Home Blog Page 4014

Islamists attack former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju for his Facebook post, wish him death

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Islamists attack former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju for his Facebook post, wish him death

Retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, infamous for his abusive and flirtatious social media posts, has triggered the Islamists this time around. In an attempt to mock the Islamic religious chant ‘Allah-hu-Akbar’, the self-declared atheist took to Facebook to post “Hanumanji u Akbar” on Wednesday.

Katju’s Facebook post

Katju since then is being trolled and slandered for his obnoxious social media posts. From hurling gau-mutra jibes to wishing death upon him, the post has not gone down well with the Islamists. 

One user by the name Shabir Arzoo wished death upon Katju and prayed for him to rot in hell. Katju then indulged in banter with the user on the concept of hell and heaven, inviting more trolls. 

Image Source: Facebook

Another user commented advising it is necessary for people to retire at the right time. To this Katju replied with yet another off-putting twisted chant. 

Image Source: Facebook

One Shabir Ahmad said that Katju has lost his mental balance. 

Image Source: Facebook

Another Md Shaun mocked Katju using the ‘gau-mutra’ jibe. “Have you started consuming gau-mutra daily?” the user asked.

Image Source: Facebook

While one recommended psychological treatment for the retired judge, other Nawaz Thouba gave Katju taleem (education) on Lord Hanuman. 

Image Source: Facebook
Image Source: Facebook

After gau-mutra one Aasif Ansari warned Katju of the consequences if a ‘Sanghi’ or ‘Bajrang Dal’ worker read his post.

Image Source: Facebook

After the non-stop trolling, Katju deleted the post from Facebook.

This was just one of the many incidenced of the former justice angering social media users. In September last year, Katju while condemning the Hathras rape incident had cited unemployment and sexual rage as a reason for increasing sexual assault. The netizens had outraged over the comment made by someone who held an important post in the Indian Judicial System.

Afghanistan: Amrullah Saleh leads ‘Panjshir Resistance’ against Taliban, working with Ahmed Masood to unite Northern Alliance warlords

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Afghanistan: Amrullah Saleh leads ‘Panjshir Resistance’ against Taliban, working with Ahmed Masood to unite Northern Alliance warlords

The forces of Afghanistan caretaker President Amrullah Saleh have recaptured the Charikar area in the Parwan province north of Kabul from the Taliban.

According to the reports, the resistance forces led by former Vice President of Afghanistan and current acting President Amrullah Saleh attacked the Taliban forces on the outskirts of Panjshir valley. The forces have reportedly gained control over the Charikar area of the Parwan province from the radical Islamist group backed by the Pakistan military.

The recapture of the Charikar area is critical as it lies between the passes connecting Kabul with Mazar-i-Shariff, the largest city in Northern Afghanistan, through the Salang tunnel.

Unconfirmed reports have suggested that remaining forces loyal to the Afghan government, under the command of Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Muhammad Nur Ata Noor, are linking up with the forces loyal to Saleh to take control of the entire Panjshir region.

The forces loyal to caretaker President Amrullah Saleh attacked the Charikar from the Panjshir valley, while another force under Uzbek leader Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum attacked from the North, indicating an attempt to link up.

Panjshir raises flags of resistance, Amrullah Saleh takes leadership

Meanwhile, Panjshir, the only province that remains outside the Taliban control, have reportedly hoisted the resistance flag of the Northern Alliance all over again. Amidst the complete takeover of Afghanistan by the Islamist group Taliban, a resistance force, led by Ahmad Massoud, son of late Afghan leader Ahmad Shah Massoud – known as the “Lion” of Panjshir, are gaining in strength in the Panjshir valley, north of Kabul.

The flags of the Northern Alliance or the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, which has been hoisted for the time since 2001 in Panjshir valley, have been raised again across Panjashir.

The Northern Alliance was a resistance movement against the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan in 1996. Several anti-Taliban former mujahideen had united together, with the active support of several countries, to oust the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from Kabul. The Northern Alliance was led by former Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud. Initially, it mainly included Tajiks, but later, leaders of other ethnic groups had also joined the Northern Alliance.

Following the onslaught of the Taliban across Afghanistan, a similar alliance – The Panjshir Resistance, of former Northern Alliance members and other anti-Taliban Mujahideen is being worked out under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh. It is believed that other anti-Taliban forces, led by the likes of Dostum, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, Salima Mazari, may unite yet again to fight against the Taliban.

Some of these resistance forces are already operating in their strongholds that are not under the control of the Taliban yet. Following the capture of Kabul by the Taliban, the Panjshir-based alliance remains the last hope of the organised resistance against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Reports suggest that caretaker Amrullah Saleh has already reached the Panjshir Valley. Earlier on Tuesday, Amrullah Saleh had staked claim to the presidency of the country as the legitimate caretaker president. Citing the Afghan Constitution, Saleh had said in the event of escape, resignation or death of the President, the Vice President becomes the caretaker President.

“I am currently inside my country and am the legitimate caretaker President. I am reaching out to all leaders to secure their support and consensus,” said Saleh.

Panjshir is a mountainous region at the foothills of the Hindu Kush. Saleh and Ahmad Massoud are making efforts to put together the first pieces of a guerilla movement to take on the victorious Taliban as fighters regroup in Panjshir.

A purported video of Ahmad Masoud in Panjshir valley with his forces urging Afghans to join him for the freedom of their country has also gone viral on the internet.

Afghan soldiers, who had managed to hide from Taliban troops, are beginning to arrive in Panjshir on the call of Ahmad Massoud. Many of the Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras in the Afghan army have also arrived with their equipment, including armed personnel carriers and tanks, after withdrawing from the nearby frontlines.

However, Panjshir is locked and surrounded by the Taliban and does not share a border with any other country. There are reports on how India had operated an airbase at Farkhor in Tajikistan, 200 km away from Panjshir. India had supplied the fighters of Ahmed Shah Masood with equipment and arms to lead a resistance against ISI-backed Taliban. Masood was also brought to the India-run hospital in Farkhor when he was fatally attacked by Al Qaeda. But he could not be saved.

Punjab: Farmer Protesters create ruckus in Rupnagar after seeing a vehicle with PM Modi’s photo, tore posters

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Punjab: Farmer Protesters create ruckus in Rupnagar after seeing a vehicle with PM Modi’s photo, tore posters

On August 17, farmer protesters attacked a vehicle in Rupnagar (Ropar), which was on a journey to Manali because it had posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As per reports, the vehicle, part of the ‘Bullet Rani’ convoy, was on a trip from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to Manali to celebrate 75th Independence Day. At around 10:30 PM, it was seen parked near the Baz Hotel, near the old bus stand, Ropar. When the farmers in the area came to know about it, they gathered at the parking and surrounded the car.

As per the report published in Hindi Daily Amar Ujala, the protestors tore the posters of PM Modi pasted on the vehicle and raised slogans ‘Modi Sarkar Murdabad’. The agitation continued for an hour before the Police reached the spot and pacified the situation.

Farmer leaders Kulwinder Singh Panjola, Kulwant Saini, Daljit Singh Gill, and Parvinder Singh Alipur were among the crowd raising slogans. Reportedly, they said that “Modi number-1” was written on the car, but “PM is not listening to the farmers.”

One of the leaders present at the spot said, “Modi government is not repealing three agriculture laws. We want to ask them, despite all this, how Modi is number-1 PM?” He further added that until the three agriculture laws are not repealed, all the programs organized by BJP will be opposed by the farmer unions.

Bhagwant Singh, SHO Ropar City, said RajLakshmi, hailing from Tamil Nadu, is popular by the name Bullet Rani. She has made many discoveries while riding on Bullet and received several awards. Currently, she is residing in Mayur Vihar, Delhi. On the occasion of 75th Independence day, she started a rally from Madurai Tamilnadu to Manali Himachal Pradesh Atal Tunnel in memory of the martyrs of the country.

While Rajlakshmi Manda is riding her bike on a 4450 KM journey, there is an Innova car, and a Tempo Traveler is carrying posters of PM Modi. The convoy halted at Baz Hotel to rest when the farmer leaders led the crowd and created a ruckus. The Police pacified the situation and sent the alleged farmers back home.

Not satire: In a bid to attack PM Modi, ‘Liberals’ in India hail Islamist group Taliban for ‘holding press conference’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Not satire: In a bid to attack PM Modi, ‘Liberals’ in India hail Islamist group Taliban for ‘holding press conference’

On August 17, Islamist group Taliban held a press conference after taking control of Afghanistan. ‘Liberal’ in India were so “impressed” by the conference that they used it to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Following the footsteps of toolkit-creators, a series of posts popped up on social media platform Twitter shaming PM Modi for not holding a press conference since he resumed office in 2014.

Here are some of the sample tweets by Indian ‘liberals’.

Tweet by Abhishek Mukherjee. Source: Twitter
Tweet by alleged comedian Aditi. Source: Twitter
Tweet By Agnivo Niyogi. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Asaad Hanna. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Abhishek Baxi. Source: Twitter
Tweet by alleged activist Gurmeher Kaur. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Shunali Khullar Shroff. Source: Twitter
Now-deleted Tweet by Meghnad. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Michael Kugelman. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Dr. Pooja Tripathi. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Congress leader Nitin Raut. Source: Twitter
Tweet by alleged journalist Richa Singh. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Congress leader Srivatsa. Source: Twitter
Tweet by Ambedkarite journalist Sumit Chauhan. Source: Twitter

To put things in perspective, Taliban is Islamist group which has been sanctioned as a terrorist organisation under US laws. It ruled Afghanistan from 1996 till it was toppled by US forces in 2001. It is believed Taliban sheltered Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda terrorist who led the September 11, 2001 attack on World Trade Centre and other places in US. Eventually, he was caught from a compound in Pakistan’s Abbottabad.

The Taliban were founded in southern Afghanistan by Mullah Mohammad Omar to fight the Soviet forces in 1989. After taking over Afghanistan, Taliban imposed strict Islamic rules that banned television and music, barred girls from going to school and forced women to wear head-to-toe coverings called burqas. There were reports of public beatings of women who left their homes without a male attendant. Public flogging and execution for violation of Taliban laws was very common. The Taliban also did not allow women to work.

On Sunday, dramatic visuals emerged from Afghanistan as Kabul fell to Taliban and the top leader of the country including President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. The men with rocket launchers and guns took over the presidential palace and other parts of the country. Visuals of Talibanis in amusement parks with rocket launchers hanging on their backs went viral. Thousands of Afghans tried to flee the country to save their lives. Dramatic visuals where Afghans were falling off the sky after trying to flee the country by hanging from wheels of aeroplanes have also gone viral.

However, for Indian ‘liberals’ Taliban is at least better than Indian Prime Minister because well, they held a press conference. Prime Minister Modi since he came to power first in 2014 has been interacting with the people of India through his radio programme Mann Ki Baat. He regularly posts updates on social media sites as well. However, since he ‘has not held press conference’, Taliban is better.

This is quite similar to the time when the same set of ‘liberals’ blamed Indian right wing Twitter users after the same Taliban killed Indian photo journalist Danish Siddiqui. Siddiqui, who rose to prominence in India due to images of funeral pyres amid second wave of coronavirus pandemic, was identified as Indian, killed and his body mutilated by the Taliban earlier in July. However, after Taliban got to know of his body of work after his death, they ‘apologised’. Soon after the ‘apology’, Indian ‘liberals’ instead of condemning Taliban, who actually killed him, attacked ‘right wing’ on Twitter.

In fact, they even refused to condemn Taliban and made it appear like Danish died of natural causes. Taliban was better because ‘it said sorry’ (after killing him) than the ‘right wing’ on Twitter, who had nothing to do with his death.

Shashi Tharoor discharged by Delhi court in Sunanda Pushkar abetment of suicide case, gets clean chit

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Shashi Tharoor discharged by Delhi court in Sunanda Pushkar abetment of suicide case, gets clean chit

On August 18, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor got discharged by a Sessions Court in Delhi in connection to the case of his late wife Sunanda Pushkar’s suspicious death. He was accused of marital cruelty (Section 498A) and abetment of suicide (Section 306) by the Police in its chargesheet. Special Judge Geetanjali Goel pronounced the order via virtual hearing. Shashi Tharoor was also present during the hearing.

Timeline of events of Sunanda Pushkar case

In January 2014, Kerala Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s wife Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a Hotel room. As per the post mortem report, there were drugs in her system. During the initial investigation, it was suggested that she could have been murdered. However, in the final chargesheet, it was mentioned that she had committed suicide.

A case was registered by the Delhi Police under Sections 302 of IPC in the case. In July 2017, The Delhi court ordered to de-seal suite number 345 of Hotel Leela, where Sunanda was found dead. In October 2017, The Delhi Police informed the court that they have de-sealed the suite and handed over its possession to the Hotel.

The 3000-page chargesheet was filed in the case in May 2018. The case was transferred to the special court earmarked to deal with the cases where MPs and MLAs are involved. In June 2018, the court took cognisance of abetment of suicide and cruelty charges as there was “sufficient grounds” to proceed. In July 2018, summons was issued against Tharoor. Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared on behalf of Tharoor for his anticipatory bail plea. Three days later, Tharoor appeared before the court following summons and was granted regular bail.

The magistrate noted, “He has already been admitted on anticipatory bail by learned Session Court vide order dated July 5, 2018. In compliance with the order of the learned Session Court, the accused furnished bail bonds. The bail bonds are accepted.”

The hearing in the case began in February 2019. A plea was submitted by Rajya Sabha MP Subramaniam Swamy seeking Delhi Police Vigilance Report on the alleged evidence tampering. The court rejected the plea and said Swamy did not have locus-standi in the case.

During the hearing of the case, the prosecution led by Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Shrivastava said that though the cause of death was mentioned as poisoning, there were 15 ante mortem injuries that were anywhere between 12 hours to 4 days old.

Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa representing Tharoor, rebutted the claims and argued, “there are rather reports which say it was neither homicide nor suicide. A psychological autopsy was conducted. They wanted to know the mental status of the victim. But till date, they are not clear whether she committed suicide or it was a homicide”.

In July 2019, Tharoor requested the court to pass orders not to share documents with any third party or stranger. In March 2021, Pahwa sought discharge of Tharoor as there was no conclusive cause of death found after seven years. In April 2021, the court reserved orders on framing charges against Tharoor.

In a statement shared on social media, the Thiruvananthapuram MP has thanked judge Gitanjali Goel for the verdict of discharge and has stated that a nightmare has come to an end.

Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rehman booked by UP Police for hailing Taliban, equating them with India’s freedom fighters

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rehman booked by UP Police for hailing Taliban, equating them with India’s freedom fighters

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has booked Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rehman Burq on charges of sedition, promoting enmity and hurting religious sentiments for his open support to the Taliban. 

The Sambhal MP was booked after he issued a statement on August 16 hailing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and likening their offensive with India’s freedom struggle.

The police filed an FIR against the Samajwadi leader after a written complaint in this regard was lodged by BJP leaders Rajesh Singhal, Zonal Vice president and Omveer Khadagwanshi, BJP district president.

Barq has been booked under sections 124a (Sedition), 153a (Promoting enmity between groups) and 295a (outraging religious feelings).

Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq hails Taliban, compares them to India’s freedom fighters

On Tuesday, August 17, the SP MP, who remains in news due to his controversial statements, tried to legitimise the radical Islamist outfit as he opined that the Talibanis have only recaptured the land that originally belonged to them.

Drawing an equivalence between the radical Islamist outfit and India’s freedom fighters, the Samajwadi Party leader said that as our countrymen fought for freedom from the British, the Taliban also wants to free their country and run it. “When India was under British rule, our country fought for freedom. Now Taliban wants to free their country & run it”, the SP leader was quoted by ANI as saying.

Further heaping praises for the Jihadist outfit, Shafiqur Rahman Barq added, “Taliban is a force that did not allow even strong countries like Russia and America to settle in their country”.

Taliban takes over Afghanistan

After a month-long offensive against the Afghan army, the Islamist outfit Taliban finally reached the gates of Kabul on Sunday (August 15). They entered Afghanistan’s presidential palace hours after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. 

Since then surreal scenes have emerged as people try to flee the country to save their lives. Visuals of Afghan people falling from the sky as they tried to escape while hanging on to the wheels of the airplanes have gone viral on social media. 

Meanwhile, the situation in Afghanistan took a dramatic turn on Tuesday evening when Vice President of Afghanistan under the Ashraf Ghani government, Amrullah Saleh, staked claim to the presidency of the country as the legitimate caretaker president. He said that as per the constitution of Afghanistan, in the event of the escape, absence, resignation or death of the president, the Vice President becomes the caretaker president.

From choorma and ice-cream to taking a promise from players: Here’s what PM Modi said to the Tokyo returned athletes

OpIndia Staff
-
0
From choorma and ice-cream to taking a promise from players: Here’s what PM Modi said to the Tokyo returned athletes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his official Twitter handle shared a 50-minute long video capturing the snippets of his meeting with the Tokyo Olympics 2020-returned athletes. From encouraging, inspiring the players to taking a promise from them, here’s what transpired at the special meet.

The informal interaction took place on Sunday, 15th August where he met all the athletes who had represented India at the Tokyo Olympics.

Athletes give PM Modi a memento

Players like Neeraj Chopra, Bhawani Devi, the men’s hockey team and others gifted Prime Minister Narendra Modi their sports equipment as a mark of respect and memento. The PM with the players’ permission decided to auction the gears to raise money and put it to good use. 

Laughter, tears and words of inspiration

Prime Minister Narendra Modi then personally interacted with each player, their coaches and checked on the health of the injured. 

Post offering javelin medalist Neeraj Chopra his favorite sweet choorma, PM Modi shared an anecdote of how one personal information became troublesome for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “Once Atalji visited someone’s home. He came out and told the media that he loved the gulab jamun. After that was revealed in the media, everywhere he went he was served with just gulab jamun. So much so that a circular had to be released to offer something else as well.”

“The same thing might happen with you,” he teased Neeraj.

The Prime Minister was also in awe of the athlete’s confidence and enquired how he was so sure of his win after his second throw.

As promised, Prime Minister Modi also offered ice cream to badminton player PV Sindhu. Speaking with her coach Park Tae-Sang who hails from South Korea, Modi enquired if he had ever visited Ayodhya. The Prime Minister then invited Sindhu’s coach to visit Ayodhya and urged him to find out how the two places (Korea and Ayodhya) share a special connection. “You will feel very proud when you get to know,” exclaimed Modi to the Korean coach.

The Prime Minister then enquired about Ravi Kumar Dahiya’s injury who was bitten by his opponent amidst a match. Modi, on a lighter note also complained to Dahiya about not smiling at the podium despite winning a medal. “Haryanvi’s are such happy people. They find happiness in anything and everything. Why did you not smile at the podium?” exclaimed PM Modi.

Calling Bajrang Punia as Bajrangi, he enquired about his leg injury, capacity to endure the pain and what made him compete despite the injury. He also invited a disappointed Vinesh Phogat for a chat along with her family. 

“Vijay sar pe nahi chadni chahiye aur parajay mann me nahi baithni chahiye (Don’t let your victory cloud your head and don’t less your failure dishearten you),” advised PM Modi to the athletes. 

Talking to athletes who could not bag a medal in Tokyo Olympics 2020, the Prime Minister said that the new India will never pressurize the players for medals. “India is a country where even your hard work is respected and celebrated,” he said after the players shared their experiences of receiving a warm welcome from the country despite a loss. 

Modi congratulated Bhawani Devi for introducing a new sport (sabre fencing) to India and congratulated medalist Mirabai Chanu for honouring the truck drivers who played an important role in her win. 

Indian track and field athlete Dutee Chand, all excitedly informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi how very little encouragement and help did the sportsmen of the country receive prior to 2016. “But with the kind of support you give, we will surely win at least 20 medals (in Paris 2024),” she said thanking the Prime Minister for his unwavering support. 

Before concluding Modi urged the players to not let their win or loss affect their careers, performance or confidence. “It is a part of the sportsman life,” he said requesting them to keep inspiring the nation.

A promise

On the occasion of the 75th Independence year of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “While the country is waiting to give you something, I have come here to ask something from you.”

Elaborating on his demand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked every single player and athlete to visit at least 75 schools and colleges by 15th August 2023 and engage with the students on two fronts.

  1. Raise awareness about malnutrition and the importance of having a nutritious diet. “The children will take it seriously if it comes from sportspeople for whom diet is very important,” he remarked.
  2. He also urged the players to visit the schools and colleges and simply play with the kids for a few minutes. “An Olympic player playing with them will give a huge boost to their confidence,” said Prime Minister Modi in a bid to promote and encourage sports in India.

Concluding the speech, Narendra Modi requested the players to send written suggestions and letters to him recommending how the infrastructure and training in the country can be bettered. Considering the players now have the first-hand experience and their visit to different countries will help them provide informed suggestions which then can be implemented in the country to boost sports. 

’20-year Afghanistan mission was foolish, should have ended long ago’: Tulsi Gabbard slams the American ‘elite’ for wasteful wars

OpIndia Staff
-
0
’20-year Afghanistan mission was foolish, should have ended long ago’: Tulsi Gabbard slams the American ‘elite’ for wasteful wars

USA’s former Presidential candidate and Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has criticised the prolonged US mission in Afghanistan as unnecessary and wasteful.

In a video message, Gabbard stated that the US had deployed special forces in Afghanistan to defeat Al-Qaeda, which they did swiftly. The mission should have ended with it, but the ‘elite’ got into nation-building that caused massive suffering and wasted trillions of taxpayer dollars. She claimed that the leadership that continued the war in Afghanistan did not have a clear mission or strategy.

Gabbard, who has served in the Army, further added that it is unlikely that the people of America would hold the elite, including political leaders, mainstream media, military leaders and defence contractors, accountable for the “foolish, short-sighted mission to turn Afghanistan into a “democracy” costing over a trillion dollars and countless lives”.

Gabbard said that it is likely that the elite will drag the people of America in more costly military adventures in the name of spreading and protecting democracy, and Americans would blindly allow them to do so. Emphasizing the need of putting a stop to such missions, she said, “Out of aloha, we weep for the suffering that the elite has already caused; and out of aloha, we must stop them from causing even more.”

It is notable here that Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu Congresswoman in the USA, has been a vocal critic of the USA’s regime change wars in other countries. She had also built her Presidential campaign around the promise of putting an end to the USA’s regime change wars that cost billions of taxpayers’ dollars and risk the lives of American soldiers.

US President called the withdrawal of troops ‘a correct decision’

In a recent statement, United States President Joe Biden had justified the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, stating that nation-building was never America’s mission. He added that the political leaders of Afghanistan gave up and fled the country. The military collapsed without a fight because of the unwillingness to stand against the Taliban. He said he is the fourth American President to preside over the war in Afghanistan, and he is not interested in passing the responsibility to a fifth President. “I am President of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me,” Biden said.

The USA had invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda. The Afghanistan war lasted 20 years, with the US finally pulling out of Afghanistan and handing over the country to the Taliban. USA’s target Osama Bin Laden was not even living in Afghanistan, he was found and killed in Pakistan Abottabad in 2011.

New York Times lies about Indian govt’s visa policy towards Afghan nationals, makes false claims of religious criteria

OpIndia Staff
-
0
New York Times lies about Indian govt’s visa policy towards Afghan nationals, makes false claims of religious criteria

Amidst the Taliban take over of Afghanistan fuelling the worst humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country, the New York Times has yet against caught peddling misinformation blatant lies targetting the Indian government over its visa policy to allow Afghan nationals.

On Tuesday, the American news publication New York Times published an article claiming that the Indian government has announced it would prioritise allowing only persecuted Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan to enter the country amidst the Taliban scare.

The controversial left-wing outlet, which has can been caught several times for publishing anti-India propaganda, continued to peddle misinformation saying that India’s decision was similar to the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, passed by the Indian government to grant citizenship to the six persecuted minorities of three neighbouring Islamic countries, which according to NYT was “discriminatory against Muslims”.

It is notable here that the CAA was widely castigated as ‘discriminatory against Muslims’ by leftist media outlets in India and abroad. In reality, the CAA had nothing to do with the citizenship status of Indian Muslims, and it had no restrictions on Muslims from other nations applying for citizenship or coming to India the regular way.

In its report, the New York Times claimed that the country’s Home Ministry said it would introduce “emergency visas” to allow Afghans to stay in India for six months. However, the report claims that it did not say whether Afghan Muslims, who, according to NYT, make up the majority of those seeking to leave Afghanistan as the Taliban take over, would also be considered or not.

Quoting far-left protestors and anti-India elements, New York Times peddled misinformation that the Indian government was discriminating against Muslims and was favouring the refugees on the basis of religion.

New York Times peddles misinformation about India’s visa policy to Afghan nationals

However, in a hurry to target the Indian government, the New York Times put out half-truths about the Indian government’s goodwill gesture to allow Afghan nationals to Indian after the war-torn country was captured by the Islamic terror group Taliban.

The NYT’s claim that India has adopted a ‘religious’ criteria to grant asylum to Afghan citizens is not true. In reality, the Indian government promptly introduced an emergency e-visa for Afghanistan nationals as soon as the humanitarian crisis struck the war-torn country.

In the wake of the prevailing situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power, the Indian government introduced a new category of e-visa for Afghan nationals to fast-track their applications for entry into India. However, these visas will be valid for six months only and will be granted only after security clearance.

“MHA reviews visa provisions in view of the current situation in Afghanistan. A new category of electronic visa called “e-Emergency X-Misc Visa” introduced to fast-track visa applications for entry into India,” a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Tuesday.

The visa under the emergency category is being granted to facilitate the stay of Afghan nationals fleeing Afghanistan does not have any religious criteria as claimed by the New York Times in its report. Even though India does not have a refugee policy, the government grants shelter to foreigners facing persecution in their countries on a case-to-case basis.

Indian government issues emergency visas to Afghan nationals

Despite opposition from varied sections of the country against allowing the Afghan nationals into the government, the Government of India has decided to go ahead with granting emergency Visas to the Afghan nationals, irrespective of their religion.

As per MHA’s visa policy, foreign nationals applying for a visa for any purposes that are not specifically covered under any visa category may be granted an “X-Misc” Visa for the appropriate duration and granting of such visas are decided on a case-by-case basis.

Image Source: Kanchan Gupta

In fact, in the backdrop of events in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Modi had chaired Cabinet Committee on Security meeting on Tuesday to discuss the prevailing situation of the possible influx of Afghan nationals. In the meeting, it was reportedly decided that India should open its doors to provide refuge to those Sikh and Hindu minorities of Afghanistan but also to help the Afghan nationals who are looking towards India for assistance.

Most importantly, this is not the first time India is allowing Afghan nationals, irrespective of religion, to enter India. In the past, the Indian government had granted long duration visas to Afghan nationals of all religions facing persecution in that country and a large number of Afghans who fled the country during the first Taliban takeover. Besides, several Afghan nationals, including Muslims, continue to live in India.

Despite India officially stating that it has decided to grant emergency Visas to the Afghan nationals, the New York Times continues to peddle lies about the Indian government to claim that the Modi government is allowing persecuted Afghan nationals on the basis of religion.

‘Liberals’ attack Shashi Tharoor for ‘revealing’ Malayalis in Taliban, Tharoor proves how Keralites are indeed joining terror groups

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘Liberals’ attack Shashi Tharoor for ‘revealing’ Malayalis in Taliban, Tharoor proves how Keralites are indeed joining terror groups

On Tuesday, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor suggested that the fundamentalists from Kerala, who have been recently joining the Islamist terror group ISIS, may have also joined the ranks in Taliban. The Islamist group, which draws inspiration from Deobandi school, has taken over Afghanistan sparking fears of human rights violation in the country as it spirals into chaos.

Soon, Tharoor was attacked by ‘liberals’ for voicing concerns over people from Kerala taking the radicalisation route.

The Quint journalist Aditya Menon was unhappy with Tharoor expressing concerns over radicalisation of youth from Kerala. The Quint, as a publication, has regularly published articles whitewashing crimes of radical Islamists and portrays them as ‘son’ and ‘friend’ and ‘husband’ to humanise them.

Menon, who is a half Malayali himself, has converted to Islam.

Menon was upset and held Tharoor responsible for letting the uncomfortable truth known to ‘Sanghis’. Menon has earlier defended Islamists like Sharjeel Imam who wanted Muslims in India to take to street and cut off the northeast India from rest of the country in ‘chakkajam’.

That’s not it, other Muslims like Aditya, too, were triggered at truth being laid out by Tharoor and accused him of cosying up with the RSS.

Many ‘liberals’ were upset that pointing out radicalisation of youth in Kerala might ‘help’ the right wing ecosystem. Because, clearly, ‘helping right wing ecosystem’ is a bigger threat than actual youths joining the ISIS.

Rather than finding solution to issues such as radicalisation of youth in Kerala who end up joining ISIS, ‘liberals’ were upset the truth may trigger ‘hate campaign’.

‘Liberals’ also would rather not see facts lest it ‘add fuel to already existing generalisation’.

Later, Tharoor tweeted how Nimisha Fathima, an ISIS bride from Kerala who had left for Afghanistan to join the Islamic State, was amongst the 5,000 prisoners released by Afghanistan. As per a report in Mathrubhumi, at least 21 people from India had gone to Afghanistan to join the ISIS, many from Kerala.

This again drew ire of ‘liberals’. While Nimisha had left for Afghanistan to join the ISIS was a fact, ‘liberals’ were questioning Tharoor on how can he say that there were people from Kerala in Taliban.

Some Twitter account with Palestine flag in the name and dreams of future with socialism also accused Tharoor of ‘betraying’ the state for ‘hate spewers’.

That radicalised youth from Kerala is joining terror groups is a known fact. In August 2020, a terror attack perpetrated by the Islamic State (ISIS) at a prison complex in Jalalabad in Afghanistan reportedly led to the escape of 300 inmates. Top intelligence sources revealed that the suicide bomber involved in the terror attack hailed from Kasargod in Kerala. The terrorist, Kalukettiya Purayil Ijas, had reportedly fled to Khorasan in June 2016 with his family through Muscat.

In June 2020, a Christian engineer from Kerala, who had recently converted to Islam to join Islamic State’s (IS), was killed in a suicide bombing terror attack in Libya. Before that, in March 2020, armed terrorists attacked a Gurudwara in Shor Bazar Area of Afghanistan. It was revealed that ‘Abu Khalid al-Hindi’ who attacked Sikhs in Afghanistan was one Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal who had escaped from Kasargod, Kerala in 2015 to join ISIS.

Kerala: Hotbed of radicalisation of youth

Investigations have revealed that ISIS had struck roots in Kerala as far back as 2014 with modules sponsoring religious conversions and trying to motivate professionals to join its fold in Afghanistan and Syria. Last year, in its report on terrorism, the UN cautioned that there are a sizeable number of ISIS terrorists in the Indian state of Kerala, adding that the ISIL Indian affiliate (Hind Wilayah), which was announced on May 10, 2019, has about 180 to 200 members.

Even yesterday, two women were arrested from Kerala’s Kannur for being involved in pro-ISIS activities.

But then, let us not talk about it because it upsets the ‘liberals’.

1...4,0134,0144,015...7,653Page 4,014 of 7,653