Armenia and India have had civilizational, cultural, socio-political and economic ties for millennia. It is needless to underscore the paramount importance of even closer and strategic ties between Armenia and India in this ongoing capricious political climate. The 2020’s 44-day aggression of Turkey and Azerbaijan against Armenia and the spread of jihadism in the South Caucasus, the fall of Afghanistan into Talibs’ hands and the intensifying political romance of the belligerent triangle – Pakistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan have made it clear that India and Armenia have no other way out of the aforementioned geopolitical morass than maximizing the cooperation between the 2 oldest civilizations on all levels, including out-of government relationships.
First and foremost, India and Armenia have those common geopolitical and military adversaries – Turkey, Pakistan, Azerbaijan. Every adult person in Armenia and in the Armenian diaspora knows that Pakistan fought alongside Turks and Azeris against the Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) last autumn. Also, Pakistan has always been championing anti-Armenian policy globally: few know that they have not yet recognized Armenia as a sovereign state. On the other hand Turkey with its bellicose politics of Erdoganocracy has already openly announced its plans to advance further into Afghanistan, increase military cooperation with Pakistan and unify the Turkish nations in the Middle Asia and beyond. All this makes Turkey and Azerbaijan passionate supporters of Pakistan’s anti-Indian policy and thus harms the very interests of India.
Then, it is always of utmost significance to stress the civilizational ties between Armenia and India, including the respective communities in both countries. The two old nations have had established ties for thousands of years including but not limited to religious, economic, political and cultural relationships. The Armenian presence and input in India got to its peak in the late middle ages when the Armenian merchants were competing with the famous British East India Company quite successfully. It was not accidental that the 18th-century writer and philosopher, notable figure in the Armenian liberation movement and a wealthy Armenian merchant Shahamir Shahamirian published and promoted the first modern Armenian constitution in India’s Madras (now Chennai) in the 1770s. Most recently, the two nations have achieved remarkable results in terms of science and high technologies, startups and chess which is another proof of ties on all levels and in all sectors.
Last but not least, India has now got a unique chance of getting a very fresh expertise and knowledge of the 6th generation war strategies and tactics as the Armenian nation went through it last autumn. There are on-ground possibilities of establishing joint Armenia-India military centers including but not limited to military schools with joint curricula, military analytics group of high-ranking military personnel from India and Armenia as well as joint Indian-Armenian militia forces and even private military companies. The roadmap to achieve this high-level military cooperation can be discussed separately and by respective authorities and stakeholders. Both nations will maximize security and safety of their people if they delineate a clear strategy to fight jihadism and the belligerent triangle of Pakistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan. It is understandable that joint Indian-Armenian militia forces and private military companies can stage remarkable results against the jihadists and against the above-mentioned belligerent triangle.
In the end it is vital to understand that Armenia is going through immense challenges which may make it difficult to run the aforementioned projects only through the G2G (government to government) medium. As the founder of the Armenian Network State, a pan-Armenian movement that unites the World Armenians, I have stressed a number of times the importance of establishing out-of-box ties between the two nations which should absolutely include government – movement ties, involving the World Armenians and the Indian Diaspora. I’ve already got some chances to present the out-of-box cooperation mechanisms with India (including venture investment opportunities and joint hi-tech projects) to respective Indian authorities and want to reach out to the broader public and respective decision-makers with the same idea as the time works against both of us – Indians and Armenians.
To sum up, I want to recall one interesting story by the Armenian Network State citizen and a notable Armenian politician and statesman Hrant Khachatryan from his meeting with a high-ranking Indian officer at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi in late 1990s. At the meeting, the officer made it clear to Mr Hrant Khachatryan that the Armenian river Araks which borders Turkey is of importance to India as well since India is interested in protecting Armenia’s border with Turkey which has made its expansionist politics, especially towards east, quite evident. Times have changed but that approach must not.
About the author: Vahram Ayvazyan is the founder of the Armenian Network State. He is an International Relations and Genocide scholar, startup founder and a Climate Reality Leader, personally trained by former US vice president Al Gore.
Reports have emerged that Taliban gangs are targeting children as young as 12 during their hunt for sex slaves since they took over Afghanistan. As per a report published in The Sun, women and girls are among the most at-risk Afghanis under the new Islamist regime. Notably, when the group ruled Afghanistan during the 90s, women and girls were often brutalised and oppressed under the regime. Public executions were common during that period.
From demanding lists of women and girls in different regions to forcing marriages on young girls, reports of the Taliban’s atrocities are making headlines. The unmarried and widowed women and girls between the ages of 12 to 45 are termed as “qhanimat” or spoils of the war by the Taliban. They are reportedly being divided among the members of the group.
However, the Taliban officials have denied the enforced sexual slavery and claimed it is against the rule of Islam. The claims came to light despite the fact that it was only last month when the Taliban officials had published a notice ordering local leaders to provide lists of widows and young girls under the age of 45 in their areas.
The Sun quoted one Afghan national, Faiz Mohammed Noori, whose family left their home in Baghlan and sought refuge in Kabul. However, soon Kabul fell, and at that time, Noori told NBC, “Kabul is also not safe. If they take over Kabul, they’re taking your daughters, your wife, they don’t care.”
Taliban is conducting a door-to-door search for girls
According to Shukria Barakzai, Afghan politician and journalist, the stories of the Taliban’s atrocities against women and girls are horrifying. She wrote in The Daily Mail, “The gouging of a woman’s eyes in front of her terrified family; girls as young as 12 wrenched from the arms of their weeping mothers to become sex slaves for Taliban ‘warriors’; men punished or even killed for ‘offences’ as simple as listening to the ‘wrong’ music, or for daring to be ‘educated’.”
She further said that in some villages, Taliban members conducted door-to-door searches looking for young girls to forcibly marrying them and pushing them into a life of sex slaves. She added, “So determined are they that no virgin will escape their clutches that they check drawers, wardrobes and even suitcases in homes where desperate mothers deny they have young daughters to ensure they are telling the truth.”
Killing women in the name of Islam
Recently, reports emerged that they had killed a woman for wearing tight clothes. Another woman was killed for not wearing a burqa. Unverified reports suggest that a woman was stoned to death in Samangan.
The history of atrocities against women
When the Taliban was ruling Afghanistan in the 1990s, such reports of atrocities against women were common. Some of the widely covered reported included the beheading of a woman who went shopping alone. Another report that surrounded the death of a woman who was stoned to death in a shallow grave for having sex with her boyfriend had shaken the world. In 1999, a woman named Zarmina was executed in the middle of a football stadium in Kabul.
Earlier in 2021, an undated video showed an unnamed woman being whipped by the Taliban for talking to a man on the phone. These unforgettable atrocities have pushed the residents of Afghanistan to flee the country seeking refuge in other nations. Several countries, including the US, Canada, some European countries, India and Uganda, are among the countries that are accepting refugees as per their regulations.
Speaking at the State Parliament while the supplementary budget for FY 2021-22 was being presented by his government on Thursday, August 19, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath announced that the state will build houses for Dalits and the poor on the lands freed from encroachment by gangsters and mafias.
Addressing the members of the assembly, the CM asserted that his government does not believe in carrying Mafias with them, instead, they believe in taking action against them, reports ANI.
Government will build houses for the poor and Dalits on the confiscated land of the mafia. We don’t carry Mafias with us, we take action against them: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in State Assembly pic.twitter.com/K52I7qzMK4
Immediately after assuming power in the state, the Yogi government has been cracking down on the land mafia in the state. Many of the so-called land mafias have been political leaders themselves or connected to political parties. Hundreds of acres of land illegally occupied by the likes of MP Azam Khan in Rampur, mafia dons like Mukhtar Ansari, Vikas Dubey, several MLAs and self-proclaimed religious preachers have been taken back under government possession in the state.
On February 23, in his address to the Uttar Pradesh legislative council, CM Yogi Adityanath had informed that his government has freed up over 67,000 acres of government land from the clutches of land mafia in the state after it came to power in 2017.
Speaking on the occasion, Yogi Adityanath, without taking any names, also slammed the members of the opposition parties who have been sympathising with the Taliban. “Despite Talibanis inflicting cruelty on women and children in Afghanistan, some people are shamelessly supporting them. All these faces should be exposed”, asserted the CM.
कुछ लोग तालिबान का समर्थन कर रहे हैं। वहां महिलाओं और बच्चों के साथ क्या क्रूरता की जा रही है। परन्तु कुछ लोग बेशर्मी से तालिबान का समर्थन कर रहे हैं। इन सभी के चेहरे एक्सपोज किए जाने चाहिए: उत्तर प्रदेश CM योगी आदित्यनाथ pic.twitter.com/N0NNa8WXT8
For the uninitiated, merely, two days after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Samajwadi Party MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, Shafiqur Rahman Barq, was seen extending his support to the Jihadist organisation. 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. The next day, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh booked Shafiqur Rehman Burq on charges of sedition, promoting enmity and hurting religious sentiments for his open support to the Taliban.
Meanwhile, under provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, the state government has announced a Rs 7,301.52 crore supplementary budget to meet the state’s additional expenditures. Of this, Rs 3,000 crore has been earmarked to create job opportunities in the state.
Fund has also been arranged for the welfare of lawyers. While a sum of Rs 5.01 crore has been earmarked for the setting up of Uttar Pradesh National Law University, Prayagraj, funds have been allocated for the construction of a memorial and cultural centre in the name of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar as well.
The state government has increased the dearness allowance of govt employees to 28% (as per the Centre’s mandate) with the effect from July 2021. The government will enhance the honorarium to Anganwadi Workers/Anganwadi Helpers.
Besides, the UP government will be selecting one crore students under a scheme of Rs 3 thousand crores. The students will be provided tablets or smartphones for studies.
According to the state’s finance minister Suresh Khanna, the Uttar Pradesh government’s supplementary budget of ₹7301.52 crores is only 1.33% of the annual budget of ₹ 5.50 lakh crore. “The focus is on providing funds for public welfare schemes, ongoing projects along with creating job opportunities for the youths”, he said after presenting the budget on Thursday, August 19, 2021.
An explosion in a procession being carried by Shia Muslims on the occasion of Muharram in the Punjab province of Pakistan on Thursday has killed at least three and left at least 59 people injured.
Shia leader Khawar Shafqat confirmed that the blast took place when the procession was passing through a congested neighborhood of Bahawalnagar located in the eastern Punjab province.
WARNING: Graphic Content Just in: A blast has been reported at the #Ashura Jaloos in Bahawalnagar, #Punjab. As the procession approached the Mohajer Colony Mosque, a loud explosion was heard. Pray for everyone’s safety. pic.twitter.com/37oosJhaE0
— Voice of Pakistan Minority (@voice_minority) August 19, 2021
Matters worsened as the authorities had suspended mobile phone services across the country a day prior just ahead of the Ashura which hampered the communication.
Several videos of the attacker who hurled crackers on the procession are also doing the rounds on social media. (Graphic visuals)
Meanwhile, the situation is said to be tensed in the area with the Shia leader demanding heightened security for other planned processions.
Ashura marks the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar followed by all Muslims. Prophet Muhammad used to fast on this day in Mecca, after which it became a common tradition and is followed by Sunni Muslims who fast voluntarily.
For the Shia, however, it is a major religious event to commemorate the death of Husayn Ibn Ali al-Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who died at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.
On August 19, Twitter suspended all accounts associated with caretaker President Amrullah Saleh of Afghanistan. Afghan President’s official handle @Afghanpresident and his party Afghanistan Green Trend’s (AGT) handle @AfgGreenTrend were suspended by the micro-blogging site. Reportedly, Saleh is still mobilising forces to counter the takeover of Afghanistan. He is currently lodged in the Panjshir province that has not yet fallen into the hands of the Taliban.
Twitter account of Saleh’s office suspended
What is interesting is that while Twitter suspended accounts associated with Saleh, the Taliban’s spokesperson account is still active on the platform. In fact, accounts of several Taliban leaders are available on Twitter. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid who is actively updating his account with the latest updates, has over 300,000 followers. Spokesperson Suhail Shaheen also has over 300,000 followers, while Qari Yousaf Ahmadi has around 60,000 followers on Twitter.
Twitter accounts of Taliban leaders
While Facebook and YouTube swiftly started banning accounts associated with the Taliban and its followers, Twitter refrained itself from doing so. It said that the Taliban’s accounts are under constant monitoring, and they would take action against the Jihadi group if they “cross the line”.
Facebook, while announcing the ban on Taliban, stated that it had designated Taliban a terrorist organisation as per US laws and it would remove all accounts and content associated with Taliban from all its platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
A 3-day conference cosponsored by 60+ Departments or Centers from 45+ Universities most from the USA is set to take place on the 10th, 11th and 12th of September. The event titled “Dismantling Global Hindutva” is set to see the participation of several Hindumisic elements like Audrey Truschke, Naxal sympathiser Anand Patwardhan and Nandini Sunder, Quint journalist Neha Dixit and many others.
While the Hindumisic elements globally have tried to equate Hindus to Nazis, the Nazi-esque propaganda to justify the impending genocide of Hindus, is hard to miss. It is evident that this declaration of war against the Hindus has gone from a few rants of deranged minds on Twitter, to an organised campaign with journalists, academics and career Hindumisic activists joining hands.
Nazi-esque propaganda and the dehumanisation of Hindus
The poster of the ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ event depicts an inverted hammer ‘uprooting’ brutally on what appears to be an RSS Swayamsevak, clad in saffron.
Poster of the event
The brutal, horrifying imagery has a subtle message to it, not unlike the ‘moderation’ that was peddled by the Nazis right after Röhm Putsch (The night of the long knives) where over 150 political opponents were murdered by the Nazi regime. The pseudo-moderation technique that was adopted by the Nazis essentially modelled the murderous purge as a ‘preventive measure’ to control violent people. One can see how the parallels play out in the poster of the event. In the poster, it is apparent that an RSS Swayamsevak, almost a representative image of all Hindus who are no longer ashamed of their culture, is uprooted by a hammer. However, to hide the blatant Hindumisia and the endorsement of genocide against Hindus, the poster craftily fashions the tip of the murderous hammer as a pencil.
The global propaganda against the Hindus have, especially in the past few years, focussed primarily on the dehumanisation of Hindus. One recalls the posters during the anti-CAA protests and the slogans that were raised for the murder of Hindus – the most prominent ones being the slogan of ‘Hinduon se Azadi’ – essentially meaning that Muslims wanted freedom from the Hindus – supplemented with the image of sacred OM being morphed as the Nazi symbol, a Hindu woman being made to wear the Hijab and songs that called for the religious symbols of Hindus being destroyed so only the name of Allah can remain – “When All Idols Will Be Removed… Only Allah’s Name Will Remain”.
The imagery in the poster also draws from the same concept of dehumanisation that has been followed against a persecuted lot since the Nazi regime. A man clad in saffron, with his roots in Bharat, being crushed by the revolution to save the country from ‘violent barbarians’. It is hard to miss the parallel to Der Stürmer (The Attacker), that printed cartoons that used antisemitic caricatures to depict Jews as not only ‘dangerous’ but also enemies of the nation – not unlike what the narrative of this poster or the Hindumisic elements have been throughout the past few years.
Propaganda 101: Select a few points and repeat them over and over again
“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over”, said Joseph Goebbels one, the chief propagandist and faithful soldier of Adolf Hitler, right before he proceeded to murder millions of jews in one of the worst organised genocides that the world has seen.
The ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ event employs, effortlessly, the Goebbels technique of the demonisation of a people by proxy, to justify their eventual genocide.
When one reads the ‘eventbrite’ description of the event, the following points are reiterated to justify their campaign of hate:
Militant Hindu groups exist and are growing exponentially
Rampant violence against minorities
Citizenship Amendment Act
Crackdown on dissent
Imprisonment of “activists” fighting for Tribals
Equating Hindutva and racism – drawing a false parallel to white supremacy
The demonisation of the diaspora
Demonetisation and farm laws
Overall erosion of democratic practices and freedoms in India
These are tropes that have been used by the propagandists at home far too often and the counter to each of these tropes have been discussed several times, at length. There really are no “Hindu militant groups” that exist in India. The ones being called the “nails” to be uprooted from India wade in knee-deep water to rescue those who need help, brave Islamist terror to save Hindus when they are being slaughtered as Muslims unleash their terror on the streets, rescue women being raped and forcefully converted to Islam, work relentlessly to offer humanitarian assistance at the times of pandemic and live lives stripped of the wine and dine luxuries that the ‘liberals’ decrying them enjoy. In fact, they trudge along their path of humanism even while their murders are whitewashed, given a political context and even celebrated.
So why have these organisations been termed as ‘militant’ by these Hindumisic forces?
These organisations epitomise three things, as their very foundation – self-defence, the reclamation of Hindu heritage in all its glory and the organisation and unity of Hindus – all of which poses a threat to the global hegemony of Islamists and leftists.
In reality, “uprooting the RSS” is mere symbology. Hindutva, that these elements define as a “political, authoritarian ideology” that has “nothing to do with Hinduism” is nothing but a dogwhistle used to target Hindus and everything Hinduism stands for, without really explicitly talking about their genocidal dreams of “Hinduon se Azadi”.
In an attempt to do so, every institution that has rallied Hindus to unite must be demonised and dehumanised. Apart from the RSS, it is also the Modi government that has been relentlessly targeted for being the political faction behind which Hindus have united in the 2014 and 2019 general elections in India.
Interestingly, the tropes they use gives us a peek into their nefarious designs. While the “Dismantling Global Hindutva” event aims to talk about the mythical “violence against minorities” trope (Let’s be clear here – my minorities, they mean only Muslims. Jains being attacked by Muslims only recently, for example, is a case of religious hatred that will not even be discussed), they have conveniently used Citizenship Amendment Act as a hammer with which to beat the Modi government.
This dichotomy itself explains their delirium – while they believe that Muslims in India need protection from the Hindu majority, their concern for ‘minorities’ starts and ends with Muslims – The Hindu minorities suffering in Islamic nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are those ‘heathens’ who perhaps deserve to be sacrificed to the Islamic demon, simply for daring to be pagans in an age where Islam and its barbarity are aided and abetted by self-proclaimed ‘liberals’.
Further, the fact that the event has even demonised the diaspora who refuse to submit to the ‘Liberal’ agenda and continue to be proud of their roots, is a classic case of trying to equate merely being proud of ones own religious and cultural heritage to the Muslim ‘Ummah’ and the global evangelist designs whose idea of a nation-state is based on the ‘brotherhood’ between their co-religionists and the eradication of ‘Kafirs’ or ‘non-believers’.
A trend has emerged over recent years to find an equivalent of monotheistic fundamentalism in the faith of polytheistic Hinduism. The saffron terror narrative of the Congress party might have collapsed but people of a particular political ideology haven’t deterred from their efforts to find in pagan Hinduism the most nefarious aspects of monotheistic faiths.
It is not just the ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ event that equates Hindus with the KKK, not so long ago, in an issue of Outlook magazine, an attempt was made to equate Hindutva with the vicious ideology of the Ku Klux Klan by having the cover of the issue portray a member of the white supremacist American outfit sporting a Tilak. Needless to say, there is no equivalent of the Ku Klux Klan in India just as there exists no saffron terror. Those who genuinely believe that Hindutva could be equated with an ideology that asserts the supremacy of a particular race fails spectacularly at grasping the core tenets of the Hindu faith.
Outlook magazine cover
Racial supremacy has never been a core tenet of polytheistic faiths in its entire history. Yes, the Greeks and the Romans did practice slavery, however, it was never the defining aspect of their culture or faith. In contrast to that, monotheistic faiths have continually harboured and encouraged sentiments of racial supremacy through their concept of the ‘chosen people. In this day and age, it can be most blatantly observed in Islam where the Arabs believe in the superiority of their race as a consequence of the ancestry of the Prophet of Islam. It has surely not escaped the notice of people that when a particular community converts to Islam en masse, they give up on their own heritage and adopt the traditions and customs of the Arabs so much that they could even be dubbed pirated Arabs. And if we look back at history, we can observe that white supremacy stems in part from Christian theology as well.
Thus, racial supremacy is so alien to the Hindu faith that only a fool or the ideologically blinded would equate the Ku Klux Klan with Hindutva. History stands testament to the fact that Hindus, by and large, have existed together without enmity to any serious degree for hundreds and thousands of years. Despite the atrocity literature spread by vested interests, Hindu society has never witnessed a race war or a caste war ever in its ancient history. Of course, liberals are working hard to change that fact by continuously fueling regionalist and casteist sentiments to divide Hindu society but despite various political leaders’ attempt at inciting violence along caste lines, they have failed spectacularly thus far and the riots and violence that did occur was more due to political motivations rather than any indication of a deep fissure within Hindu society.
And in their continued effort to create deep fissures in The Hindu society and dehumanise those who refuse to submit to this agenda, the event that is set to take place in September, even extends support to the Urban Naxals who have been arrested for waging a war against the country and those protesting Khalistanis who orchestrated an attempted insurrection on the 26th of January, using the newly passed farm laws, that actually benefits the farmers, as an excuse.
When all else fails, decry democracy
The cries of “democracy being in danger” in India is a fallacious, empty, abstract fall-back argument that the “liberals” often mention, to decry the Hindus who dared to elect a government they thought would look after their interests. One recalls how India was classified as an “electoral autocracy” by the very “liberals” who are repeating these tropes with this event. Autocracy essentially means a country where power is concentrated in the hands of a few people. A democracy, on the other hand, is antithetical to an autocracy – meaning the people elect the government they want in the coutry. The ‘liberals’ craftily decry India as an ‘electoral autocracy’ to give the impression that the democracy in India is dysfunctional to an extent that while it may appear to have democracy, the power actually rests in the hand of a few authoritative individuals.
In reality, the only trope that they mean to cover in academic humbug is the fact that Hindus, perhaps for the first time in a long time, united to elect a government that they believed would look after their interest. Funnily enough, the Modi government itself has done paltry little to uphold the interests of Hindus exclusively. All of the policies of the Modi government has been aimed towards better governance of the nation as a whole. Even CAA, for example, that has become a thorn for these liberals, included the Sikh and Christian minorities under persecution in Islamic nations, much to the chagrin of Hindus.
Despite this, the mere fact that Hindus voted overwhelmingly for a government that would not actively work against the Hindus, like Congress peddling the ‘saffron terror’ narrative or attempting to introduce the ‘communal violence bill’, has spurned the narrative that power in India rests in the hands of a few. What they mean by this, in reality, is that Hindus united and decided the government they want in power by voting in one voice and the Muslims failed to thwart the democratic will of the people.
The aim of the ‘dismantling global Hindutva’ event and the solution
For decades now, Hindus have been massacred and their genocide has been whitewashed in the name of ‘secularism’, ‘brotherhood’ and ‘peacekeeping’. Not just that, over time, as we see now, Hindus have been painted as the perpetrator of violence against Muslims instead of the victims of Muslim violence. From the Moplah genocide where Hindus were raped and slaughtered, to the Direct Action Day, the Noakhali massacre, the en masse genocide of Chitpavan Brahmins to the current anti-Hindu Delhi Riots, the brutal attacks against RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal members while they collected money for Ram Mandir construction to the thousands of Hindu girls being trapped in the unending loop of Grooming Jihad, Hindus have been the victims of years of onslaught.
Instead of talking about the real barbarians, “liberals” whitewash Islamist crimes and paint Hindus as the perpetrators of violence. And once painted as the perpetrators of violence, they proceed to dehumanise the very existence of Hindus so when the barbaric hoards come to slaughter, the world simply looks away – because who cares about the pagan demons being slaughtered anyway?
While the ‘liberals’ have spent years creating atrocity literature to prove that Hindus are monsters who deserve to be eradicated, Hindus have just about begun to document the atrocities they have been subjected to. The solution to such events is to ensure that every crime against every Hindus is documented painstakingly and spoken about widely – without filters. To tell the world out story, repeatedly, loudly.
The more practical aspect is, of course, the involvement of the Indian government. US universities, many of which are funded directly by the United States government, are joining hands with Indian propagandists to demonise Hindus. These very universities have their offices in India and earn millions from Indian students.
“Most of the universities sponsoring this xenophobic event have their branch offices on Indian soil and they regularly recruit Indian students and therefore, a good chunk of their income comes directly from Indian taxpayers. Not to mention the fact that they use Indian resources for their operations. The question thus arises: are they recruiting Indian students to indoctrinate them in how to wage war against the native culture of their own country by using their own money in fees? This “conference” seems to prove exactly that. Two, India’s economic ties with the US and vice versa should not come at the expense of slaughtering the heart of Indian culture, which is Hindu Dharma. Three, and this message has to ring loudly in the US academia: it has to be sent from both the Indian Government and Indian businessmen and wealthy individuals–withdrawal of funding for expensive chairs and endowments. The right amount of pressure applied at all levels should hopefully do the trick”.
Much remains to be said about the event itself, the organisers, the money trail and the tentacles that are out to devour the nation whole – because India does not remain what it is without the Hindus who give her basic characteristics of pluralism, culture, tradition and grandiose.
However, it is time for the Indian Government to exert the right amount of pressure and for Hindus to stand up and be counted – not to cower and ask for sympathy from the devil, but to talk about the historic atrocities against Hindus, the cultural pushback that is our right and the propaganda against a people that will no longer be allowed to fester. India is the only land that has a Hindu majority. Hinduism, Sanatan, is engraved in its consciousness since before the political boundaries were drawn. Our stories, our heroes our legacy is attached to this land and no other. It is time for Hindus to preserve it – in action and words.
The ‘rent-a-cause’ andolanjeevis have successfully created a prosperous career in India and elsewhere. Following their path now are ‘rent-a-cause-fact-checkers’. Holding a knife in one hand and flowers in the other, the so-called fact-checkers perfectly know how to portray you as the biggest philanthropist. So what if on the other hand, you are butchering someone.
Taking their service this time around are the Taliban. Thrashing in bin hundreds of videos and photos of the Jihadist organization whipping and stoning women, the fact-checkers have risen from the dead to fact-check one obscure photo making the rounds on social media.
In a bizarre attempt, AP, Reuters and homegrown propagandists masquerading as fact-checkers brand Alt News fact-checked this one photo claimed to be from Afghanistan. What’s more, Twitter made it an ‘event’ and promoted the ‘fact-check’.
Twitter ‘event’
Twitter has earlier said that it will continue to provide platform to Taliban as long as it does not violate its user policy. Social media giants like Facebook and YouTube have barred Taliban as it is terrorist organisation as per US laws.
Here is what happened.
A photo of three women who appeared to be chained and being taken by the Taliban went viral on social media recently.
A 2003 photo of three women walking behind a man was manipulated to add chains onto the women’s ankles. Also, social media users falsely claimed the photo showed Afghan women, but the original image was captured in Iraq. Get the facts behind the image. https://t.co/MblT7DmVtS
The aforementioned news agencies, rushing to safeguard the Taliban’s ‘reputation’ claimed that the photos were ‘digitally altered’. They also said that the photo is from 2003 and was taken in Iraq, freeing the Taliban from the possible ‘dent in reputation.’
एक तस्वीर वायरल हो रही है जिसमें बुर्के में दिख रही महिलाओं के पैरों में ज़ंजीर बंधी है. इसे अफ़गानिस्तान की हालिया तस्वीर बताया जा रहा है. जबकि ये एक एडिटेड तस्वीर है. सालों पुरानी एक तस्वीर को एडिट कर शेयर किया जा रहा है. #AltNewsFactCheck | @AbhishekSayhttps://t.co/wdTXsWhc35
These reports come at a time when the media is abuzz with reports of violence from Afghanistan. Scores of videos showing the Taliban open firing at protesting crowds, lashing men and women have sent shock waves across the globe. Enough to reveal the motive and intention of the Jihadi organization.
Here are some pictures and videos for perspective:
The facade of a beauty saloon with images of women is defaced with spray paint in Shar-e-Naw in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Taliban has defaced pictures of women on a salon in Kabul.
Women, children, the elderly, disabled with thousands of bags outside the airport. Taliban footsoldier and his wip. Brave Afghan woman filming pic.twitter.com/ESNfWGselr
Taliban shooting at protestors in Jalalabad city and beating up journalists.
In fact, that is not all. Reuters India photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was identified by Taliban as Indian, taken away, killed and his dead body mutilated in Afghanistan earlier in July. The same Reuters has today joined other ‘fact-checkers’ which lowkey give the Taliban benefit of doubt that perhaps all the images of brutality are not true.
However, amid these chaotic scenes, the ‘fact-checkers’ decided to pick up one random image to ‘fact-check’ as false despite overwhelming evidence that the Taliban is perpetrating atrocities on the Afghan people, especially women.
Women under Taliban regime
The timing of the fact-check could not be worse. On Wednesday it was reported how Khatera (33) narrated her horror of working as a woman in Afghanistan. Khatera said that she had to flee to India last October after she was shot 8 times by the Taliban that eventually rendered her blind.
“After torturing us, the Taliban would discard our bodies as a part of inflicting punishment on us. Sometimes, they would throw our bodies at dogs. I was lucky that I survived their barbarity. One has to live in Afghanistan to understand the ordeal women, children and minorities suffer there,” Khatera revealed.
We also reported how the Taliban shot dead a woman in Takhar province for not wearing a burqa while in public. A photo of the deceased woman lying in a pool of blood with her loved ones crouched around her was released by the media.
So much for women empowerment and tolerance, several videos on social media show the Taliban destroying posters featuring women on the glass doors of beauty parlors.
Fact-checkers and whitewashing crimes
This is not the first time so-called fact-checkers have resorted to selective ‘fact-checking’ to absolve Islamists of their crimes. From fact-checking a meme to disapproving news by adding irrelevant information to even selectively trusting the police over fact-checking are some of the tricks they use. For example: There is a news of forced religious conversion. The ‘fact-checkers’ will rely on a statement by say Maharashtra Police or West Bengal Police or any other non-BJP ruled state if it suits the narrative. But, if the Uttar Pradesh Police will give an answer which goes against their narrative will be dismissed because UP is currently a BJP ruled state.
Sometimes, they are even selective about witnesses. For example: An incident has taken place which could lead to communal tension. Say it is an incident where people from ‘particular community’ pelted stones on Hindus or on a Hindu temple. The ‘fact-checkers’ will immediately activate their network and go on ground to speak to the ‘stonepelters’ where they would obviously mention how nothing of those sort happened. In fact, someone may even say that the ‘stone pelting’ was more of self defence because they felt threatened. Some people have the exclusive right to feel threatened too.
And as if being apologists for homegrown Islamists was not enough, the so-called fact-checkers have now gone international to clean up after the Taliban.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath slammed the Taliban sympathisers in India for hailing the radical Islamic organisation.
Speaking on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister came down heavily on the so-called “secular-iberals” and the leaders of the opposition parties for glorifying the acts of violence unleashed by the Islamist outfit. The Chief Minister said that some people in the county were shamelessly supporting the Taliban, even though the outfit unleashed unprecedented violence on women and children.
“Some people are supporting the Taliban. Women and children are being subjected to cruelty there, but some people are shamelessly supporting the Taliban. All these faces should be exposed,” said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while calling for exposing such leaders.
The CM highlighted that in the recently concluded local body elections in UP, 46% of women leaders were elected in Panchayat elections and 56% women in Block President elections. The figures highlight how women in even rural India are active participants in politics and administration, while radical outfits like the Taliban prevent women from basic rights like schooling or being present in a public space.
46% women leaders got elected in Panchayat elections and 56% women in Block President elections. Some people (opposition) are shamelessly supporting the Taliban. And then they talk about women welfare, these people should be exposed: CM Yogi Adityanath in State Assembly pic.twitter.com/TYcltp7dij
The strong statements from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the floor of the legislative assembly comes after several Muslim leaders, including those from the Samajwadi Party, have openly praised Taliban. Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rehman Burq had extended his support to the Jihadist organisation by saying that their conquest was akin to India’s freedom movement against British Empire.
A large section of Indian Leftist media was even seen hailing the Taliban for their propaganda of “changed” principles with regards to women’s rights, and “holding a press conference”.
Samajwadi Party leader says Taliban rightfully captured their land, compares it to Indian Freedom Movement
On Tuesday, August 17, Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rehman Burq had attempted to legitimise the radical Islamist outfit after he had claimed that the Taliban 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 had 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.”
Besides, Shafiqur Rahman Barq, a senior cleric of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), also extended his support to the terror group. Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani, the Secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), had praised the Taliban’s offensive against the Afghan government to capture the war-torn country by force.
Muslim Personal Law Board Secretary hails Taliban
Taking to Twitter, Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani had posted a tweet in Urdu praising the terror outfit Taliban for their “extraordinary success” in capturing Afghanistan.
The cleric reportedly claimed that the Taliban could capture Afghanistan because the decisions were “made in Heaven and not on Earth”.
افغانستان میں طالبان کی فتح اس بات کے اظہار کیلئے بہت کافی ھے کہ جنگیں ذہانت وطاقت سے نہیں اللہ پاک کی مددونصرت سے جیتی جاتی ہیں،اور یہ بھی کہ قرآن کی یہ آیت اپنے اندر ابدی صداقت رکھتی ھے کہ كم من فئة قليلة غلبت فئة كثيرة بإذن الله
— Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani (@MaulanaUmrain) August 17, 2021
“The victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan is enough to show that wars are won with the help of God, not with intelligence and strength,” the AIMPLB Secretary asserted in his tweet.
In another tweet, the cleric added, “The Taliban conquered Afghanistan, not with the power of means and resources, but with the eternal wealth of faith and belief! Moreover, by announcing a general amnesty, the Taliban proved that it belonged to the group of slaves of Muhammad (peace be upon him)”.
The open support for the Taliban by certain sections had created a massive uproar across the country. Following the outrage, Maulana Umrain Mahfuz Rahmani had defended his tweets saying that he put on the tweets in his personal capacity and not as the Secretary of AIMPLB.
The Uttar Pradesh Police has booked a controversial maulana of 17th century Jama Masjid in Agra and his son for objecting to the flag hoisting ceremony organised on Jama Masjid premises in the city on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day.
According to the reports, an FIR was registered against Mazdul Kuddoos Khubaib Rumi, the Shahar Mufti and his son, Hammadul Kuddoos, based on the complaint filed by the chairman of Local Islamia Agency Haji Aslam Qureshi.
On August 15, a group led by a local BJP leader and UP Minority Commission chairperson Ashfaq Saifi had presided over the Independence Day celebrations and hoisting of the Tricolour at the Madarsa Aalia on the Jama Masjid premises. They had also sung the national anthem and saluted the flag.
The event was organised by local Islamia Agency which manages the activities of the Agra Jama Masjid.
However, a day later, an audio clip went viral in which Shahar mufti Mazdul Kuddoos Khubaib Rumi was heard criticising the Independence Day celebrations on the Jama Masjid premises and calling the act as ‘sacrilege‘. In the audio that had gone viral, Mufti was heard cursing the event and saying the people who participated in the Independence Day celebrations should ‘fear Allah’.
As audio went viral, Haji Aslam Qureshi, chairman of Local Islamia Agency and also the organiser of the event, lodged the case at the Mantola police station of Agra. In his complaint, Haji Qureshi said he has a threat to his life from the Shahar mufti, who allegedly used strong words in the audio that has gone viral.
Responding to the incident, BJP leader Ashfaq Saifi said that the cleric and his son insulted the national flag.
“Mufti and his son should realise that they have insulted the national honour. They should apologise for it. We recited the national anthem, hoisted the national flag and chanted ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ in the mosque. An unnecessary controversy has been created by Shaher Mufti and his son over the event,” Saifi was quoted as saying.
Mufti and his son booked by UP Police
A case has been registered against the Mufti under Section 3 of Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 and sections 153-B, 505, 505 (1)(b) and section 508 of the Indian Penal Code. The cleric’s son Hummdul Khudhush has also been named in the FIR.
“By releasing an audio opposing the Independence Day programme, Mufti Rumi has attempted to disturb the public peace and harmony,” Qureshi said.
The SSP also confirmed that they have provided security to the complainant, Haji Aslam Qureshi, after he expressed a threat to his life from Shahar Mufti.
Meanwhile, Haji Jamaluddin Qureshi, vice-president of All India Jamiat-ul-Quresh, has condemned Haji Aslam Qureshi for registering a complaint against the Shahar mufti.
On August 18, a Varanasi court sought a reply from Uttar Pradesh Government, Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust and Gyanvapi Mosque Management committee as five Hindu women filed a plea seeking restoration of their right to worship of deities inside the old temple complex.
In the plea, it has been mentioned that the temple complex was converted into a mosque during Mughal rule in the region.
Justice Ravi Kumar Diwakar, Senior Civil Judge, Varanasi Court, sought the response of the commissioner of police and District Magistrate Varanasi on the suit filed by the women. The plea is led by a Hindu woman Rakhi Singh. Advocates Hari Shankar Jain and Vishnu Shankar Jain argued in Court that the devotees have the right to worship the deities, visible or invisible, inside the complex of Old Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The original Kashi Vishwanath temple complex was destroyed by Aurangzeb during his regime.
Jain further added that the defendants should be ordered not to interfere in the fundamental religious rights of the plaintiffs’ which included decorating idols of Bhagwan Ganesh, Bhagwan Hanuman, Devi Gauri and Nandi in the temple. He requested the Court to pass a temporary injunction directing defendants not to damage the idols.
The Judge set a date for resolution of objections on September 10 and said, “In the present case, the government of UP has been made a defendant by the plaintiffs. Therefore, it is necessary to hear the defendant. The plaintiffs should plead for notice on the defendants within three days.”
Centre and UP government asked to file reply on a petition challenging ASI survey
In another news, the Allahabad High Court directed the state government and Centre to file their responses to a petition challenging the order of a Varanasi court that directed ASI to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex to find out if a temple was destroyed to build the mosque. Justice Prakash Padia issued the direction over a petition filed by Anjuman Intazamia Masjid, Varanasi and UP Sunni Central Waqf Board. The court will hear the case on September 29.
Attempts to reclaim temple land
The fight to reclaim the temple land on which Gyanvapi Mosque stands has been going on for decades. However, in recent times, there has been notable progress. In February 2021, a suit was filed to restore the worshipping of deities in the mosque complex. In April 2021, Court allowed an ASI survey of the mosque. A 5-member team including two Muslims were appointed for the same. A petition seeking a stay on the survey was later filed in Allahabad High Court.