converting young women to Islam.

Sayyed Nizam, the mastermind of the syndicate, has admitted that they used to make physical relations with women and girls. Besides Nizam, there are 12 more accused in the Grooming Jihad syndicate.

The accused said that he had received Rs.25 lakh rupees from two youths named Pradhan and Awadhesh. The other accused are identified as Salim, Salim Mafuridi, Syed Rajab and Aalok. The accused converted Hindu girls to the Muslim religion by luring money. The gang has reportedly converted at least 12-15 girls to Islam till now.

The police have taken Nizam into his custody. A case has been registered against the accused, and the police have launched a manhunt to nab all the other accused in the gang.

CPI(M) congratulates China for administering 200 mn vaccine doses on the day India achieved milestone of 1 crore doses in a single day

OpIndia Staff
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CPI(M) congratulates China for administering 200 mn vaccine doses on the day India achieved milestone of 1 crore doses in a single day

The official Twitter account of the Tamil Nadu unit of the CPI(M) on Friday posted a tweet congratulating China for administering 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to its population.

An infographic having the picture of Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and informing that China has administered a total of 200 million COVID-19 vaccines doses was shared by CPIM Tamil Nadu.

“China has achieved the record of vaccinating 200 million doses of its citizens,” read the English translation of the tweet posted in Tamil.

Source: Twitter

While the CPI(M) went hammers and tongs in celebrating the milestone reached by China in administering 200 million vaccine doses, it predictably did not react to India’s record of dispensing more than 1 crore doses of efficacious vaccines in a single day, which it achieved yesterday.

The number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered yesterday in the country created a record, as the number crossed 1 crore (10 million) for the first time. With this, the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses given in India has crossed 62 crores, the second-highest in the world after China.

But, no congratulatory tweet lauding the efforts of the health care workers, doctors, nurses and hospitals across the country was posted by the official Twitter account of CPI(M), CPIM Tamil Nadu or for that matter by CPI(M) patriarch Sitaram Yechury. Through his official Twitter account, Yechury posted a couple of tweets furthering its propaganda against the Modi government, but no tweets commending India’s efforts in scaling up its vaccination programme was tweeted by him.

CPI(M) lavishes praises on Chinese vaccination pace even though questions are raised of their vaccine’s efficacy

Instead, the CPI(M) bend over backwards in pleasing their Chinese masters and applauding them for administering vaccines whose efficacy has come increasingly under scrutiny. In June 2021, there were reports of COVID-19 outbreak recrudescence in countries that had already vaccinated their population with Chinese vaccines. Countries like Bahrain, UAE, Mongolia, and Seychelles started witnessing a spike in COVID-19 infections.

The recent studies from these countries suggest that the Chinese vaccines may not be very effective at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, particularly the new variants, the NYT report said.

China had kicked off its vaccine diplomacy campaign last year with much fanfare and had pledged to provide “safe and effective” vaccines. Though their efficacy data was questioned, transmission, many countries had bought the Chinese-made vaccines.

However, CPI(M) has remained blind to this criticism. Their visceral hatred for the Modi government and their ideological convergence with the Chinese Communist Party(CCP)—the same party that controls the People’s Liberation Army(PLA), whose troops routinely indulge in salami-slicing of Indian territories—and which resulted in a months-long tense standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, meant that the apprehensions over Chinese vaccines were cast aside and they had no qualms in lapping up the Chinese propaganda.

It must be noted that China had claimed to administer 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines back in April 2021. It is intriguing that the CPIM Tamil Nadu shared the questionable statistic on the day when India reached its record vaccination of jabbing more than 1 crore doses in a single day. It is not far-fetched to assume that CPI(M) tweeted months-old news to glorify the Chinese model and belittle India’s record of administering more than 1 crore vaccine doses.

CPI(M) leaders participated in an event to mark the centenary year of CCP

Earlier this year, on July 28, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja, Lok Sabha MP S Senthilkumar G Devarajan, Secretary, Central Committee of All India Forward Bloc & Du Xiaolin, Counselor, International Dept, Chinese Communist Party (CPC) also participated in an event organised by Chinese Embassy to mark 100 years of the Communist Party of China.

During the keynote speech by Ambassador Sun Weidong, several topics related to the India-China relationship were talked about. Du Xiaolin claimed that China had helped India at a large scale in fighting the pandemic. He also alleged that the workers at Chinese companies worked overtime to meet the procurement needs India had to fight the Wuhan virus.

He further added that the two countries need to “manage the differences” and talked about the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops last year in Galwan Valley. He said, “The rights and wrongs of what happened in the China-India border area last year are very clear. China has made clear its position on many occasions. The two sides have maintained communication through diplomatic and military channels.”

Accused demanded Rs 3 lakhs, made video while raping the victim: All we know about the Mysuru gang-rape and assault case so far

OpIndia Staff
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Accused demanded Rs 3 lakhs, made video while raping the victim: All we know about the Mysuru gang-rape and assault case so far

The Mysuru city police, working on the heinous gang-rape and assault case of an MBA student and her friend, have successfully nabbed 5 out of the 6 accused. Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood informed on Saturday that 5 accused, out of which one is a juvenile, have been arrested based on preliminary interrogations into the case. The city police are verifying the age of the suspected juvenile. One other accused person in the case is still absconding.

A 22-year-old MBA student from Maharashtra, studying at a Mysuru university, and her friend were attacked at Chamundi Hills (a popular tourist spot on the outskirts of the city) late on Tuesday, August 24th evening. Both victims are currently undergoing treatment and are said to be out of danger.

Earlier the police were suspecting four students of a reputed engineering college to be behind the crime. The police had received tower locations of these students at the crime spot. When the police tried to reach the suspects, they were not found. After an inspection at their college, the police found out that the four students had not attended an examination scheduled on Wednesday, a day after the incident. This made the police’s suspicion even stronger that the four students committed the crime and disappeared after it came to light.

Accused surrounded the Mysuru couple, passed lewd remarks and demanded money

However, technical and scientific evidence collected by the Mysuru police led them to the actual six accused. The DGP has confirmed that all five arrested accused are labourers from Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur district who use to frequently visit Mysuru.

On the day of the crime, the accused were drinking and partying at the slopes of the Chamundi Hills on the outskirts of Mysuru, when they spotted the victims.

The men, who were in an inebriated state, surrounded the couple and demanded money. They passed lewd remarks against the girl and start videotaping her on their mobile phones. When her friend objected, the accused started getting violent.

The accused filmed the act and used it to blaclmaik the victims, Mysuru police confirmed

They roughed up the youth and started sexually assaulting the MBA student. When the girl’s friend aggressively tried to stop the accused, they started beating him up with sticks. One of the accused reportedly took a bolster and hit him on his forehead, rendering him unconscious.

The accused, meanwhile, continued to film as they took turns to rape the student.

A police officer said the accused had demanded Rs 3 lakh from the student before assaulting her. The accused kept threatening the victim that if she or her friend did not pay up or approach the police, they would leak the video on social media.

According to reports, almost after 6 hours, when the student’s friend gained consciousness, he found himself surrounded by four youths. “I asked where my friend was. Two of them dragged her out of the bush and laid her beside me. She was seeming unconscious and severely injured”, said the rape victim’s friend, adding that the perpetrators made him call his father and ask him to arrange for the money. The father, who hurried to the crime spot after receiving the call, rushed the two victims to the hospital.

The friend confirmed to the police that the assaulters had made a video of the act and had threatened them of making the video public.

On reaching the hospital, the victims, reportedly, did not tell the doctors about the rape and assault. They said they had fallen off their bike and sustained injuries. However, upon examination, the doctors realise that the girl was sexually assaulted. 

The doctors, then at around 7 am on August 25, informed the Mysuru city police. Within some time, the Alanahalli police reached the hospital.

Victim confirms accused not talking in local language, police finds liquor bottles of different state

The rape victim’s friend, who was severely beaten up by the accused, filed a police complaint, based on which the first information reported (FIR) was registered and police started probing the case.

The police immediately formed teams and visited the crime spot by 9 am on August 25. Police started looking at criminal elements in neighbouring states as well because the girl victim’s friend told the police that the accused were not conversing in the local language. Besides, the police also obtained liquor bottles belonging to a different state at the crime spot.

After relentless pursue, the Mysuru city police finally cracked the case on August 28 and apprehended five out of the six accused. The police are on the lookout for the sixth accused and are hopeful to find him soon.

Meanwhile, both the victims continue to receive medical treatment in the hospital. Both of them are said to be out of danger. The girl, however, is still under shock.

Police have been unable to record the young woman’s statement so far, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has said, because she is still in shock.

Days after this gruesome incident, the University of Mysore has barred people from entering Kukkarahalli Lake premises after 6 pm as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Chennapatna, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday suggested the rapists should be treated in the same way that perpetrators of a similar crime were shot dead by police in Telangana about two years ago.

“I appreciate the Hyderabad Police in dealing with a rape case. What did they do finally? Unless stringent action is taken, things will not improve”, Kumaraswamy said.

The JDS leader was referring to how four alleged rapists were gunned down by Hyderabad police after they burned alive a veterinarian and her vehicle after committing the heinous crime in Shamshabad, Hyderabad in 2019. All four suspects were brought to the crime scene to recreate it. Telangana Police had shot them after they attempted to flee the spot.

Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard slams USA’s ‘elite’ class over Afghan war, wants accountability for media, military and political leaders

OpIndia Staff
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Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard slams USA’s ‘elite’ class over Afghan war, wants accountability for media, military and political leaders

Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu Congresswoman in the United States, has issued a statement over the crisis in Afghanistan. She has said that US forces should have left the country after defeating the Al Qaeda in 2001 but instead, the “elite” got the USA involved in a 20 year old war.

Tulsi Gabbard said, “After Al Qaeda terrorists attacked us on 9/11, our brave warriors, special forces, they quickly deployed to defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, they accomplished their mission rapidly and effectively, and that is when they should have returned home, but the elite, they wanted to nation build.”

She continued, “Getting us into a 20-year war with no clear mission or strategy, causing massive suffering and wasting trillions of taxpayer dollars. The question is this, will we hold accountable the Elite, the political leaders, the mainstream media, the military leaders, defense contractors, et cetera who got us into and kept us in this foolish short-sighted mission to turn Afghanistan into a “democracy”, costing us over a trillion dollars and countless lives?”

“Will we blindly allow our elite to drag us into new, even more costly military misadventures in the name of spreading or protecting democracy?” Tulsi Gabbard said that she weeps for the suffering the “Elite” have caused and that they must be stopped from causing even more.

In an earlier statement on the Kabul Airport Attack, Gabbard had said, “This incident should remind the American people that ISIS and al-Qaeda are alive and well, and actively continuing to use terror to try to force the world to accept their demand that we convert to their interpretation of Islam. Unfortunately, America’s “power elite” have downplayed this threat for many years for various reasons.”

Gabbard also expressed condolences for the lives that were lost in the terror attack. She has been one of the foremost advocates of the anti-war movement in the United States. During her presidential campaign, she made ending USA’s “forever wars” in the Middle East and Afghanistan the cornerstone of her White House bid.

Due to her anti-war policy position, she has been dubbed a ‘Russian asset’ and subjected to numerous smears by the mainstream media and the establishment of her party, the Democrat party, in the United States. Hillary Clinton insinuated that she is a ‘Russian asset’ and has suffered attacks due to her Hindu faith as well.

Enforcement Directorate summons Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and his wife in coal scam case

OpIndia Staff
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Enforcement Directorate summons Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and his wife in coal scam case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, and his wife Rujira Banerjee for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the coal scam.

According to the reports, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, a Member of Parliament from the Diamond Harbour seat, has been summoned to appear before the investigating officer of the case on September 6. In addition, Rujira Banerjee, the wife of Abhishek Banerjee, has been asked to appear before them on September 1 in a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED had accused TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee of being a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. However, he has denied all charges.

The case was filed under criminal sections of the (PMLA) by the ED based on the FIR filed by the CBI in November 2020. The FIR had alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to the Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the West Bengal’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas near Asansol.

Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek and his family benefitted from the coal scam: ED

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had submitted before a special court alleging that incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, TMC MP from Diamond Harbor Abhishek Banerjee and his family received illicit funds from illegal coal mining in the state. It further stated that the “deep system” of political patronage driven by “well-oiled” machinery made it possible.

The ED, in this remand note, alleged that certain illegal mining instances were flourishing in the state under the “patronage” of the political party in power. The note, which was a remand note seeking enhanced custody of a West Bengal police officer Ashok Kumar Mishra, the inspector in charge of Bankura police station, had a detailed mention of these allegations.

The policeman had led the agency to the prime suspect – Majhi alias Lala, a local trader, Vinay, a TMC youth wing leader, and his brother Vikas Mishra. The ED had stated that the link goes all the way up to Abhishek Banerjee’s family.

In the statement informed, the ED had said, “it is further revealed that in a span of less than 2 years, an amount to the tune of Rs 1,352 crore has been illegally generated by Majhi through illegal coal mining. The investigation also revealed a deep system of political patronage and well-oiled network by which the system was subverted to carry out these illegal activities in a brazen manner.”

On the basis of a recorded statement of an unidentified “close associate” of Majhi, the ED alleged that the kingpin of this coal scam ran the “illegal coal mining business smoothly by managing senior functionaries of the political party of West Bengal though Inspector Mishra.”

Was she deported because she was a Muslim? Here’s why the Afghan MP was deported by India and how she can come back

OpIndia Staff
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Was she deported because she was a Muslim? Here’s why the Afghan MP was deported by India and how she can come back

A few days back, reports about a woman member of the Afghan parliament being deported back from the Indira Gandhi International Airport from Delhi after having flown from Turkey had created quite a flutter. The Afghan MP, Rangina Kargar, arrived at the national capital on August 20, days after the Taliban formally seized control of Afghanistan.

According to the reports then, Kargar was not allowed to enter the country as immigration officials asked her to wait at the airport. The Afghan MP later claimed that she was deported from the IGI airport two hours after reaching Delhi and was sent back by the same airline to Istanbul.

Rangina Kargar, a member of the Wolesi Jirga representing the Faryab province, claims to hold a diplomatic/official passport that facilitates visa-free travel under a reciprocal arrangement with India. Kargar, a Turkmen born in Mazar-e-Sharif in 1985, is not affiliated with any political party and claims to be a women’s rights activist.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Kargar stated that she had travelled to India several times on the same passport in the past and was even used to be waived through earlier, however, the Indian immigration officials asked her to wait as they had to consult their senior officers.

Kargar said, “They deported me, I was treated as a criminal. I was not given my passport in Dubai. It was given back to me only in Istanbul. It was not good what they did to me. The situation has changed in Kabul, and I hope the Indian government helps Afghan women.”

Usual suspects accuse the Indian govt of deporting the Afghan MP because she was a Muslim

Soon after the news broke out, the left-liberal intelligentsia in the country, in their bid to attack the Modi government and paint it as anti-Muslim, lapped up the issue and accused the government of exercising religious discrimination. Several of the usual suspects took to social media to insinuate that the government deported the Afghan MP back because she was a Muslim while granting visas to hundreds of Hindus and Sikhs refugees from Afghanistan.

A host of assorted left-liberal journalists, politicians and other personalities shared the news of Kargar being deported by India.

Source: Twitter

Nidhi Razdan, who worked for NDTV and was recently conned by the whiff of a too-good-to-be-true job offer at the prestigious Harvard University, also shared the article about the Afghan MP being deported by India.

Source: Twitter

Former Union Minister Manish Tewari even penned an opinion piece, arguing how the deportation of an Afghan MP showed that the government of India did not care about Afghans, notwithstanding the fact that the Afghan parliamentarian did not flee from Afghanistan but had come from Turkey.

Source: Twitter

Kavita Krishnan, a communist leader who doubles up as a full-time protestor, also tweeted about the raging issue of deportation of the Afghan MP. Krishnan alleged that Kargar was discriminated against because she was a Muslim while Sikh Afghan MPs were treated on par with Indian nationals.

Source: Twitter

While the leftists were furthering the propaganda that the Indian government was discriminating against refugees from Afghanistan based on their religion, it is worth noting that the Indian government had cancelled all the previously issued visas to Afghan nationals and asked them to travel to India only on an electronic visa (e-Visa). The decision was taken on reports that several of those who were issued physical visas before the Indian Mission closed down in Afghanistan have misplaced their passports.

India scraps sticker visas and introduce a new e-visa process amidst reports of stolen passports with sticker visas in Afghanistan

According to some reports, more than 1,000 visas issued by the Indian embassy and passports with visa stickers were stolen in Afghanistan. A government official later said that the stealing of the visas was the reason why the Centre had introduced e-visas in the first place following the fall of Afghanistan. The official also said that more than 11,000 visas issued by the Indian embassy between August 12 and 14 had been cancelled after thousands of visas were reported to be stolen.

In view of the prevailing security situation and to ensure that no person who does not qualify to travel to India comes to the country, the government streamlined the visa process by the introduction of an “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa” starting August 17. The Ministry has said that all Afghans, regardless of their religion, will be eligible for the e-visa and applications will be processed in New Delhi since all the missions in Afghanistan remained non-functional.

It was also reported that Kargar was deported back from Delhi airport, not because of her religion, but because she had failed to furnish valid documents, government officials confirmed on August 26. According to news agency ANI, the government officials said that Kargar was not allowed to move outside the IGI airport as she could neither show any document of her medical treatment in India nor did she have any document of reference from the Afghanistan Embassy.

Sources informed OpIndia that the government had received credible intel reports about ISI-backed stooges going door to door in Afghanistan, rummaging for passports with Indian visa stickers. This was one of the primary reasons why the Indian government cancelled the sticker visas and all visas given to Afghan nationals in the first place. With Afghanistan in throes of chaos and anarchy, and with the reports of stolen passports with visa stickers, the government feared that the ISI might exploit the Afghan imbroglio to push their spies and operatives into India.

There are already reports doing the rounds that the biggest winner from Afghanistan’s collapse is Pakistan, which would indubitably use its nexus of ISI spies and Islamist terrorists it harbours to foment trouble in India. It was recently reported that Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, who is known to have close relations with the ISI, visited Kandahar and met with senior Talibani leaders, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the political committee, for seeking their support in inciting terror in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India.

Government of India expresses regret to Afghan MP, asks her to apply for an e-visa

To fend off such security concerns, the Indian government scrapped the old visas it had granted before the fall of Kabul and introduced a new electronic visa process for Afghans who wished to travel to India. However, the new visa process inadvertently led to the deportation of Afghan MP Rangina Kargar, who was, perhaps unaware of the change in the visa granting process, had sought entry into India based on her passport with a sticker visa.

The mistake was also acknowledged by the central government on August 27, who reached out to Afghan MP Rangina Kargar and asked her to apply for an emergency visa. Kargar told The Indian Express that JP Singh, the joint secretary in charge of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in the Union Ministry of External Affairs, apologised to her about the incident. The Indian government ask her to apply for an e-visa and promised to facilitate if she wanted entry into India.

US: Here are the 15 questions 69 lawmakers asked Joe Biden on his plans and course of action to resolve the ongoing Afghanistan crisis

OpIndia Staff
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US: Here are the 15 questions 69 lawmakers asked Joe Biden on his plans and course of action to resolve the ongoing Afghanistan crisis

On Tuesday (August 24), about 69 US Congressmen wrote to the incumbent US President Joe Biden about the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, its drastic impact, and the government’s course of action. The letter was written two days prior to the Kabul suicide bombing.

The Congressmen blamed the Biden administration for allowing the Taliban to take over Afghanistan at an ‘astonishing speed.’ They questioned the ‘unforced error’ made by the complete withdrawal of American security forces from Afghanistan. The US lawmakers pointed out how the delay in evacuating the Afghan allies and US personnel have exacerbated the situation.

“The situation in Afghanistan has rapidly metastasized into Taliban rule with reinstated oppression of women and girls, the repression of civil society, the displacement of countless Afghans from their homes who the Taliban then use force to prevent from fleeing Afghanistan, and a power vacuum that China seeks to fill by increasing its ties to the Taliban,” the letter emphasised.

Screengrab of the letter to the US President

The lawmakers pointed out that the consequences of the Taliban rule will impact not only Afghanistan but also the Middle East. They clarified that the withdrawal of US troops will have both strategic and geopolitical consequences. “Dealing with these consequences means that we must take action now to chart the course for American strategy, while we manage the immediate repercussions of this self-inflicted crisis in Afghanistan,” they stated.

Questions by lawmakers to US President Joe Biden over the Afghanistan crisis

The 69 Congressmen who signed the letter had posed a set of serious questions for the US President. They also sought a briefing from the President’s National Security Team, owing to the confidential nature of some of the possible answers.

Here are the questions posed by the Congressmen:

  1. What is your plan to evacuate Afghan SIVs and other vulnerable Afghans like women, girls, and former Afghan civil service employees from Afghanistan? Do you have a plan to protect prominent women journalists, scholars, and employees of prominent non- government organizations? Will you ensure that religious and ethnic minorities, like the Hazaras, are also prioritized for Pl/P2 visas within this evacuation sequence?
  1. Will you commit to abandoning the arbitrary August 31 withdrawal deadline and continuing Noncombatant Evacuation Operation until all Americans, allies, and at-risk Afghans are processed for evacuation?
  1. The intelligence community has warned that Al Qaida and ISIS-K will be given carte blanche by the Taliban to use Afghanistan as a safe haven to train and equip for future terrorist attacks against the United States. What is your plan to ensure that Al Qaida does not resurge and regain a foothold in Afghanistan? What “over the horizon” operations are you prepared to use to counter this threat?
  1. Given that the Taliban has taken Kabul, does the Taliban now have de facto command and control over the Afghan security forces’ former personnel, equipment, and infrastructure? If so, does this mean that the Taliban possess an air force through this de facto control? What is your plan to disable any air forces that operate under orders from the Taliban?
  1. What is your plan to ensure that more U.S. and Afghan military equipment does not end up in the hands of the Taliban? What is your plan to reclaim U.S. military equipment that has already fallen into the hands of the Taliban?
  1. How many U.S. funded aircraft have been taken out of the country by Afghan pilots, and what are you currently doing to retrieve said aircraft?
  1. What is your plan to secure Third Country Agreements for transit and resettlement functions for Afghan refugees?
  1. What is your plan to support Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA)’s air traffic control functions long-term? Are there sufficient Afghan personnel to maintain the operability of HKIA after U.S. troops fully withdraw?
  1. Do you plan to support any free Afghanistan resistance or security force that organizes outside of Afghanistan?
  1. What is your plan to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s growing relationship with the Taliban?
  1. What is your plan to ensure that American influence in the Middle East does not erode after so rapidly dissipating in Afghanistan?
  1. Are you prepared to support regional allies militarily in the event that the Taliban militarize the Afghanistan border? What is your plan to help to ensure that the Taliban does not destabilize its nuclear neighbor, Pakistan?
  1. Do you have a plan to ensure that Afghanistan, under Taliban occupation, will never acquire a nuclear weapon?
  1. Since Afghanistan is a Major Non-NATO ally, how will you reassure the United States’ other MNNA countries that this powerful symbol of our close relationship to those countries can still be relied on?

Joe Biden faces heat after Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan

On Thursday, August 26, a suicide bombing near the 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. Under such circumstances, calls were being made for US President Joe Biden to resign from his post. Senator Josh Hawley, while expressing grief over the lives that were lost, said that it was time for Joe Biden to tender his resignation. 

Senator Marsha Blackburn said that it is not only Joe Biden who should resign but Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and General Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should resign as well. Calls are being made by other Republican representatives as well for his resignation. Anthony Sabatini, the member of the Florida House of Representatives, called for him to resign.

It must be mentioned that the incumbent US President Joe Biden had initially decided to withdraw all the American troops from Afghanistan by September 21 this year. His administration had extended the timeline from May 1 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Halfway through, he decided to facilitate an early exit on August 31 without considering the aftermath.

Manchester United accused of ‘Sanghi fascism’ after Ronaldo’s successful ‘Gharwapsi’, Congress claims ‘conspiracy’ to defame Rahul Gandhi

K Bhattacharjee
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Manchester United accused of ‘Sanghi fascism’ after Ronaldo’s successful ‘Gharwapsi’, Congress claims ‘conspiracy’ to defame Rahul Gandhi

Manchester United has shocked the world after securing a successful transfer of legendary footballer Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus on Friday. Initially, it appeared that he was heading to local rivals Manchester City but fortunes turned in a matter of hours and soon enough, United confirmed through official channels that the prodigal son is indeed coming home.

While United fans are overwhelmed by the marquee signing, with raucous celebrations among former players and fans like, controversy has erupted over Cristiano’s ‘Gharwapsi’ (homecoming). City Manager Pep Guardiola is incensed by the fact that he and his club were used as a tool by Ronaldo and his agent Jorge Mendes to secure the sensational transfer.

Reliable sources inform us that Pep Guardiola was seen ranting and raving like a mad man inside City’s training grounds. He believes he has not been backed sufficiently by the City board in the transfer market and was spotted hurling abuses at a club official who reminded him that the club had just bought Jack Grealish for a £100 million.

We were informed by sources that Guardiola lost three additional strands of hair he did not even believe he had on his head over Ronaldo’s move to United. It is not just Guardiola, however, who has been making such allegations.

The PSG board has also flagged concerns of ‘Sanghi Fascism’ over the Gharwapsi. The club believes having Mbappe, Neymar, Messi and Di Maria among their ranks is not enough to ensure an elusive Champions League for them this season.

We have also learnt that PSG officials are in touch with ‘farmer protester’ Rakesh Tikait to protest against the move in front of Old Trafford. Tikait was unconvinced initially because he does not have much idea about football but was convinced to join PSG’s cause after officials of the club told him that it was in defense of the honour of the farmers’ league.

The Washington Post in its editorial has claimed that the tweet by Manchester United where they announced the return of Cristiano Ronaldo had a cryptic message behind it. The tweet said, “Welcome home”, throwing their weight behind the popular chant by fans that the Portugese legend was ‘coming home’.

Such an endorsement of ‘Gharwapsi’ claims by the club itself, Washington Post believes, is extremely problematic and has demanded that Manchester United publicly disavow the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The New York Times came to a similar conclusion and suggested that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had played a crucial role in the star’s ‘Gharwapsi’, as fond of Gharwapsi he and his organisation are.

Eminent intellectual Gadhanand Ghume was spotted hyperventilating over the matter and said that this was further evidence of the fact that under the Prime Ministerial tenure of Narendra Modi, Hindutva had become a global issue. He claimed that it was clinching evidence of the nexus between White Supremacists and Hindutva groups. We are told that Ghume has a soft spot for Pep Guardiola in his heart due to the similar hairstyle they share.

Popstar Rihanna, commenting on the accusations of ‘Sanghi fascism’, said, “Why are we not talking about this?”

Not everyone is buying these claims, however. Jose Mourinho, former United manager who managed Real Madrid when Cristiano Ronaldo played for the Spanish club, called Pep Guardiola a drama queen. “I prefer not to speak, if I speak, I am in big trouble,” said Mourinho before embarking on a 20 minute rant anyway. During the rant, Mourinho claimed that Guardiola was a “bald fraud” for blaming Ronaldo’s transfer for his hair loss since Guardiola has been bald for as long as he knew him.

Loyalists of the Congress party believe that the transfer is a ‘Sanghi conspiracy’ to defame Rahul Gandhi. One Congress insider, who happens to be a massive United fan, told us that Ronaldo’s transfer to United was not a good look for scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

The insider told us that Rahul Gandhi became a Member of the Indian Parliament for the first time a year after Cristiano Ronaldo joined Manchester United in 2003. Since then, Ronaldo became a club legend at United, winning the Premier League, the Champions League and a host of personal accolades. Then he left for Real Madrid in 2009 and scored 450 goals for the club and won multiple personal honours before leaving for Juventus in 2018. Now, he is back at Manchester United in 2021.

According to the insider, Rahul Gandhi’s greatest achievement during the same period was moving from one failure to the next without any loss in enthusiasm. “Ronaldo joined United as a boy and returned as a legend, meanwhile, Rahul Baba during the same period has only been ‘coming of age’,” the source said.

Note: The above is a work of satire and should be taken in humour.

Union govt launches new BH series vehicle registration to eliminate the need for re-registration while moving to different states

OpIndia Staff
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Union govt launches new BH series vehicle registration to eliminate the need for re-registration while moving to different states

The union Road Transport & Highways Ministry has introduced a new series of vehicle registration which will be valid in the entire country. The new series BH (Bharat series) will mean that vehicle owners will not have to change the registration of their vehicles when they move from one state to another.

The vehicles registered under this regime will have the letters BH on the registration plate instead of two letters denoting the state where it was registered. This also introduces a new element to the registration number, the year when the vehicle was first registered. The new registration number format under the Bharat series will be YY BH #### XX, where YY is the year of first registration, BH for Bharat Series, #### means the 4-digit numerical number, and XX stands for alphabets AA to ZZ.

A statement issued by the ministry said that the new vehicle registration system has been introduced for the benefit of people who need to relocate to different states due to job transfers. At present, when people shift their vehicles to a different state, they need to transfer the registration of the vehicle withing 12 months of the relocation, according to the section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. A person is allowed to keep a vehicle for a maximum of 12 months in any state other than the state where it is registered, and they need to register it in the new state within the expire of 12 months.

This process of re-registering a vehicle in a different state is a cumbersome process, as the vehicle owners need to obtain a No Objection Certificate from the parent state, get the vehicle registered in the new state after paying the road tax, and get the refund of already paid road tax from the previous state in a pro-rata basis. This provision to get refund from the parent State on pro-rata basis is a very cumbersome process and varies from one State to another, the ministry added.

Therefore, in order to facilitate seamless transfer of vehicles from state to state, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has introduced a new registration mark for new vehicles, the “Bharat series (BH-series)”.

At present, this vehicle registration facility under BH series will be available on a voluntary basis to Defence personnel, employees of central government and state governments, employees of central and state PSUs, and private sector companies/organizations, which have their offices in four or more states/union territories. Motor vehicle tax for two years, or in multiple of two years, will be collected for registrations. After completion of the fourteenth year, the motor vehicle tax shall be levied annually, which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.

Read- FASTag is mandatory from February 15, 2021: Here is all you need to know

In the new “BH” series regime, the road tax will be 8% for vehicles costing up to Rs 10 lakh, 10% for vehicles costing between Rs 10-20 lakh and 12% for vehicles costing over Rs 20 lakh. There will be 2% extra charge for diesel vehicles, and the tax for electric vehicles will be 2% less.

As India vaccinates 1 crore people in a day, here is how Rahul Gandhi ran a massive propaganda against India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive

OpIndia Staff
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As India vaccinates 1 crore people in a day, here is how Rahul Gandhi ran a massive propaganda against India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive

India achieved a momentous milestone in its Covid-19 vaccination drive on Friday by administering over 1 crore doses in a single day, its highest single-day count so far.

According to the latest data provided in the CoWIN portal, the total doses administered on Friday was 1,03,00,992. With this, the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses given in India has crossed 62 crores, the second-highest in the world after China. The inoculation of more than one crore doses of vaccines in a day is a very significant achievement, which is more than the population of over 100 countries in the world.

The historic achievement of effectively administering vaccines to many people comes amidst the massive political campaign against the centre over its vaccination policy. Prominent political leaders, businessmen, lawyers, and journalists led a nefarious online campaign not only to discredit the Modi government’s vaccination drive but also to create panic and cast aspersions about the efficacy of the Coronavirus vaccine.  

Rahul Gandhi’s continues propaganda against vaccination drive

The Congress party, especially Gandhi-scion Rahul Gandhi, has taken the lead to politicise the country’s vaccination drive. It appears that Rahul Gandhi has decided in advance that he will oppose the centre’s vaccination drive despite its success in administering vaccines to a large number of the country’s population.

However, in his hurry to target the centre over its vaccine policy, Rahul Gandhi has indulged in propagating rampant misinformation against the centre, thus creating vaccine hesitancy in the minds of the common masses.

Here is a list of misinformation Rahul Gandhi had peddled in the last few months to score a political point against the centre over its vaccination campaign.

Just this week, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had created a wave of panic in the minds of people after he had claimed that the government was busy with sales and instead people should take care of themselves. Furthermore, the Gandhi-scion claimed that there was a rise in Covid-19 infections in the country, and hence vaccination must pick up to avoid serious outcomes in the next wave.

He urged people not to trust the government and take care of themselves, as it was busy with sales.

Rahul Gandhi’s tweets had come despite the government had effective steps to control the pandemic, which is clearly visible in the lower number of fresh infections in the country, barring Communist-ruled Kerala, which Rahul Gandhi represents in Lok Sabha. Apart from Kerala, almost every state has managed to minimise the transmission of the Chinese virus and have successfully stopped the deaths due to Covid-19.

Besides Covid-19 management, the state governments have stepped up vaccination drives in their respective states, thanks to a steady supply of vaccines by the central government. Even though the vaccination in the country started at a slower rate, largely due to the availability of doses, it has picked up in the last two months once the centre stepped into solving the crisis.

Since last month, an average of 50 lakh doses of vaccines has been administered across the country, taking the total tally of vaccination to around 62 crores. On June 21, a record of over 86 lakh doses was administered in a single day. Since then, daily vaccinations are hovering between around 40 lakh to 80 lakh per day, barring holidays. On August 16, that record was broken, and the 90 lakh mark was crossed when 92.39 doses were administered in a single day. The record was broken again on August 27, when the total tally crossed the one crore mark.

Well, this is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi has resorted to using vaccination drives as a bogey to launch attacks on the centre. Rather than appreciating the Modi government over its meticulous vaccination policy, Rahul Gandhi has aggressively pushed conspiracy theories against the campaign to make the government look bad in the eyes of the people.

In April this year, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had questioned the Modi government’s vaccine diplomacy initiatives suggesting that the government should not have exported vaccines to other countries. He had asked if it is right to do so and put the lives of Indians in danger.

He said vaccine shortage was a “very serious problem” during times of coronavirus, and it was not a celebration.

“Is it right to export the vaccine and put Indians at risk? The central government should help all states without any bias. We all have to fight this pandemic together and defeat it,” he added tweeted.

The entire narrative of India “sending doses abroad” is misplaced as the doses of vaccines sent to friendly nations under “Vaccine Maitri” is a small percentage of what India has already provided to its own citizens. Also, the “Vaccine Maitri” initiative has built an enormous amount of international goodwill for India, reflective of the support and help India is getting from several nations to battle the second wave of the Covid crisis.

Moreover, the Indian government had to export the vaccines to other countries because of “contractual obligations”, besides goodwill gestures. More than 20 million vaccine doses were sent to World Health Organization’s COVAX facility, a vaccine initiative led by GAVI, CEPI and UNICEF.

Perhaps, Rahul Gandhi seems to have no clear understanding of the nuances and the subtility of international diplomacy and instead targeted the Modi government over its decision to supply critical vaccines to India’s allies.

Well, he did not stop there. A few weeks later, the Gandhi-scion demanded free Covid-19 vaccination for all Indians.

Putting out a tweet with the dictionary meaning and usage of the word “free”, Gandhi attempted to mislead the public by saying that the government was charging money to administer Covid-19 vaccination for all citizens.

However, Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the centre or states were charging money from the citizens to administer vaccines is not entirely true.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 7 June, announced that vaccines for Covid-19 would be free in India for all citizens above the age of 18 years from 21 June onwards. Prior to June 21, the responsibility of providing free vaccines was upon the states as vaccination is a state subject.

As health is a state subject, the Centre was only providing vaccines to states at a nominal rate, and then it is up to the states to charge for vaccines or not. Until June, the states were responsible for providing the vaccines to residents, whether free or paid. As states failed to carry out vaccination drives effectively, the centre took the responsibility of the vaccination drive in the country and declared it as free of cost.

Again in June, Rahul Gandhi had taken to Twitter to mock the centre on its vaccine policy, saying the Modi government was fighting for a “blue tick” and people need to become self-reliant for getting Covid vaccines.

Rahul’s remarks had come amidst outrage over removing the “blue tick” verification from the personal accounts of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and RSS top functionaries, including Mohan Bhagwat, by Twitter, only to restore it later.

By linking the two unconnected issues, Rahul Gandhi had not only trivialised the issue of vaccination in the country but also put out misinformation pertaining to vaccine availability in the country. As mentioned, there has been a considerable increase in the number of vaccine availability across the states ever since the union government took over the responsibility of vaccine delivery in June.

A week later, Rahul Gandhi had taken to Twitter to attack the government over its recent decision to extend the gap between two doses of Covishield to 12-16 weeks from six to eight weeks.

Attacking the Modi government, the Gandhi-scion had claimed that India needed quick and complete vaccination and “not the BJP’s brand of lies and rhyming slogans” to cover up the vaccine shortage caused by the government’s inaction.

Gandhi had also attached a news report that claimed the government doubled the gap between the two doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine without the agreement of the scientific group that it said had recommended the increase. In response to Rahul Gandhi’s misleading claims, Union Health Minister had launched a scathing attack against the Congress MP, accusing him of making mythical claims without checking any facts.

However, in a major embarrassment to Rahul Gandhi, the chief of AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine clinical trials had backed the centre’s decision to increase the gap between the 12-16 weeks gap between the two doses of Covishield in the country.

In response to Rahul Gandhi’s misleading claims, Union Health Minister had launched a scathing attack against the Congress MP, accusing him of making mythical claims without checking any facts.

Later in July, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had attempted again to take a swipe at the government, saying that July has come, but vaccines have not.

The tweet had drawn a sharp retort from the government, which cited figures to ask the Gandhi-scion to stop spreading “confusion. Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had put out facts on vaccine availability for the entire month and had mocked the Congress leader saying there was no vaccine for the virus of ignorance.

As Rahul Gandhi peddled misinformation to target the centre’s vaccine policy, the Congress party leaders and its media ecosystem joined him to derail the vaccination process. While some opposed vaccination drive to turn around their political fortunes, others targetted the vaccine manufacturers in a bid to demoralise them.

Congress party, its ecosystem promotes vaccine hesistancy

One of the strategies employed by them was discrediting the indigenous Covaxin vaccine, developed by Bharat Biotech. The government had approved its emergency use in the month of January.

Using this as the primary tool for propaganda, Congress leaders such as Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Chhattisgarh health Minister TS Singh Deo trivialised the vaccination drive altogether. This is despite the fact that Covishield (developed by Oxford-Astrazeneca) and manufactured by Serum Institue of India (SII) was primarily used until Covaxin completed the third phase trials (with 81% efficacy).

In early February, Lawyer-turned-activist Prashant Bhushan had discouraged the Indian government from procuring the Covershield vaccine from a private company, the Serum Institute of India (SII). Congress party sympathiser and troll Swati Chaturvedi had also expressed her “zero faith” in the Bharat Biotech vaccine. She had also hinted at a possible “corporate nexus” between Bharat Biotech and the Indian government, besides vowing not to receive the Covaxin vaccine.

The extent of their collective fearmongering was such that the campaign had created panic and cast aspersions about the efficacy of the Coronavirus vaccine. However, with time, people began to realise the politics behind the nefarious campaign. Despite the collective effort of all vaccine naysayers and Covidiots, India has vaccinated a whopping 1 crore people on Friday, taking the total tally to 62 crores.

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