The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) will expand its database to target ‘extremist content’ shared by ‘white supremacists’ and ‘far-right militias’, Reuters has reported. Until now, the database has limited its focus on content by terrorist groups on a United Nations’ list but it will now expand operations.
The GIFCT will use lists from intelligence sharing groups such as Five Eyes to add URLs and PDFs from Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and other ‘white supremacist’ and ‘militia’ groups. “Anyone looking at the terrorism or extremism landscape has to appreciate that there are other parts…that are demanding attention right now,” GIFCT’s Executive Director Nicholas Rasmussen told Reuters.
Fourteen groups can access the database including Reddit, Snapchat-owner Snap, Facebook-owned Instagram, Verizon Media, Microsoft’s LinkedIn and Dropbox. GIFCT was formed in 2017 in light of the terror attacks in 2017. Its database contains digital imprints of posts mostly from groups on a UN Security Council Sanctions’ list.
However, there have been concerns of censorship and violation of free speech rights. “Over-achievement in this takes you in the direction of violating someone’s rights on the internet to engage in free expression,” Rasmussen said. The group was founded by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube.
The announcement comes days after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki suggested that if someone is banned from one site, then he should be banned from others as well. She also revealed that the US Government was getting posts removed that it considered ‘disinformation’.
Psaki had said, “We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation. We’re working with doctors and medical experts…who are popular with their audience with accurate information. So, we’re helping get trusted content out there.”
Pakistani actor and alleged girlfriend of underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim, Mehwish Hayat, recently revealed her political aspirations and her aim to occupy the PM’s chair in the land. During her Q&A session on Geo TV, Hayat said she is inspired by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and would like to become the Prime Minister of the country someday.
When the host of the session asked her if she intends to pursue a career in politics, the actor confidently responded in affirmative, saying “InshaAllah”(god willing).
“Will you practice politics through the parliament or through a political party?” the host asked. Mehwish Hayat cryptically answered that time will better tell whether her entry to politics happens by joining the parliament or by forming her own political party.
Hayat said she is massively inspired by the politics of the PTI in particular. “I am inspired by their politics because they have brought about good changes and a paradigm shift in the way society used to think. Imran Khan was a cricketer before he took the plunge into politics. If a cricketer can become the prime minister of the country, surely actors can also become one as well,” she said.
Naturally, her keen interest in wanting to become the prime minister of the country prompted the host to ask if she intends to challenge Imran Khan, the incumbent prime minister. Hayat did not shy away from expressing her interest in becoming Pakistan’s next female premier.
“I don’t want to challenge him but someone is bound to take his place later on and I can also become a contender for the prime minister’s position,” she said.
It is worth noting that Imran Khan is considered by many as the pseudo prime minister of the country, a leader who is installed by the Pakistani deep state, i.e Pakistani Army, to give a pretence of working democracy to the western countries. Several Pakistani observers and analysts claim that Imran Khan continues to remain a figurehead prime minister of Pakistan and acts as a marionette whose strings are controlled by the mandarins of the Pakistani Army.
As for Hayat’s relationship with Dawood Ibrahim, it was recently reported that the dreaded gangster was allegedly unhappy after reports of him being in a romantic affair with the Pakistani actor become public. Mehwish Hayat is 27 years younger than Dawood Ibrahim and the rumours of their relationship started doing the rounds after she was awarded Pakistan’s civilian honour of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 2019.
It was alleged that time that Dawood Ibrahim was enamoured with Mehwish after he saw him an item song. After this, he came into contact with her and reportedly helped her in bagging big projects. It was initially speculated that some influential person from Karachi who has good ties with the Tehreek-e-Insaf party was behind Hayat’s swift success in the Pakistani film industry. Later, it was revealed that the man was none other than Dawood Ibrahim, who has always had a firm hold over the film industry and has good relations with many director-producers in Pakistan.
Dawood Ibrahim is a wanted criminal in India and is one of the accused in the Mumbai 1993 bomb blasts in which 257 people lost their lives and more than 1,400 were injured after a series of 12 bombs went off in different parts of the city.
On Saturday (July 24), several foreign journalists were harassed by locals in the city of Zhengzhou in the Henan province of China. The hostile confrontation came after a BBC correspondent named Robin Brant questioned the local government over the flooding situation in Zhengzhou.
As per reports, the metropolis has witnessed a year’s worth of rainfall in the past week. This led to massive floods that claimed the lives of 69 people. While covering the news on Thursday (July 22), journalist Robin Brant quizzed the local government over its failure in containing the floods and the weak emergency response. “We don’t know why they were left so vulnerable,” he said over the death of a dozen people in a train carriage filled with water. In his report, he emphasised that Beijing had cautioned local governments to examine metro regulations and their preparedness.
However, Chinese netizens were miffed at BBC’s coverage of the flooding situation in Zhengzhou. On microblogging site Weibo, they accused Robint Brant of ‘factual distortion’ and ‘rumour-mongering.’ A post on Weibo read, “BBC reporter Robin Brant has appeared in disaster-stricken areas of our city many times, and has seriously distorted the facts. If you find this person, please call the police immediately.” Many posts were abusive in nature and threatened to leak the personal information of the journalist.
(Video Courtesy: Youtube/BBC)
Foreign journalists harassed by Chinese citizens over ‘mistaken identity’
As a consequence, Deutsche Welle (DW) correspondent Mathias Boelinger was stopped on the streets and gheraoed by an angry crowd after they mistook him for Robin Brant. In a Twitter thread, he narrated, “They kept pushing me yelling that I was a bad guy and that I should stop smearing China. One guy [tried] to snatch my phone. What I did not know at the time was that a manhunt was on after (Brant)…There is a vicious campaign against the BBC News in nationalistic circles and state media.” He had also shared a video of the incident, wherein he was reprimanded by another man for not having a positive view of China.
Boelinger was also accompanied by LA Times journalist Alice Su when the confrontation took place. At that time, they were interviewing local shopkeepers about the challenges or the ‘inadequate governmental help’ received by them. In a tweet, Alice Su wrote, “This is Mathias Boelinger and me in the streets of Zhengzhou yesterday. We were surrounded by an angry crowd shouting things like this is China, get out of China! I tried to de-escalate by “translating” the crowd’s message (Mathias is actually fluent in Chinese).”
This is @mare_porter and me in the streets of Zhengzhou yesterday. We were surrounded by an angry crowd shouting things like this is China, get out of China! I tried to de-escalate by “translating” the crowd’s message (Mathias is actually fluent in Chinese) https://t.co/uE7glR1kBS
In visuals shared by Su, it could be seen how the crowd had been intimidating the duo. While commenting on the video on Weibo, Chinese netizens had called for their deportation from the country. A similar treatment was meted out to Katrina Yu of Al Jazeera. She wrote, “Sad sign of increasing anger and suspicion towards foreign media in #China. When we filmed in front of the #Zhengzhou subway crowds were recording us and calling the authorities. This post on Weibo warns residents “don’t accept interviews from foreign media, don’t be used!”
There’s been an orchestrated campaign against the foreign media in #Zhengzhou, fuelled by the Communist Youth League. So the strategy to try to make it a patriotic duty to harass those doing real reporting to distract from criticism of bad infrastructure not coping with flooding? https://t.co/dwdsCMxgYc
While commenting on the vitriol faced by the foreign media in China, BBC journalist Stephen McDonell tweeted, “There’s been an orchestrated campaign against the foreign media in #Zhengzhou, fuelled by the Communist Youth League. So the strategy to try to make it a patriotic duty to harass those doing real reporting to distract from criticism of bad infrastructure not coping with flooding?”
Screenshots of vitriolic posts on Weibo shows the growing anti-foreign media establishment amount Chinese netizens. Communist accounts with 100K+ followers have accused DW and BBC of spreading rumours and emphasised that the journalists need to be thrashed.
Screengrab of the toxic posts on Weibo
Chinese State media’s defence and growing censorship
China has been criticised for peddling the myth of Zhengzhou being a sponge city. The Chinese government had spent 50 billion Chinese Yuan in infrastructure to prevent flooding in the metropolis. However, the disaster wrecked by the flood shows otherwise. While foreign media has exposed the mismanagement by Chinese authorities, lapdog media network Global Times has come to the Communist Party of China (CCP’s) rescue.
It claimed, “Chinese observers refuted the reports, noting that these media reiterated the loss, but neglected one fact, that the floods in Zhengzhou is a once-in-a-century occasion and beyond any city’s bearing capacity. They noted that the Zhengzhou government has made its best efforts to limit the loss.”
Reportedly, Chinese media has been specifically instructed to report only authoritative information and not draw connections to past events or take a sorrowful tone. The growing influence of the Chinese regime has made it difficult for the foreign press to operate in the country. To add to it, the Communist government had expelled 20 foreign journalists so far in the past 2 years over ‘critical reporting.’
The Michigan kidnapping plot was one of the sensational news stories of 2020. About 13 people were arrested for allegedly conspiring to abduct Michigan State Governor Gretchen Whitmer and overthrow the State government over strict Covid-19 rules. The said arrests were made by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and it was alleged that the conspiracy was a prelude to the Capitol Hill riots that took place on January 6 this year. However, an exclusive news report by Buzzfeed shows how FBI entrapped and instigated the kidnapping plot through its informants.
In March last year, a US Army veteran identified as ‘Dan’ logged onto Facebook to connect with individuals who liked guns. While navigating through gun rights pages, he stumbled upon a private group named ‘Wolverine watchmen’. The group members identified themselves as ‘US patriots’ who were looking for like-minded individuals. Following a brief screening, Dan was inducted into the group and was given the opportunity to train with them.
He was asked to download an encrypted messaging app called Wire. Dan was asked about his political views. He responded by saying that he was a libertarian, believed in small governments, and took an oath to defend the US Constitution. After being convinced by his answers, the group members inducted him into the main chat of ‘Wolverine watchmen’. Dan, who had served in Iraq as a fire support specialist, wanted to preserve his tactical expertise. His main objective behind joining the group was to hone his skills by training with other gun enthusiasts and shooting at targets in the woods.
FBI asked Dan to work as an ‘undercover’ agent
There was a plethora of jokes and memes about the Second Amendment (Right to own firearms) in the group chat. It came as a shocker to the US army veteran when a fellow group member named Peter Musico asked everyone to download a hunting app. The app was meant to track down the addresses of police officers so that they could be murdered at their homes. A mortified Dan then showed the chat messages to a friend, who happened to be a police officer. He then received a message from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Jayson Chambers, who asked him to come to their office.
Instead of taking the matter into their own hands, the FBI asked Dan to work for them as an undercover agent and provide information about the activities of ‘Wolverine Watchmen’. Although he was initially hesitant about the new assignment, Dan eventually agreed to be a part of the undercover mission. Unlike other informants, the FBI did not promise him any benefits and only appealed to his goodwill. On March 17 last year, he was officially recruited as an informant and was codenamed ‘Thor’. His job was to deceive the group members, pass on crucial information to the FBI, participate in group activities with the condition that he must stop short of doing anything illegal.
Dan taught tactical skills to the Watchmen, FBI watched as they stormed Michigan Capitol
Dan began training with the members of the ‘Wolverine Watchmen’. He taught them tactical skills that he learnt during his tenure in the army. He helped the group members build a mock-up of the house of Michigan Michigan State Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Dan taught them how to break into the house and clear each room. Two weeks later on April 30, 2020, he went to the Michigan State Capitol with the Watchmen and joined a protest against Whitmer’s strict Covid-19 rules. The group members were planning to put their training to the test, in the presence of hundreds of police personnel.
The army veteran was accompanied to the protest by the founding members of ‘Wolverine Watchmen’, namely, Pete Musico, Joe Morrison, and Paul Bellar. All of them were equipped with AR-15 assault rifles, pistols, and ballistic body armour. Morrison and Musico talked about recruiting new members to the group but Dan overheard plans of storming the Michigan Capitol. Meanwhile, Bellar seemed excited to execute the plans while Musico waited patiently to catch the Michigan Governor as she came out of the emergency exit.
Dan was equipped with a wire and spoke to the FBI handlers, who were constantly monitoring his movements. While the Watchmen was planning to storm the Capitol, he was hoping that the FBI agents alert the police that was deployed at the site. But soon, the Watchmen were inside the State Capitol with their guns and the police did not resist the security breach. They were followed by a frenzied mob, which intimidated the State troopers inside the Capitol. Other than the group members and other ‘patriots’ was a 37-year-old man named Adam Fox. Unemployed and a gym freak, he was aghast at Whitmer for closing down gyms in the State.
Dan makes Fox a part of the Wolverine Watchmen
Fox was always looking for opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals. And Morrison too had decided that the Watchmen meet him. On one Sunday, they called Fox during a field training session but couldn’t hear anything due to poor connecting and the sound of raging bulets. By then, Dan was elevated to the post of second-in-command (Executive officer). He volunteered to call Adam Fox later in the day. After the training was over, he rushed to the FBI’s office in Flint and called Fox on a recorded line.
Fox lamented how patriots were misjudged as ‘white nationalists’, ‘racists’ and ‘domestic terrorists’. While vowing to take revenge, he added, “We just want our fucking Constitution upheld and we want all these lawless fucking tyrants out of fucking power. It’s that simple.” When Dan pestered him about his specific plans, he informed that his plan was to hogtie Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on a table for public display. Fox revealed his nefarious plans to take hostages but lamented that nothing could be done without 200 other men. In the presence of two FBI agents, Dan promised to help Fox execute his plans and assemble a large team of ‘patriots.’
Dan asked Fox to come and train with the ‘Wolverine Watchmen.’ Dan was unaware of the informants or the completes plans of the FBI. The operation, codenamed ‘Cold Snap’ by the FBI, was meant to nab the ‘domestic terrorists’. On June 18 last year, the Watchmen met Fox, who seemed ready to storm the Michigan Capitol yet again. His plan was to rush in and kill all legislators on live TV. And if the plan did not work out, he vowed to lock the doors and burnt the building down with all legislators in it.
Adam Fox encourages arson, kidnapping, and murder while Dan agrees to help him
Bellar, who was pictured in the Michigan Capitol breach, was skeptical about Fox’s plans to storm the building yet again. On June 28, Fox met the Watchmen, and his plan of breaking into the State Capitol was turned down. Musico had suggested the idea of kidnapping politicians or killing them after knocking on their doors late at night. After a few weeks, Dan drove the group members to Wisconsin for a national training exercise. He had paid for the food, lodging, and gas for the group members. When they again met on July 11, Dan discussed plans about manufacturing weapons.
Buzzfeed noted, “Dan was spending increasing amounts of time chatting with other Watchmen, talking to Fox and some of his friends on the phone, and attempting to recruit others who might be willing to participate in the evolving plot. By late August, Watchmen began reaching out to Morrison to tell him they no longer wanted to be members, but instead would continue to train with Dan and Fox, the informant later recounted in testimony.” Meanwhile, the FBI kept pushing Dan to recruit more members to execute the kidnapping plot. To lure new recruits, he promised to provide tactical gear, medical kits and plater carries. And Fox was increasingly focussed on Whitmer.
Informant Dan entraps group members, leading to their arrest
As per FBI’s plans, Dan drove Adam Fox, Wolverine Watchmen Daniel Harris, Kaleb Franks, and Dy Garbin to a warehouse under the pretext of buying explosives. The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team was waiting for them in full tactical gear, arrest warrants, and handcuffs. They were arrested and the FBI team also pretended to arrest Dan. With the exception of the army veteran, everyone was booked for conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Dan was rewarded with $54,793.95, mortgage cover, a new phone, a computer, and vehicle.
Dan was not just a spectator to the conspiracy but a crucial part of it
Buzzfeed wrote, “Many of the defense attorneys have argued that the Watchmen would never have been involved in any kind of plot at all if it weren’t for Dan. It was Dan, the combat veteran, who taught the Watchmen the military tactics that made them attractive to someone like Fox, the attorneys claimed. It was Dan, too, they said, who had brought Fox into the group despite objections from multiple Watchmen that he seemed “crazy.” It was Dan, along with Robeson — another informant — who had supported Fox’s kidnapping plan, and Dan who acted as the personal chauffeur to the Watchmen, Fox, and others to ensure they had every opportunity to conspire.”
It further added, “An examination of the case by BuzzFeed News also reveals that some of those informants, acting under the direction of the FBI, played a far larger role than has previously been reported. Working in secret, they did more than just passively observe and report on the actions of the suspects. Instead, they had a hand in nearly every aspect of the alleged plot, starting with its inception. The extent of their involvement raises questions as to whether there would have even been a conspiracy without them”
Other FBI informants also instigated the Michigan kidnapping plot
A biker from Wisconsin was also an undercover FBI agent. He helped organise meetings across the country and laid the initial foundation of the kidnapping plot. He even paid for food and lodging to encourage more people to join the Michigan conspiracy. It is reported that at least 12 confidential informants assisted the investigation into the matter. There was another FBI informant who guided the group members about possible locations to place explosives while a man who went by the alias of ‘Mark’ also worked under FBI’s directions. All the 14 men, with the exception of one, have pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy and claim that “no actual conspiracy to kidnap the governor ever existed.”
According to them, texts and recordings cited as evidence of criminal conspiracy by the Government is actually constitutionally protected speech in the USA. The report further states that “one defendant has formally accused the government of entrapment, arguing that the FBI assembled the key plotters, encouraged the group’s anti-government feelings, and even gave its members military-style training. Additional defendants have said they plan to make similar claims when the cases, divided between federal and state court, go to trial starting as soon as October.”
US Army General Patrick Donahoe recently had a meltdown on Twitter after uncomfortable facts shared by one of the Twitter users grated on his nerves. The Army General was so riled up by the social media user’s tweets and the subsequent barrage of criticism directed at him that he posted a tweet referring to those disagreeing with him as “trolls” and members of “disinformation tinfoil hat team”.
Public Service Announcement. Block and report the trolls and the disinformation tinfoil hat team.
However, social media users did not take the US Army General’s tweet kindly, accusing him of attempting to crush their free speech rights. Scores of Twitter users slammed Donahoe for calling upon people to block and report users who did not hew to his worldview.
NEW – Commanding Major General of the @USArmy sent out a “Public Service Announcement” on Twitter ordering people to block and report others. https://t.co/EfffPczqrA
The US Army General’s unseemly tweet, asking people to block dissenting voices came after he drew a sharp backlash from social media users for intimidating a social media user who questioned him on one of his tweets.
The matter pertains to a tweet posted by Major General Patrick Donahoe, wherein he urged the US army trainees to get vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines after a spike was reported in young trainees in ICU and a spike in trainees testing positive for the coronavirus.
To this, one social media user, Josiah Lippincott, who is also a PhD student at Hillsdale College, according to his Twitter bio, shared the stark facts about the menace of suicide that afflicts the US Department of Defense. Josiah said in Q4 of 2020 alone, there were 26 more suicides reported as compared to that in Q4 of 2019. He further highlighted that there have been 26 total deaths in the Department of Defense.
Sharing the suicide statistics from the Department of Defense website, the PhD student contended that lockdowns, liberty restrictions, quarantines, and general disruption of service members’ lives were bigger factors in driving people to kill themselves than the fatalities reported from the virus.
General, in Q4 of 2020 alone, there were 26 more suicides than in Q4 2019. There have been 26 Covid deaths TOTAL in the DoD.
The lockdowns, liberty restrictions, quarantines, and general disruption of servicemember’s lives is a way bigger killer than the virus. pic.twitter.com/NFFGdDtCEu
However, Donahoe dismissed Josiah’s contention as false equivalence and suggested that he compare the stats of auto accidents for the same period.
Source: Twitter
But Josiah responded back, highlighting the key difference between deaths from suicide and deaths from accidents. He said suicide is an intentional act while car accidents are not. “When policy treats healthy soldiers as biological hazards, we should not be surprised by an increase in suicide and psychological problems,” Josiah retorted.
Donahoe seemed rattled by this acerbic remark by the Twitter user and proceeded towards tagging the University where he is pursuing his PhD, presumably to scare the student from making any further argument.
Netizens slam US Army General for using intimidation to threaten the free speech right of a social media user
However, this attempt to crush the free speech of a Twitter user did not sit well with netizens, who called out the Army General for attempting to trample upon the democratic right of a fellow citizen and intimidating him into submission. An overwhelming number of social media users came in the support of Josiah and slammed the US Army General for indulging in an act that did not behove an Army officer.
A Twitter user wondered if this is the way an army officer should be interacting with members of the public.
General is this anyway for an officer to be interacting with members of the public? Hey @SecDef@SecArmy come get your boy.
Journalist Elijah Schaffer was also among those who were not pleased with the way the US Army General responded to the Twitter user. Schaffer tweeted: “The US Army isn’t what you think it is.”
Even though the Army General did not acknowledge the menace of suicide among the defence forces, it, nevertheless, remains one of the major causes of fatalities among the US Armed Forces. The suicide rate among active-duty troops jumped to a six-year high in 2020, a report released by Pentagon said. In 2019, the rate of suicide among active-duty troops was 25.9 per 100,000 troops. The rate was 24.9 per 100,000 in 2018, and 21.9 per 100,000 in 2017. The rate has shown a steady increase from 2014 when the rate was 18.5 per 100,000 service members.
The Supreme Court on Monday noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), which had filed an FIR against former Kerala police officers allegedly responsible for framing erstwhile ISRO scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr Nambi Narayanan in a fake espionage case in 1994, must proceed against the accused as per law.
The court, however, added that the CBI must gather evidence and not solely rely on the findings of the reports by the Justice Jain Committee, the three-member panel set up after it acquitted Dr Narayanan in 2018. The court said the report was only meant as an “initial basis” for it to understand the case and warned the central agency to not let its probe be influenced by the committee report.
A two-member bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna said, “CBI can proceed after registration of FIR in accordance with the law. The respondent can take all possible remedies available in law… further, after registration of FIR, CBI must collect material on its own and not proceed on basis of the report submitted by Jain committee.”
The court also noted that while the Justice Jain Committee report need not be made public, the FIR registered by the CBI ought to be uploaded on its website. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured on behalf of the central agency to publish the FIR in the course of the day. The court asked if any of the parties had further grievance in the case, they could approach the Supreme Court.
Kerala HC grants bail to ex-cops accused in the fake ISRO espionage case
It is also worth mentioning that the Kerala High Court today granted interim relief to ex-cops in the ISRO espionage case. The former Kerala police officers, S Vijayan and Thampi S Durga Dutt, the first and second accused respectively in the case relating to hatching a conspiracy to frame former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan and others in the ISRO espionage case were granted anticipatory bail for two weeks by the Kerala High Court on Monday.
Earlier this month, the CBI submitted in the Kerala High Court that the false implication of former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan impacted the technological development of cryogenic technology in the country’s space research.
The central agency appeared before the Kerala High Court to oppose the bail pleas of two former Kerala Police officers, who were involved in the arrest of former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan in a 1994 espionage case. Opposing the bail, the CBI said that these two officers falsely implicated Nambi Narayanan in a “concocted case” that led to a delay in the development of India’s cryogenic technology.
Nambi Narayanan – the victim of politico-bureacracy nexus
It is pertinent to note that scientist Nambi Narayan was a victim of persecution by the Congress party. The political rivalry between the two factions of the Kerala Congress party led to the arrest of Narayanan, along with two other scientists D Sasikumaran and K Chandrasekhar, in November 1994. The Kerala police had levelled espionage charges under sections 3,4 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act against the scientists.
However, the CBI, in its probe, found that the allegations against him were false. In 1998, the Supreme Court upheld the findings by the CBI and had asked the Kerala government to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to Narayanan and others. However, Dr Narayanan had approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)seeking justice for the harassment and agony meted out to him. In 2001, the NHRC had awarded a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to him.
While absolving Narayanan of any wrongdoing, the CBI had said that Siby Mathews had left “the entire investigation to IB surrendering his duties” and ordered the indiscriminate arrest of the scientist and others without adequate evidence”.
In 2018, the Supreme Court had ordered a high-level probe to investigate the role of erring police officials in the espionage case relating to Nambi Narayanan. In April this year, the court had directed the CBI to take over the probe and conduct further investigation in the case.
The three-member committee, headed by former top court judge Justice (retd) DK Jain, was appointed by the top court in 2018 after acquitting Narayanan in the case. In addition, the apex court had also ordered the Kerala government to pay Rs.50 lakh as compensation for compelling Nambi Narayanan to undergo “immense humiliation”.
In 2019, the Union government led by Narendra Modi finally awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan to Nambi Narayanan on the occasion of the 70th Republic Day. Later in December 2019, the Kerala government approved to provide compensation of Rs 1.3 crore to former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan for his wrongful arrest and harassment by the Kerala Police in the 1994 spying case.
On the 22nd anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, iconic images of an Indian Air Force missile with ‘From Raveena Tandon to Nawaz Sharif’ written on it are back on the internet.
Reportedly, Tandon is former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s favourite actress and the message on the missile was to taunt Sharif.
The actor too took to Twitter to share several throwback images from her visit to Kargil to commemorate Kargil Vijay Divas. Sharing an image where she can be seen meeting the soldiers, Tandon’s post said, “I was there.”
She also shared an image of the IAF MiG-27 with the aforementioned message and an excerpt of her interview where she spoke about this move by the Indian Air Force.
When questioned about the incident by Scroll in a 2017 interview, Tandon had said, “I do not like confrontation or violence. I am aware of the picture and what probably inspired it. But I also visited the soldiers during the war and came back shaken. I did not visit them to promote a film. I genuinely felt affected by what was happening.”
“My father was a huge patriot. My mother’s family suffered the Partition holocaust when they fled Sindh. I grew up with stories of sacrifice, valour and courage. Since I have received so much love and affection from our people, it is my responsibility to give back something as well,” she had added further.
A report in Jagran states that when the India-Pakistan Kargil war was at its peak, the Indian side was having a winning edge. When an Indian soldier was martyred and Indian soldiers had gone to bring back his body, Pakistani soldiers taunted them by saying, “take your dead man and give us Madhuri and Raveena.” Enraged, Indian soldiers decided to write this up on the warhead.
Netizens share images of this ‘special gift’ to Pakistan
Several netizens reminiscing this iconic gift to Pakistan from the Indian Air Force took to social media to reshare images.
Tagging IAF a user wrote, “Kargil war 1999: IAF dropped a bomb named after Raveena Tandon, as PM of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has said Raveena is his favourite actress. Trolling Level @IAF_MCC”.
Kargil war 1999 : IAF dropped a bomb named after Raveena Tandon, as PM of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has said Raveena is his favourite actresses
Another user sharing the backstory Tweeted, “During Kargil war, Pak soldiers used to mock Madhuri Dixit & Raveena Tandon. They used to taunt “We will leave Kashmir if India gives us Madhuri & Raveena. So Indian Air Force replied with this”.
During Kargil war, Pak soldiers used to mock Madhuri Dixit & Raveena Tandon. They used to taunt “We will leave Kashmir if India gives us Madhuri & Raveena. So Indian Air Force replied with this ?#KargilVijayDiwaspic.twitter.com/Kmyrwev89x
Another said, “During Kargil War, Indian forces intercepted many Pakistani Radio chatters where Pakistani army was mocking Madhuri Dixit and Raveena Tandon. Then Indian Air Force replied in style”.
During Kargil War, Indian forces intercepted many Pakistani Radio chatters where Pakistani army was mocking Madhuri Dixit and Raveena Tandon. Then Indian Air Force replied in style?? pic.twitter.com/yG0DjNmqpg
It was on July 26 in 1999 when ‘Operation Vijay’ was successful with India emerging victorious after a three-month-long battle. In the war that ensued on rugged terrain and dangerous heights, India pushed back the Pakistani troops from the captured peaks in Kargil.
Sharing an excerpt of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ from last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to the 500 soldiers martyred in the war.
“We remember their sacrifices. We remember their valour. Today, on Kargil Vijay Diwas we pay homage to all those who lost their lives in Kargil protecting our nation,” he Tweeted.
We remember their sacrifices.
We remember their valour.
Today, on Kargil Vijay Diwas we pay homage to all those who lost their lives in Kargil protecting our nation. Their bravery motivates us every single day.
A 31 year old man was questioned by the NIA on Saturday regarding objectionable material allegedly posted on his Facebook account, the Hindu reported. The man, identified as Yousuf Aslam, had converted to Islam after marrying his wife. His initial name was Udayakumar.
Asam runs a biryani and mobile phone shop at Chinnamanur in Theni district of Tamil Nadu. Reportedly, the NIA had been monitoring his Facebook account for some time. The account allegedly expressed support for banned outfits and contained literature related to the “sacrifices” of Muslims around the world and the need to fight ‘anti-Muslim’ forces.
The idea of a separate nation called ‘Khalifa’ was also floated. The NIA team took a few pen drives, a laptop, SIM cards and three mobile phones. One source reportedly said that Aslam was picked up as he was the admin of a WhatsApp group.
Another admin identified as one Abdullah from Madurai was questioned on Friday. Two admins are from Kerala and Karnataka. He was let off in the presence of Jamaat members after an assurance that he would cooperate with the authorities in the probe.
According to an India Today report, Abdullah had made posts on Facebook “instigating people on religious grounds to wage war against India and establish Khilafat, thus threatening the sovereignty of India” and was arrested earlier this year. The NIA conducted searches across 22 locations spread over four districts – Thanjavur, Madurai, Theni and Tirunelveli.
Bombay High Court on Monday refused to hear Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar’s intervention plea in Kangana Ranaut passport renewal case in which Akhtar claimed that the actress failed to disclose certain facts while seeking speedy renewal of her passport. Advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for Akhtar and submitted that the statement made by Ranaut that there were no criminal cases pending against her in any court was ‘false and misleading’. Ranaut “committed a fraud to get her passport,” Grover claimed.
However, the bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice N J Jamadar refused to hear Akhtar’s plea. “If we allow your intervention then why not 100 others or 1000 others. Who is the informant? You are not the informant. The state is there. You have no right to intervene,” Justice S S Shinde said.
Grover was one of the lawyers who signed the mercy petition for 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
When Grover continued to argue, Justice Jamadar asked her to stop and listen to the court. Justice Shinde said, “You have no right to audience. You have no right to address the court. If we allow applications like this then courts will get flooded. We will not be able to function. There are public prosecutor, respondents in this case. If you want to say anything say through them. There are able advocates like Rizwan Merchant. You can say through them.”
Akhtar, who is busy spending his free time engaging himself in legal battles against national award winning actress Kangana Ranaut, had filed an intervening petition earlier this month. Earlier, Kangana had filed an interim application, seeking the court to direct the regional passport authority to renew her passport as she intends to travel to Hungary for a film shoot. In her petition, Kangana Ranaut had alleged that the passport authority was delaying the renewal citing the criminal cases pending against her.
However, the lawyers representing the actress had told the bench led by Justice SS Shinde that there were only two FIRs registered against the actor, but criminal proceedings in these FIRs had not started yet. Following the submissions, the Bombay HC had disposed of the petition after the passport authority gave an assurance that it would decide on her application expeditiously.
However, Akhtar later filed an intervention application challenging Kangana Ranaut’s submissions to the Bombay HC.
In his intervention application, Akhtar said he had filed a criminal defamation complaint against Ranaut in November 2020 over her remarks about him during a TV interview, and criminal proceedings against her were pending.
In the plea, Javed Akhtar claimed that the response by Ranaut’s counsel was limited to criminal proceedings arising out of two FIRs and failed to mention about pending criminal defamation case against her filed by him. Hence Akhtar was required to be heard by HC, the petition argued.
The intervention petition by Javed Akhtar against Kangana Ranaut’s passport application came just a few weeks after the actress had accused the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of deliberately delaying her passport renewal.
The court on Monday, however, suggested that Akhtar approach the complainant in the Bandra sedition case or the public prosecutor’s office to raise his grievances.
On the 2nd of May, even as results were trickling in, it became rather evident by late afternoon that Mamata Banerjee was coming back to power with a thumping majority. By early evening, a reign of terror was unleashed on those who had either worked for BJP during the state elections or, had voted for the party.
As TMC criminals gheraoed the BJP headquarters in Hastings, started lynching workers like Avijit Sarkar, started stone pelting and burning offices down to ashes, in a remote village in Burdwan, Ritu (name changed) and her father desperately searched for the money they had at hand and started collecting it on a table. They had heard the sounds from others in their village, the news had travelled fast – TMC goons were unleashing hell. Both her father and Ritu had worked for BJP in the run-up to elections and they knew the goons would come knocking on their door sooner or later, given what they were doing in the rest of the village.
Several houses in their locality were being brutally attacked by those who purportedly worked for TMC. In this particular village, it was a gang of Muslim men burning down houses, harassing Hindus and attacking the men who worked for BJP in the run-up to elections. News of some women being gang-raped by TMC men had also spread like wildfire. Talking to OpIndia, Ritu says that while the village burnt and women got gang-raped, there was no police in sight. She says that the police, in fact, refused to answer the phone when calls for help were being made.
At about 6-7 PM on 2nd May, just as they were collecting money and getting ready to leave and it was lightly raining outside, TMC men came knocking. Ritu says that several TMC goons, both Hindus and Muslims, came knocking at the door. About 12 goons, she said, were standing outside the house at the periphery guarding and some goons, 8 or 9 of them, led by one Mamun Sheikh, came inside her house.
The moment they came inside the house, they asked Ritu’s father where she was. “Teri beti kaha hai”, Ritu says they said. At that time, the TMC goons and Ritu’s father started getting into a scuffle. They were pushing her father around and constantly asked “where is your daughter?”. The father kept pushing them away and saying that his daughter was not at home. Ritu, at this time, was hiding in the kitchen.
While her father tried desperately to ward the goons off, they caught a glimpse of Ritu, hiding, trying to save herself. Her father told the goons to leave his daughter alone and do whatever they want with him instead. This, while some of the goons had already dragged her out and were holding her, refusing to let her go. As her father begged, the goons said, “No. We want only Hindu girls, and we want your daughter”.
“They took out their gun and started beating papa mercilessly”, Ritu told OpIndia. “I tried to save papa but I could not do it. They kept beating him. They were holding me and like dogs trying to harass me. Can you understand what was happening? I could not understand if I should save myself or papa.. should I manage how they were beating me up or save papa”, she added.
The goons who were in the house suddenly hit Ritu’s father on his head and made him sit in one corner, with a gun pushed to the temple of his head. “Even when they made him sit in the corner after hitting him on his head, they did not just leave him alone. They kept kicking and beating him”, Ritu says.
The main culprit, Mamun Sheikh and his accomplices dragged Ritu in front of his father, tore her clothes and proceeded to mercilessly gang-rape her. Her father, she says, kept pleading with Mamum and his accomplices, begging to leave his daughter, saying that he would do anything they want him to do. They refused to listen and continued to brutalise Ritu.
She got to know that another TMC goons was called Hasan when Mamun and others called out to him, “We are finished, why don’t you come now”. Ritu says he did not do anything to her. But he was called out after they were finished brutalising her so he could brutalise her too.
“It was the Muslims who gang-raped me”, Ritu said.
“After they were done gang-raping me and beating my father, he somehow managed to pry me away from them and dragged me to the backdoor of our house”, she said. Her father somehow mustered the courage because he was listening to the assailants talking about killing Ritu – so she would not “open her mouth” about what happened.
Her father did not bother what stones, broken glass etc were laying on the road. He dragged her out somehow just to get away from the barbarians. With no clothes on her body, her father took his pagdi off and covered her with it. Through a Christian cemetery, Ritu and her father kept running. While they were trying to get away, she could hear Mamun’s voice in the distance, mocking her. “How far will you run. You will have to come back here to me someday. Where did she go”. They were not really searching for her seriously, she says. They were just taunting her. She says they could not figure out which forest they ran into.
Ritu was taken to her father’s friend’s house. When asked if she ever went to the police or even the hospital after she was gang-raped, she said that they thought there was simply no point going to the police or the hospital because no matter where they went, TMC goons would find them. “Going to the police is like handing yourself over to the TMC goons”, she said. Her father’s friend prescribed some pill to her, that she took for days.
Since the 2nd of May, Ritu said that they have been running around, trying to be safe. They hardly come back to their own home and when they do, they do not go out even to the terrace. After she was gang-raped, Ritu had spent a long time in her friend’s house – friends who had also discouraged her to go to the police.
Talking about the fear she faces, Ritu says that it has come to a point where she cannot even leave her house without donning a Burqa. “I wear the Muslim attire.. the Burqa when I go out. Even my friends borrow it when they need to go out”. She says she does this so she can stay safe. If she goes out as a Hindu, she is hounded in her area by the Muslims.
She says that the TMC men, the Muslim workers who raped her, have done the same with several women from the locality. But none of them are willing to come forward and talk about it. When Ritu filed a complaint with the NHRC, she was discouraged by many, but says that she rather die before taking her complaint back. While she tried to convince the other women to come forward and talk about it, they refused, asking her to leave them alone and in peace.
Police harassment, pressure to take the complaint back and unbridled fear
There were several times that the police has tried to harass Ritu and her father, she says, to give a different version of the events and to get it on record. A few days after 2nd May (Ritu could not confirm the date), Ritu was living at her friend’s house. Her father, who is also mostly not at home after the incident, was there in their Burdwan house that day. Ritu says that the police came and asked the neighbours if they were at home. When the neighbours lied for her father and said they were not, they tried to push the door in. Failing, they had left.
She says she is confident that the police will not take any action against the culprits, in fact, if they can, they will probably put her, the victim, in jail under false charges. She says that the West Bengal police will never stand for Hindus or even help them. They will only help TMC and their supporters.
On another occasion about a few days ago (Ritu can’t confirm the date but she says it was about 6-7 days before this interview was taken on Saturday, 24 July), she was alone at her Burdwan house when some TMC goons had accompanied the police to her house. These were not the same goons who had gang-raped her, but some other TMC goons. She had however managed to keep herself hidden.
This was not all. When Ritu and a few other girls were meeting with the NHRC officers and filing their complaint, Ritu had got a shocking call to scare her into not complaining.
She says that she got a call from an unknown number, asking her whether she had gone to file a complaint with the NHRC about what happened to her. When she confirmed that she had, they asked how dare she filed a complaint with the NHRC. Further, they told her that the Muslim men had filmed her getting gang-raped and uploaded the video on YouTube.
She says she was scared after what she was told. Another BJP worker took the phone and spoke to the person threatening her on the phone. He told him that he should send the video link to him so he can check. The BJP worker though, saw what was sent, but never showed it to Ritu. They pacified her at the time, so she would not get worked up.
The local BJP workers and Ritu herself know who this man was, who had called up and threatened her. She says that he is a local man who rents cars to political parties during elections. Even BJP had rented cars from him, but he was not a part of the party. While everyone recognised who he was, nobody seemed to recall his name. The number from which she got the threat has been submitted to NHRC in her complaint.
She further said that on another night at 2 AM, she got a call from an unknown number. The man asked her if she was Ritu and then proceeded to tell her that she needs to be careful because she might be killed.
On another day, the OC of the women’s police station called her at 10 PM in the night (she cannot confirm the date). At that time, the lady officer asked Ritu to meet her to discuss the case (at 10 PM). Ritu first agreed to meet, but when she told her friend she was living with, the friend told her that she should not go and meet her and she should think about what she can do to her. The lady officer then called her a second time, when Ritu refused to meet her. On the next day, she again got a call and even then, she had refused to meet.
Ritu says that the lady officer asked her if something had happened to her and at this point (over the phone), Ritu told her how she was gang-raped. According to Ritu, the lady officer then got angry and started trying to scare her, asking her if she even knows the meaning of the allegations she was hurling. When this conversation was taking place, Ritu’s friends told her to simply tell the officer that nothing had happened, or else, the police would arrest her. Scared, Ritu lied and told the lady officer then that nothing had happened with her at all. Instead, she apologised to the lady officer and confirmed that she had not filed any complaint with the police as nothing had happened to her on the 2nd. Talking to OpIndia, Ritu also said that her friends, with whom she was taking shelter, told her that if she told the police what happened to her, then they will not let her live with them.
A night before the interview with OpIndia – another threat by the police
The interview with OpIndia took place on the 24th of July 2021. On the 23rd, Ritu and her father were both in their Burdwan house. Late that night, several police officers including a lady officer reached their house. When they reached, her father stepped out to speak to them while Ritu hid in the house, trying to record the conversation that was taking place between the police and her father.
Hiding, she managed to record a snippet of the conversation between her father and the lady police officer. In the recording, one can clearly hear the father refusing to give any statement to the police and the police officers trying to convince him to give some statement. Ritu says that the police were trying to convince him to sign some paper which the father refused to do. He repeatedly told them that they had given their statement to NHRC and they would not talk further to the police.
In the video that Ritu managed to take, her father can clearly be heard telling the police that they were not there to help him or his daughter, but the TMC goons who brutalised them. He says that now, more than the TMC goons, he is scared of the police.
Ritu says that the police was there to intimidate them into giving a statement that they could then use to say that the incident never happened. She further says that first, the police was threatening and intimidating, but then, they put on their own phone recording to record the conversation between her father and them. At this point, they became extremely polite to him. She also said that the police knew that they had spoken to the NHRC and narrated the horror they faced. The female police officer repeatedly wanted the father to open the lock of the door, probably looking for Ritu.
Ritu says that several BJP victims are languishing in jail while the perpetrators of TMC are walking around scot-free, therefore, the fear that they would arrest them was real and present.
She says that it was the same lady officer who had taken photographs and videos of Ritu and the other girls on the day they were talking to the NHRC team. When asked by a local BJP leader (BJP MLA of Dubarajpur) why she had done that, the female officer, according to Ritu, had become livid and threatened him saying “do you know who I am?”.
The NHRC complaint filed by Ritu
In her NHRC complaint, Ritu has said that she was gang-raped by 7 TMC goondas in front of her father.
NHRC complaint by Ritu
In her NHRC complaint, Ritu has detailed the barbarity that was heaped upon her and her father.
She has also, in her complaint, mentioned that the TMC goons were threatening the father-daughter duo to join TMC and leave BJP.
She says:
TMC leader are constantly threatening us that “ Agar tum TMC mein nahi aaye… to tumahre ghar ko jala denge..papa aur tumko maar denge… Police ke paas jaoge to police bhi tumahara rape karegi agar unhe pata chal gaya ki tum BJP ki ho to.. Police bhi tumahari baat nahi sunegi”.
She further says, “I m not only one there many other women who has faced the same fate in the village but they are scared and terrorized not to come forward. We thought of going to police next day but police were already in collusion with TMC leaders. They were helping them so due to fear we did not go to them”.
Her message to PM Modi
Ritu, who was gang-raped by TMC goons on the 2nd of May said that there was no point giving any message to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee since she had no ‘Mamata’ left in her. However, she had an appeal for PM Modi.
She said that PM Modi should do something so Hindu girls can live with pride and security.
She demanded that PM Modi does something for the protection of Hindus so we can all live happily.
In the interview, Ritu further said that all the help that he had got and the BJP leaders who had stayed in touch with her were leaders from Delhi. The local leaders hardly came to help the victims of TMC violence. She even said that some of the leaders would switch their phone off and not response when they called for help.
Now, Ritu awaits justice. She says that even if it means that she loses her life, she will not withdraw her complaint.
(Note: This interview was arranged in collaboration with GIA, the Group of Intellectuals and Academicians that has been working with post-poll violence victims to bring their stories out)
