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Gul Panag ‘cancelled’ by leftist trolls for welcoming a ‘right wing’ Twitter account after temporary suspension

OpIndia Staff
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Gul Panag ‘cancelled’ by leftist trolls for welcoming a ‘right wing’ Twitter account after temporary suspension

Bollywood actor and social activist Gul Panag became the latest victim of the “cancel culture” after ‘liberal’ trolls online asked for boycotting and cancelling her because she posted a tweet welcoming a former Army doctor whose Twitter account was suspended temporarily. Panag was heavily trolled by the leftwing outrage mob for expressing delight at the return of popular Twitter user @theskindoctor13, known for his patriotic and nationalist views.

The Twitter account @theskindoctor13 was temporarily suspended on Thursday, possibly because he was mass reported by a group of leftist trolls on Twitter. His suspension was celebrated by a number of leftwing ideologues and journalists, as he was known for busting their propaganda and calling out the lies peddled by them. After his account was restored today, The Skin Doctor posted his gratitude to everyone who supported him and raised their voice in getting his account restored.

Ms Panag responded to the tweet saying: “You’re back”, with a rose emoji.

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Source: Twitter

The comment welcoming @theskindoctor13 Panag did not sit well with the leftwing trolls, who were already reeling under the pain of @theskindoctor13’s return. As a consequence, a raft of leftwing trolls started targeting the actor, whom they perceived to be on “their side” and called on for “cancelling” her.

Leftist online trolls unleash their fury on Gul Panag for tweet to The Skin Doctor

Many Twitter called for unfollowing Gul Panag, apparently because she posted in support of a person known for his nationalist views.

Source: Twitter

A leftwing troll said one of the benefits of The Skin Doctor’s return to Twitter was that it exposed “closet Sanghi” Gul Panag.

Source: Twitter

Another Twitter user had a piece of advice for Muslims. Quoting Panag’s tweet to The Skin Doctor, the user said Muslims should remember that Sikhs are the oldest enemies and all liberals are hidden Sanghis.

Source: Twitter

Then, there were others who were upset at a ‘liberal’ welcoming a seemingly right-wing Twitter account and did not shy away from using a bit harsh language.

Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter

One Twitter user went so far as to insinuate that Gul was akin to female supporters of German dictator Adolf Hitler.

Source: Twitter

Gul Panag heeds to online criticism, makes false equivalence between left-wing outrage mob with right-wing

The actor took cognisance of the hate being directed towards her for her comment and posted a tweet saying: “The problem with the Indian left is that it is increasingly becoming like the right. All well till you agree with their narrative. Disagree and all hell breaks loose. Discuss.”

The actor shared a screenshot of a quoted tweet by a person who said, “Let the record reflect that Gul Panag tweeted this”.

In her defence, Gul said it is possible to engage with people and not agree with their political views. She further added that the individual in question, i.e The Skin Doctor, is an ex-Army Doctor. It may be noted that Gul Panag’s father was a Lieutenant General in Indian Army and she is close with many army officers.

In an attempt to assuage her leftwing fan-following, which seems to have taken a beating following her tweet, Panag pontificated that a binary attitude of “either us” or “against us” makes them as “bad” as the right-wing. However, she is being disingenuous here, given that it was the leftwing outrage mob that called for her cancellation and abused her for a seemingly anodyne tweet. Additionally, the “cancel culture” and calling for “social ostracism” of people who do not hew to a particular ideology is a leftist practice.

Instead of denouncing them unequivocally, Panag drew a false equivalence between the left-wing outrage mob and right-wing Twitter users, perhaps in a bid to placate her leftist supporters and make amends for her tweet to The Skin Doctor.

Islamists demand ban on Netflix, Raza Academy wants strict action against the platform for Nava Rasa poster

OpIndia Staff
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Islamists demand ban on Netflix, Raza Academy wants strict action against the platform for Nava Rasa poster

Streaming platform Netflix has incurred the wrath of Islamists online after releasing a promotional poster for its show ‘Nava Rasa’ that featured verses from the Quran. The poster was apparently published in the newspaper Daily Thanthi.

Following the publication, Islamists have come to the fore to hurl abuses at Netflix and demand strict action for the same. One of the Islamist organisations at the forefront of the campaign is the Raza Academy. Raza Academy has demanded strict action against the platform.

Raza Academy is notorious for its conduct in the past, such as the demand that Muslim countries issue a fatwa against French President Emmanuel Macron for supporting free speech. Earlier, Raza Academy had threatened a ‘law and order situation’ if the movie ‘Muhammad: The Messenger of God’ was not banned. The movie depicts the life of the prophet from birth till the age of 13.

In August 2011, its leaders had organised a so-called protest in Azad Maidan that had devolved into violent riots. Apart from the Raza Academy, a host of other Islamists have raised a cantankerous clamour on social media against the poster.

Abuses are flowing freely against Netflix. The platform is being called ‘Children of Haram’ and ‘h*r*mzada’.

Calls are being made to ban Netflix in the country due to the poster.

Freedom of expression has often come under attack in recent times due to the intolerance of Islamists. The entertainment industry has often engaged in self-censorship to avoid inviting backlash from Islamists. It remains to be seen how Netflix responds to the matter.

Assam and Meghalaya CMs hold second meeting to resolve border dispute, three committees formed for six disputed sites

OpIndia Staff
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Assam and Meghalaya CMs hold second meeting to resolve border dispute, three committees formed for six disputed sites

While the border dispute between Assam and Mizoram turned violent last month, the Assam government is achieving success in resolving border disputes with other states in the region. Days after Assam and Nagaland settled such a dispute and withdrew police forces, today Assam and Meghalaya moved forward to resolve border disputes between the two states.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma met in Guwahati today for the second meeting between the two over the issue. In the meeting, both sides decided to narrow the dispute to six sites in the first phase, out of the total 12 disputed places. The 6 selected sites are Tarabari, Gizang, Boklapara, Pillangkata, Hahim and Ratacherra. These areas fall in Kamrup, Kamrup (Metropolitan) and Cachar districts of Assam and West Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi and East Jaintia Hills districts of Meghalaya.

The other six disputed locations are Langpih, Borduar, Nongwah, Matamur, Khanapara-Pilangkata, Deshdemoreah Block I and Block II, and Khanduli. Interestingly, Khanapara-Pilangkata is located just south to Guwahati, and the state guest house of Assam govt, which was used as the official residence by former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, is also located on a ‘disputed’ location on Koinadhara hill in this area.

The two states agreed to form three committees to resolve the six disputed areas, each headed by one cabinet minister from both the states each as co-chairmen. The committees will have 10 members each, 5 from each state, which will include local MLAs, bureaucrats and civil society members. These committees will undertake joint visits to the disputed sites for survey and study, and will prepare a report with their recommendations to arrive at mutually aggregable solutions. The committees will submit their reports within 30 days.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that the committees will take historical aspects, ethnicity, people’s perceptions, administrative convenience and contiguity as their terms of reference while preparing the reports. He has nominated Assam cabinet ministers Pijush Hazarika, Atul Bora and Chandra Mohan Patowary as the co-chairmen for the three committees.

The Assam CM said that the Chief Ministers’ level meeting on Assam-Meghalaya Border was conducted with full respect for each other today. This was their second meeting after the fist one on 23rd July in Shillong. In the first meeting, both the state governments decided to adopt a pragmatic approach and move from status quo to solution.

“Both governments are clear that we want to resolve the differences between the states. There is a strong political will to find an amicable solution. Both agreed that the disputes should be resolved in a respectful manner,” Meghalaya CM Sangma said.

While the Meghalaya govt had presented its views in the first meeting, Assam presented its arguments in today’s meeting. Sangma said that it was decided to take up disputed areas in a phased manner for resolution, as some areas are less complicated, some are slightly more and others are highly complicated.

“We don’t have any dispute from Assam side, but dispute arose because Meghalaya claimed certain territories in these 12 locations. When we met in Shillong, we agreed that all disputes can’t be resolved at one go and we need to take them up in a step-by-step manner. Once the six disputes are resolved, we will move on to the others,” said Sarma on the matter.

No, Gul Panag, the left-wing is not learning intolerance from right, they have always been at the forefront of cancel culture

K Bhattacharjee
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No, Gul Panag, the left-wing is not learning intolerance from right, they have always been at the forefront of cancel culture

Actress Gul Panag came out in support of ‘The Skin Doctor’, a non-Left Twitter account which was suspended recently due to mass reporting by left-wing outrage mobs. After his Twitter account was restored, Gul Panag commented ‘You are back’ with a rose emoji.

However, while supporting ‘The Skin Doctor’, the former AAP member blamed the ‘right-wing’ for the outrage culture embraced by the Left, and created by the Left-wing. It was quite clearly a disingenuous and dishonest attempt to slander the right for something she knew would attract the wrath of the left-wing outrage mob.

Source: Twitter

Gul Panag said, “The problem with the liberal left is that it’s increasingly becoming like the right. All well till you agree with their narrative. Disagree and all hell breaks lose.” Such a comment could only be made by someone who has her head buried under the sand or believes that the rest of us do.

Censorship is a tool that has been embraced by the left-wing across the world to further their political objectives. And it is not anonymous ‘right-wing trolls’ who are driving the censorship regime, it is prominent cultural institutions, primarily the media, which are overwhelmingly left-wing that is driving the censorship regime.

When Donald Trump first drew attention to the fact that the Coronavirus came out of China and ought to be called the China virus, or Chinese Coronavirus, it was the Democrat party and the corporate media that worked first to brand the term racist and ostracised anyone who used the term.

When the lab-leak hypothesis of the Wuhan Coronavirus gained prominence, it was the left-wing corporate media and social media giants, which are left-wing, that censored the hypothesis and did everything in their power to silence those who voiced support for the hypothesis.

And these are just a couple of instances. We have now reached a point where the left-wing claims that biological sex is not real and not significant and claims that a man can a woman simply if he feels that is the case. And the media establishment with a left-wing bias threaten to report people to authorities if they refuse to comply with the dogma.

Historical roots of censorship

Anyone who takes a cursory glance at history will conclude that left-wing regimes have run some of the most brutal censorship regimes in the history of humanity. The Stalinist Soviet regime relied on mass surveillance and censorship to retain its authority.

China is another Communist country that embraces censorship and surveillance to maintain its authority over the masses. North Korea, probably the last Stalinist regime in the world, is a Communist country.

Therefore, the accusation that the ‘liberal left’ is ‘increasingly’ becoming like the ‘Right’ is a series of buzzwords that have very little to do with actual reality.

Roots of Censorship in India

India is a unique case in that censorship was integrated into the Constitution by a Prime Minister who remains the icon of liberalism in the country to this day. Indeed, it was the first Prime Minister of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru, who implemented the 1st amendment and curtailed free speech rights in India.

It was ‘right-wing’ political stalwarts such as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who vehemently opposed the move. It was quite clearly an attempt to curtail the freedom of the press and it was led by the icon of liberalism in India, Nehru.

Nehru claimed that the First Amendment was necessary because of the “vulgarity, indecency and falsehood” that the press was supposedly indulging in. He said, “It has become a matter of the deepest distress to me to see the way in which the less responsible news sheets are being conducted… not injuring me on this House much, but poisoning the minds of the younger generation and degrading their mental integrity and moral standards.”

“It is not for me a political problem but a moral problem,” Nehru said before opining that it had become “impossible to distinguish what is true and what is false.” Consequently, Nehru presided over a regime of censorship that persecuted cartoonists and journalists at will.

Since then, the Congress party has only carried forward the censorious legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru and persecuted journalists at will. Most notably, only months ago, they were after Republic TV Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami for his criticism of the Congress party.

Cancel Culture in the 21st Century

Thus, quite clearly, it is historically inaccurate to claim that the right-wing is intolerant and when the left engages in censorship, it is ‘increasingly becoming like the right’. It is especially the case in India, where the censorship regime has been established and furthered by the left-wing.

In the 21st century, another menace has presented itself in the form of ‘cancel culture‘. In this particular phenomenon, left-wing outrage mobs run online campaigns to bully corporate houses to drop sponsorship deals, publishers to withdraw book deals, social media platforms to suspend accounts among other things. It is almost exclusively run by the left-wing.

In the current scenario, a non-Left Twitter account, ‘The Skin Doctor’, was suspended by the platform due to the efforts of outrage mobs. And yet, instead of an unequivocal condemnation of the same, all we get from Gul Panag is a flimsy attempt to draw a false equivalence with the right.

Taliban removes Sikh religious flag from historic gurdwara in Afghanistan, India condemns the incident

OpIndia Staff
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Taliban removes Sikh religious flag from historic gurdwara in Afghanistan, India condemns the incident

As the Taliban expands its control over Afghanistan, it has started to enforce fundamental Islamic rules in the war-torn country. After enforcing rules like no smoking, no shaving, restrictions on women etc in the country, now the terror group have also started attacking religious places of minorities. As part of this, the Islamic extremists associated with the Taliban forcibly removed the holy Sikh flag Nishan Sahib from the Thala Shri Guru Nanak Sahib Gurdwara. The incident took place in Chamkani in the Paktia province of Afghanistan a few days ago.

As per reports, the Taliban forced the gurdwara caretaker to dislodge the Sikh flag from its original position. Hailed as an identity of Sikhism and Sikh pride, the Nishan Sahib was then tied to a tree within the gurdwara premises. This was done to ensure that the flag is not visible from a far-off distance. The Hindu reported that the matter was confirmed by a local resident named Charan Singh. He recounted that the caretaker was initially intimidated and was later forced to remove it from the rightful place.

While speaking about the matter, The Hindu reported that the Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen dismissed the accusations. He claimed, “Sikhs and the Hindu community have been living in Paktia for centuries. We are committed to their rights and they can lead their normal life like any Afghan.” The incident comes amidst the forceful takeover of Afghan territories by the Taliban.

Govt of India condemns the incident

According to reports, the Indian government has condemned the reported removal of a Sikh religious flag atop the roof of the Gurdwara in Paktia province of Afghanistan by the Taliban.

“We have seen media reports on Nishan Sahib, a Sikh religious flag, having been removed atop the roof of Gurdwara Thala Sahib, Chamkani in Paktia province of Afghanistan. We condemn this act and reiterate India’s firm belief that Afghanistan’s future must be the one where the interests of all sections of the Afghan society, including minorities and women, are protected,” a statement by a govt spokesperson said, as per sources.

Abduction and past attacks on Gurdwaras

The Paktia Gurdwara is of immense significance to the Sikh community as it is believed that the site was visited by Guru Nanak himself. The gurdwara is maintained by the local Sikh and Hindu communities. It must be mentioned that a Sikh man by the name of Nidan Singh Sachdeva was kidnapped by Taliban from the vicinity of the gurdwara in July last year. He was only released after the tremendous efforts of India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Afghan government.

On 25th March last year, 25 people were killed and 15 injured in a heinous attack on Gurudwara in the Shor Bazar area in Kabul. About 150 people were also held hostage. Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) which is an arm of Islamic State (IS) in Pakistan and Afghanistan was behind the attack. Indian Intelligence hinted additional role of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Haqqani Network in the attack.

Twitter tells Delhi HC it has complied with new IT rules, appoints Former ByteDance Executive as permanent Nodal Contact Officer

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter tells Delhi HC it has complied with new IT rules, appoints Former ByteDance Executive as permanent Nodal Contact Officer

While Twitter has already appointed a chief compliance officer and a resident grievance officer as a contingent arrangement, it was yet to designate a nodal contact person. However, the micro-blogging site on Friday informed the Delhi High Court that it has also appointed a Nodal Contact Officer also in compliance with the IT Rules, 2021.

Shahin Komath has been appointed as Nodal Contact Officer with effect from August 04 and is fully capable of performing the functions of the post as contemplated under Rule 4(1)(b) of the IT Rule, informed Twitter to the Court. Shahin Komath is a former executive with ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok.  

Shahin Komath is a former executive with ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok. Komath has experience of working with law enforcement in India as he was the nodal and grievance officer at ByteDance. He was responsible for handling law enforcement requests from South East Asia for the Chinese company. He has also worked as the grievance officer for the Helo short video app, another ByteDance app banned in India now. “Komath is fully capable of performing the functions of the Nodal Contact Person as contemplated under Rule 4(1)(b),” Twitter said in its affidavit submitted to the court.

The social networking platform in a written reply also informed that Vinay Prakash, who was earlier appointed as the Chief Compliance Officer, is also designated as Resident Grievance Officer of the company in India now. While earlier he was appointed on an interim basis, now his position has been made permanent.

Twitter had filed its response to the petition filed by lawyer Amit Acharya. Reportedly the petitioner had come across “defamatory, false and untrue” tweets on Twitter made by two verified users- Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and journalist Swati Chaturvedi.

The petitioner wanted to raise a grievance against them before the resident grievance officer under the IT Rules, 2021, however, “he (the petitioner) was unable to find the contact details of the Resident Grievance on the website of Twitter for raising his grievance,” informed Acharya to the Court. 

Reacting to the development, Additional Solicitor General of India (ASG) Chetan Sharma appearing for Centre said, ‘we need time to verify the new appointments made by Twitter Inc’.

It is imperative to note that Twitter in July had hired Prakash as a “contingent worker” through a third-party contractor. The Court, however, had taken objection to the word “contingent” and had also questioned Twitter’s submission of making an offer of employment to fill this position within eight weeks.

Court pulls up Twitter for non-compliance

Twitter’s statement also comes a week after the court observed that it was in “total non-compliance” with the new IT rules laid down by the Government of India.

Expressing unhappiness over affidavits, the HC granted one more week’s time to file a better affidavit which lists out details of persons appointed as Chief Compliance Officer and Grievance Officer as mandated in new IT Rules. The Centre too had raised objection to Twitter’s affidavit on compliance.

Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the government informed that the Indian government will now examine whether the appointments are as per the rules. 

Meet Aveek Sen: Newslaundry’s creepy writer who harassed a Baloch activist and sits with spreadsheets to harass non-Left Twitter accounts

OpIndia Staff
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Meet Aveek Sen: Newslaundry’s creepy writer who harassed a Baloch activist and sits with spreadsheets to harass non-Left Twitter accounts

A tweet went viral on Thursday where Newslaundry and The Print columnist Aveek Sen could be seen calling for the rape of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

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

Aveek Sen makes disgusting comment
Aveek Sen makes disgusting comment

The comment went viral after Aveek Sen went on a campaign to suspend non-Left accounts on Twitter. One of his primary targets was ‘The Skin Doctor’, who was suspended from the platform. But Sen was not satisfied with the result and wanted Twitter to suspend those who had retweeted or ‘liked’ his tweets.

After he embarked on his campaign, numerous tweets of his went viral on the platform. In the tweets, he could be seen using vile abusive language against his detractors and others.

Source: Twitter

The tweets demonstrate a virulent hatred for ‘The Skin Doctor’ and contained vicious abuses towards women.

Source: Twitter

There are countless tweets of his where he has made abusive comments.

Source: Twitter

Sen has made several tweets objectifying women.

Source: Twitter

Some tweets that he has made are truly shocking.

Source: Twitter

His tweets reveal that there is no low that he will not stoop to.

Source: Twitter
Source: Twitter

Numerous others came forward with their own stories about Aveek Sen and their interactions with him. Filmmaker Manish Mundra revealed that he was approached by Sen to fund his movie.

Creepy Pervert Writer strikes at a Baloch woman

In one particular instance, Aveek Sen harassed a woman who appeared to be a Baloch. After the woman thanked Sen for supporting the Baloch, his line of questioning veered towards extremely creepy behaviour. He asked her if she was married and her age.

Source: @NazHatoon/Twitter

Right after that, Sen asked her if she was on WhatsApp. When the woman refused to share her number, he told her that it was to confirm her identity and because he wanted to ‘support her cause’.

Source: @NazHatoon/Twitter

Then, he proceeded to demand her photograph. At this point, it was clear that she was uncomfortable with the whole conversation but he continued to persist. The conversation ended with him expressing the desire to meet her, to which she did not respond.

But our ‘knight in shining armour’ was not to be disheartened, he proceeded to tell her that he liked her and then a ‘reply me??????????????’ and a ‘u there?’. The interaction ended unceremoniously with a middle finger emoji from Sen.

Source: @NazHatoon/Twitter

Aveek Sen and Team Saath

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

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

To this, Aveek Sen responded standing by his tweet that called for the rape of Bengal CM. Sen also runs @hateSWATteam, which claims to be a “SWAT Team Against Hate & Fake Posts”.

Sen, who sits with excel sheets and databases to harass and suspend non-Left Twitter accounts, is also a columnist for ThePrint and Newslaundry.

‘Delete or face action’: Scientist Anand Ranganathan asks lawyer to initiate action against Alt News writer for lying and maligning his name

OpIndia Staff
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‘Delete or face action’: Scientist Anand Ranganathan asks lawyer to initiate action against Alt News writer for lying and maligning his name

On Friday (August 6), JNU scientist Anand Ranganathan asked his lawyer to serve a legal notice to Alt News writer for lying and maligning his image.

The controversy began a day earlier on Thursday (August 5) when neuroscientist turned AltNews writer Dr Sumaiya Shaikh accused Anand Ranganathan and scientist-turned-politician Gobardhan Das of ‘falsely maligning’ Ashoka University virology Professor Shahid Jameel. Shaikh had shared an article by The Print that cast aspersions about the credibility of Das and falsely claimed that he has been ‘flagged for manipulation.’ The Alt News writer alleged that Dr Das and Ranganathan had nefariously targeted the credibility of Shahid Jameel after he wrote a piece on the New York Times (NYT).

Screengrab of the tweet by Dr Sumaiya Shaikh

A day later on Friday, Anand Ranganathan took notice of the tweet and lambasted Dr Sumaiya Shaikh for religious bias and peddling lies. “Outrageous lie. I thought you were a scientist and wouldn’t let your religious convictions cloud your judgment. Show me ONE instance where I have maligned my ex-colleague of 14 years Dr Jameel; ONE. Apologise, delete your tweet, or I will contemplate legal action. ENOUGH!” he tweeted.

Screengrab of the tweet by Anand Ranganathan

The Background of the Controversy

It must be mentioned that Gobardhan Das had earlier criticised virologist Shahid Jameel for dismissing the possibility of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic in India. Dr Jameel had even claimed that the ‘worst of Coronavirus outbreak’ was over in December last year. He was a member of the national Covid-19 panel during the deadly second wave of the Coronavirus. Amidst that, Dr Jameel wrote an opinion piece in New York Times (NYT) critiquing the efforts of the government. Four days later, he resigned from his post.

A miffed Gobardhan Das had commented on May 17, “Criticizing GOI? Hypocrite! his incompetency severely harmed in predicting second wave. He does not have any experience on epidemiology. Neither anything to do with virology, other than sequencing few. Integrity? co-authored paper retracted, papers in PubPeer.” Das had tagged co-scientist Anand Ranganathan in his tweet.

Screengrab of the tweet by Gobardhan Das

Interestingly, Gobardhan Das had been a vocal critic of virologist Shahid Jameel. Earlier in January, he questioned Jameel for casting aspersions on the efficacy of the indigenous vaccine Covaxin. Das had said, “Some people are habitual attacker to Government. No matter what government does. Can he question himself, why paper been retracted where he is co-author? Govt doesn’t know who is UPA mole and giving all privileges. They are all hating Modi waiting for his fall.”

Screengrab of the tweet by Gobardhan Das

Anand Ranganathan slams Alt News writer for peddling lies

While playing the ‘religious victim’ card, Dr. Shaikh claimed, “Not everything is about religion, but apparently for a staunch believer like you it is. Many of the fraud papers are also co-authored by you. And ‘prof’ Das has quoted only you while maligning Jameel in his tweets about your ‘discussion’. The hate you share comes unfiltered in DM.” She not only accused Anand Ranganathan of publishing ‘fraudulent research papers’ but only orchestrating hate-filled campaigns against her. It must be clarified that Ranganathan had not made any comments about Dr Jameel.

The JNU Professor responded, “Not interested in your bigotry & lies. Just prove your claim that I maligned Dr Jameel. What you say was my quote, is actually the quote of someone else who has tagged me. Accept, Delete, and Apologise.” Anand Ranganathan has cited the archived link of the tweet of Gobardhan Das and clarified that he did not make any remarks against virologist Shahid Jameel. He cautioned the Alt News writer of legal action if she fails to retract her disinformation campaign.

However, Anand Ranganathan had reached the zenith of patience by then. He tagged Supreme Court advocate Raghav Awasthi and asked him to serve a legal notice to Dr Sumaiya Shaikh and her institute. “Dear Raghav, see the tweets above. Dr Shaikh has not only LIED that I maligned my ex-colleague, Dr. Jameel, she now attributes a quote to me I NEVER made (see archive link T2). If she doesn’t delete her tweets, serve her (and her institute) a legal notice on my behalf,” he concluded.

Screengrab of the tweet by Anand Ranganathan

The Print tries to malign Gobardhan Das based on anonymous comments on PubPeer

Earlier, on Wednesday (August 4), the leftist news portal ‘The Print’ sparked a controversy after it alleged that 11 research papers published by acclaimed scientist Gobardhan Das have been ‘flagged for manipulation.’ The article titled, “11 papers by JNU scientist & BJP candidate Das flagged for ‘manipulation’, he blames politics” was authored by one Mohana Basu and edited by Amit Upadhyaya. The contentious piece relied on comments made by users in a post-publication peer-review journal called PubPeer. A majority of critical comments of the said 11 research papers by Gobardhan Das have been made over the span of the last 2 months.

Some of the research papers, that have come under the ‘spotlight’, date back to even 15 years. As such, it has raised suspicion of a motivated ‘political’ campaign, aimed at tarnishing the credibility of Gobardhan Das. Despite being well aware that the critical comments on a peer-reviewed journal do not automatically imply a guilty conscience, The Print nevertheless tried to insinuate that Das’ research work on based on manipulation. With a deliberate choice of a clickbait headline, the leftist publication ensured that the misinformation was disseminated among its readers.

With a curious and non-confrontational attitude, Das patiently answered the queries and regretted tany inadvertent errors caused. According to him, the comments were ‘minor’ and ‘not substantial’. In his defense, Gobardhan Das told The Print that he was being targeted ever since he applied for a directorial post at a big institute. Interestingly, The Print in its article had itself conceded that such comments on PubPeer were not proof of research fraud.The article said, “While the website is primarily used by scientists to discuss published work, people can also post on it anonymously… According to experts, comments on PubPeer are not in themselves proof of research fraud, but they can trigger probes. 

India and China disengage at Gogra in Ladakh, troops of both countries return to pre-stand-off period, structures dismantled: Details

OpIndia Staff
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India and China disengage at Gogra in Ladakh, troops of both countries return to pre-stand-off period, structures dismantled: Details

In a major development, the Indian Army has announced that disengagement is another friction point along the LAC with China has been completed. The Indian Army, in its statement, said that the landform in Gogra has been restored by both sides to the pre-standoff period.

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“As per the agreement reached during Corps Commander talks, India and China have ceased forward deployments in (Patrolling Point) PP-17 (Gogra Post) in phased, coordinated and verified manner,” the statement released by the Indian Army said. The disengagement process was carried out over 4-5 August 2021.

All temporary structures, other infrastructure created by both sides were dismantled and mutually verified, the army said.

“The agreement ensures that Line of Actual Control in this area will be strictly observed and respected by both sides. Both India, China expressed commitment to take talks forward and resolve remaining issues along LAC in eastern Ladakh,” the statement further added.

“The Indian Army along with ITBP is committed to ensure the sovereignty of the nation and maintain peace along LAC in eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army said.

With the completion of disengagement at Gogra, India and China have resolved four of the six flashpoints, the others being Galwan, North and South banks of Pangong Lake. The standoffs in Depsang and Hot Springs still continue.

Christian genocide in Nigeria: Locals lament their lives don’t matter for western media as Islamists kill 22 farmers in yet another attack

OpIndia Staff
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Christian genocide in Nigeria: Locals lament their lives don’t matter for western media as Islamists kill 22 farmers in yet another attack

After destroying ripe crops, Islamists belonging to the Fulani ethnic group stormed four villages in the Southern Kaduna state of Nigeria, killing 22 people and incinerating 134 houses, a report published in The Epoch Times said.

Kaduna state police believe the violence is a spillover effect of the turmoil that has convulsed the neighbouring Bassa LGA (Local Government Area) of Plateau State. Kaduna shares its border with Plateau State to its east.

Kyle Abts, one of the co-founders of the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) said there is a pattern to the violence that has been unleashed in the region. Abts added that the target of the Fulani terror groups are not random and the targets are not new.

“Each village has been attacked in recent weeks, months and years. The security forces and government have to know that this is a systematic onslaught by these marauders who are endeavouring to destroy not only homes, communities and farmlands, but most importantly lives,” The Epoch Times quoted Abts as saying.

At the heart of the violence that has gripped Southern Nigeria is the religious persecution of the Christian population by the Muslim radicals of the Fulani ethnic tribe. Christian farmers are routinely attacked and killed by Muslim Fulani herdsmen as a battle for scarce resources stirs long-held tensions over religion and ethnicity.

Across the length and breadth of the region, the Fulani fanatics have been hunting down Christian farmers, attacking them, destroying their produce and setting their houses on fire. Entire Christian villages have been burnt to ashes, just because the inhabitants of those villages professed a different religion or refused to abandon their faith. According to a report published in June 2020, Nigeria lost 6,500 citizens and 62,000 others were displaced from their homelands in 850 recorded violent clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the Middle Belt region of the country between 2010 and 2015. However, records show vastly underreported deaths from the conflict.

The survivors of the Fulani Group’s onslaught, however, lament that the international media and western countries have played down the conflict merely as a fight between farmers and herdsmen, brushing under the carpet the fact that religion is one of the important factors contributing to the violence.

International media turns a blind eye to religious persecution of Christians in Nigeria

After the massacre of 22 people in Kaduna, the President of Southern Kaduna People’s Union(SOKAPU), Jonathan Asake said that his organisation has continuously insisted that there is an ongoing genocide in Southern Kaduna targeted at the indigenous Christian population and the aim is to force or intimidate them to renounce their faith or leave their ancestral lands for the armed herdsmen.

Asake also accused the Kaduna State government and the federal government of Nigeria of condoning the ongoing genocide of minority Christians in the region.

“Some of the attacked villages, like Kigam and Unguwan Magaji have been attacked at least three times in the past six years, with mass graves where scores were buried standing as a testimony of what we are saying,” said Asake. “Not a single church or school is left standing. Not a single herdsman has been apprehended all these years.”

“It is unfortunate that while Kaduna State government and the Federal Government is playing blind to it, the larger world, especially the western media do not believe that our lives are worth any news,” he bemoaned.

The conflict between herders and farmers over natural resources has a long history throughout Nigeria. It is particularly stark in the Southern region. In Plateau, one of the most ethnically diverse states in Nigeria, disputes between indigenous and settler groups over resources has now devolved into religious persecution, with Muslim Fulani groups attacking and killing their Christian counterparts with abandon.

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