Indian American Pratima Roy had to suffer toxic Hinduphobia after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States of America shared her photograph with her Gods on social media. Consequently, she received widespread support and goodwill from people across the world.
Now, Pratima Roy has penned a post on LinkedIn where she has unapologetically stood by her faith and thanked others for their support. She said, “As an American-born Bengali who practices Hindu, I always strive to preserve my background and culture. This love for my culture is evident in the photo of me that was first shared on a NASA blog in March and recently sparked a lot of conversation about my faith after NASA published a Tweet about the fall internship deadline.”
Source: LinkedIn
“I deeply respect everyone’s background – whether it’s race, ethnicity, gender, or religious faith – and I encourage others to be open to celebrating our beautiful differences as well. In the past few days, I’ve experienced an outpouring of positive support from people across the world who have connected with me online as well as my NASA colleagues,” Roy added.
The photograph shared by NASA showed Pratima Roy with Murthis of Hindu Goddesses on her table and the wall plastered with photographs of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Such overt expression of Hindu piety irked quite a few self-professed ‘intellectuals’ who were not happy with the devotion that Roy bears towards her Gods. Such ‘intellectuals’ resorted to questioning her ‘scientific temperament’, which one would assume is more than competent, since she earned the opportunity to intern at NASA.
Netizens, however, did give him a befitting reply that opting to go for arranged marriage, where parents or relatives set up an alliance, can also be a personal choice.
I am looking for prospects via arranged marriage and its not regressive at all. No one is forcing me for anything, and opting for arranged marriage is also my personal choice.
Twitter user @Dishasatra said that she is looking for an arranged marriage partner and does not consider it regressive at all.
Many also pointed out that there is no sure shot formula for success in marriage and such imposition of views also amounts to oppression.
Who is to decide love marriages are better than arranged marriages? Is there any scientific data to show one type is more successful than the other? Or is it woke gyan based on personal preference? BTW imposing your preferences on others is oppressive too. https://t.co/eUfM8ZIWZ1
Some even pointed out that such kind of authoritarian streaks in bureaucrats is perhaps not a good sign.
These people scare me. Not that I am some die hard supporter of love marriages. But the authoritarian streak in Indian beaurocrats scares the shit out of me. https://t.co/2TjIfP4ojt
Thorat, an IRS officer of 2015 batch also believes that ‘rational people’ are the ones who identify themselves as ‘feminists, anti-casteist, communist and liberal’ amongst others.
The people who r rational, are divided into many subgroups like feminists, anti-casteist, communists, liberals, & what not. And the problem is they fight with each other even when they know who the real enemy is.
While the people on the other side are united & equally irrational
Perhaps considering he does not like the choice of those who opt for arranged marriages and wants them to not marry instead, he does not fall under the liberal camp either.
Twitter is finding new ways to censor political opinion it is not fond of. After making biased censorship the norm on the platform, Twitter appears to have decided to censor tweets that expose liberal hypocrisy. The latest instance featured the controversy around the photograph of dead Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui.
On the 16th of July, Twitter user Yosha (username @BlackDrug) shared the screenshot of a conversation on her account where she pointed out the hypocrisy of ‘liberal intellectuals’. She used the tweets of Stuti Mishra, journalist with The Independent, to point how liberals claimed that the photograph of Siddiqui’s corpse would hurt sentiments but do not think twice before using photographs of funeral pyres to score political points.
Yosha had used the following two screenshots in her tweet:
Tweet where Stuti Mishra shared photographs of funeral pyres
Stuti Mishra says photograph of Danish Siddiqui is disrespectful
Initially, the screenshots were labelled ‘sensitive media’.
The tweet that was censored
But on 18th July, Yosha was notified that her tweet violated Twitter rules against “abuse and harassment”. According to Twitter, Yosha engaged in “targeted harassment”. Consequently, her account has been locked for 12 hours.
Yosha’s account locked for 12 hours
But the Twitter censorship went beyond only Yosha’s tweet. The platform is forcing people to remove tweets where they had quote-tweeted the above tweet by Yosha. On the 18th of July, this journalist had his account locked for the same.
As can be seen, the tweet did not contain any image and comprised only of four words. Twitter claimed that a tweet that did not contain any image violated “rules against posting media depicting the moment of death of an individual”. Perhaps, it was motivated by the images in Yosha’s tweet but even makes little sense as the her tweet itself was said to violate “abuse and harassment” rules, not the rule related to dead body photographs.
The rules that this journalist’s account was claimed to violate is bizarre and exists from 2019. According to the rules, the platform may remove media that “takes pleasure in the suffering of the deceased” or “laughs at or otherwise mocks the deceased”.
Source: Twitter
But it is not clear how a tweet that does not contain any image would violate a rule specifically for tweets that contain images. This instance marks a great escalation in Twitter censorship. The platform has basically decided to censor tweets that expose liberal hypocrisy. Now, not only does the platform assist liberals gain a wider reach for their propaganda but they will silence others who expose their agenda. The censorship is as political as it gets.
Danish Siddiqui was killed by the Taliban during clashes with Afghanistan. Following his death, a photograph of his dead body began to circulate on social media. Journalists wanted people to not circulate the photograph because it was apparently disrespectful, after using photographs of funeral pyres for their politics. Twitter appears to have accommodated their interests by censoring those who exposed their hypocrisy.
It also further elucidates the fact that there are no rules anymore because they are applied selectively, based on the political preferences of the individual; which again marks a very dangerous turn of events.
On Thursday (July 15), a group of villagers caught a father-daughter duo in a compromising position at a field in the Sarupur area of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.
As per reports, the accused and his daughter were having an illicit, incestuous relationship for the past 10 years. On Thursday, the man drove his daughter on his bike to the nearby village in Sarupur area and engaged in sexual activities. Despite the social taboo surrounding incest, the duo went about their actions unabated. However, alert villagers soon caught them red-handed and tried to convince them to refrain from tarnishing the father-daughter relationship. But, the duo would not listen to them. The accused man instead threw stones at the villagers, which further provoked the crowd.
The villagers then thrashed the duo and called for a panchayat meeting on the following day (July 16). However, it was disrupted by the police while assuring the villagers of appropriate action. This has led to widespread resentment against the accused in the village. In order to control the law and order situation, the police had deployed several teams outside the residence of the accused man.
Meanwhile, the villagers have demanded strict action against him. Since then, the video of the incident has gone viral on social media. We cannot share the video here, due to its graphic nature. While speaking about the matter, police-in-charge Sunil Kumar assured that the villagers that a case would be registered against the accused and that necessary action will be taken.
Karnataka man Harish Bangera is set to be released from Saudi Prison where he has been lamenting since December 2019 after being arrested over blasphemy charges. As per reports, Sathish Kumar Bajal, President of Mangaluru Association Saudi Arabia (MASA) said that he will soon be coming back home. His tickets have been paid for and he will hopefully return soon.
Two persons from Moodbidri have been arrested in October 2020 for impersonating a Mangaluru-based native, Harish Bangera and posting derogatory and blasphemous content on Facebook.
According to the reports, two brothers from Moodabidri – Abdul Huyez and Abdul Thuyez had created a fake account on Facebook in the name of Harish Bangera to posted derogatory comments on the Saudi Crown Prince and Mecca, the holy site of Muslims across the world. Bangera was arrested by Saudi Arabia police in December 2019 over the content.
Harish Bangera, who hails from Kundapur, worked as an AC technician in Damman, Saudi Arabia. On December 21, a series of Facebook posts were uploaded allegedly from his purported Facebook account abusing and mocking Islam and Saudi Arabia Crown Prince. One such post was a picture of Kaaba in Mecca with the caption, “Next Ram Temple in Mecca. Be ready for fight”.
Image S
Here is another image posted from Harish Bangera’s Facebook profile.
Image Source: Kuwait Local
Soon, the post went viral, eliciting a strong response, which also came to the notice of the Saudi authorities after a complaint was registered against Harish accusing him of blasphemy. The Saudi police arrested him within an hour of receiving the complaint. After Harish was arrested, his employers had also removed him from the job with immediate effect.
However, Harish’s wife had filed a complaint at an Udupi police station after Harish had pled innocence and alleged conspiracy against him.
Upon the investigation, the police found out that the two brothers Abdul Huyez and Abdul Thuyez, created a fake account on December 19, 2019, and two days later, they uploaded the blasphemous post in the name of Bangera, leading to his arrest. The police traced the phone that was used to create the fake Facebook account. The phone belonged to Abdul Thuyez, who was taken to custody along with his brother.
The police hadnow registered a case against the two accused of impersonating Harish Bangera. The police also translated and presented the charge sheet to the Saudi authorities through the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian embassy in Saudi to obtain a release order for Harish Bangera.
On Saturday (July 17) night, the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav shared a disturbing image in which it appeared that an Uttar Pradesh police officer was assaulting a woman. He claimed that the police officer was misbehaving.
In a tweet, the SP leader claimed, “Some police officials, who are working on the behest of the BJP, are tarnishing the image of the Uttar Pradesh police. Under the rule of the BJP, there is no dearth of lawlessness. Highly condemnable.”
उप्र में भाजपा सरकार के कृपापात्र बने कुछ पुलिसकर्मियों के दुर्व्यवहार से प्रदेश की समस्त पुलिस की छवि धूमिल होती है.
Akhilesh Yadav’s tweet was accompanied by a picture, which gave the impression that a cop was sitting atop a woman and assaulting her. Yadav tried to portray the ruling BJP dispensation in poor light through his tweet, ahead of the 2022 UP State Legislative polls.
The archived version of his contentious tweet can be accessed here. Several videos have now surfaced online, which showcases the misleading nature of the caption and imagery used by Akhilesh Yadav. A Twitter user (@isinghDeepanshu) had tweeted an 8-second video of the incident, which shows the woman pulling the police officer by his neck and not the other way around. A similar video was also shared by the Official Twitter handle of Kanpur Dehat police.
In another video, the woman was seen trying to strip off her blouse in a bid to implicate the police official. A man was also seen provoking the cop, while he stood his ground in a non-aggressive manner. From the videos, it appeared that the police officer was the victim and not the aggressor as claimed by the Samajwadi party leader.
— माटी का लाल …काफिर #3ह ???? (@matikalal) July 17, 2021
In a statement released by the Kanpur Dehat police, it informed, “The Station-in-charge went to the village to capture an accused in a case. At that time, another man misbehaved with the police official, thereby leading to his arrest. Meanwhile, the relatives of the man including several women began to intervene and resist arrest. One of the women held the Station-in-charge by his collar and pulled him to the ground.”
Screengrab of the police statement
“Attempts are being made to impart a different colour to the incident by sharing screenshots of the viral video. The woman had alleged misdemeanour and assault by the Station-in-charge. To ensure a free and fair investigation, the Station-in-charge has been suspended with immediate effect and the matter is now probed by the District-in-charge,” the police added in its statement.
थाना भोगनीपुर-चौकी इंचार्ज पुखरायां से सम्बन्धित वायरल फोटो के सम्वन्ध में पुलिस अधीक्षक कानपुर देहात द्वारा दी गई बाइट। @Uppolicepic.twitter.com/QGV2HiEoNN
— Kanpur Dehat Police (@kanpurdehatpol) July 17, 2021
Furthermore, in a video statement, the Bhognipur police added, “The onlookers made several attempts to separate the woman from the Station-in-charge. As evident from the video, he immediately got up and moved away when he was able to free himself from her clutches.” It emphasised that the facts of the case will further determine the course of action in the case.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav casts aspersions about UP Police
This is not the first time that the Samajwadi Party leader had cast aspersions on the integrity of the Uttar Pradesh police. On Monday (July 12), he took up the cudgel for the two arrested Al-Qaeda terrorists, raised aspersions and fuelled misapprehensions about the Yogi government’s anti-terror crackdown. The terrorists were reportedly planning to execute explosions, including using “human bombs”, at several places in Uttar Pradesh. When asked about his reaction on the latest arrests, the SP supremo said, “I can’t trust the actions of the Uttar Pradesh police and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state.”
The Enforcement Directorate said that the investigation into the money laundering case against media portal ‘Newsclick’ has revealed that the promoters of the media outlet received nearly Rs 38 crores from entities which may be associated with the Communist Party of China, reports Times of India.
According to the reports, an officer probing the money laundering case revealed to the Times of India that Newsclick had financial dealings with a Sri Lankan-Cuban based businessman named Neville Roy Singham, who allegedly funnelled Rs 38 crore to PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd between 2018 and 2021 from abroad.
The officials, who have traced the money flow of the media outlet, said that Singham is associated with the propaganda arm of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The ED officials also reportedly said that the investigation had established that part of the money Newsclick allegedly received from foreign sources, which was then routed to Gautam Navlakha, one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad case. The ED had recently interrogated Navlakha in jail for his links with Newsclick’s founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha.
In February 2021, the Enforcement Directorate had raided premises and the residences of several officials and journalists associated with NewsClick, a news media portal is most famously known for peddling fake stories. The officials had also raided NewsClick founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha in connection with a money laundering case pertaining to foreign funding.
Earlier, OpIndia had published a detailed report on foreign funding received by NewsClick and its links with Gautam Navlakha. It was revealed that both Purkayastha and Navlakha were directors of a company called Startacus Software Private Limited. The ED had alleged that funds Purkayastha received for opening a company with Navlakha. Gautam Navlakha was an ‘Independent Partner” of PPK Newsclick Studio LLP.
Most money received from China shows as “export of business”: ED
The anti-money laundering agency said their investigations had shown the media portal received funds from entities named “Justice and Education Fund Inc, US; GSPAN LLC, US; Tricontinental Ltd Inc, USA — all located at the same address — and Centro Popular Demidas, Brazil. The agency said that their search at the places linked to shareholders of PPK Newsclick in February this year had shed light on regular exchanges of emails in connection with the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Image Source: @Alok_Bhatt on Twitter
The ED had also established that Newsclick had received foreign funding of Rs 9.59 crore from a defunct company called Worldwide Media Holdings LLC, Delaware, in April 2018, and another of Rs 20.92 crore later, which has been shown as receipts for “export of services”.
In April 2018, the newly formed company issued shares of face value Rs 10/share at a premium of Rs 11,510/share to Worldwide Media Holidays LLC, registered in Delaware, USA. It is believed that the premium price on share was artificially enhanced to transfer as FDI.
Image Source: Alok Bhat
Purkayastha, however, defended the same by claiming that it was ‘fair assessment’ of the company and that the valuation was conducted professionally.
TOI further reports that as per the ED sources, the funds were paid to Newsclick to carry out “specific jobs” to spruce up China’s role in Africa, where it is being accused of high-handedness and predatory capitalism. The ED said they are also investigating payments of large sums to journalists for any irregularities.
The Enforcement Directorate also said that most of the money received by the far-left portal was shown as proceeds from “export of services”. However, Purkayastha has denied the allegations about Singham being a front for CPC and his outlet’s links with the Chinese regime. Instead, Purkayastha claimed that Singham is an American citizen who launched and ran a software company in the US before selling it for around $700-800 million.
“All our funds are from legitimate sources and well-known foundations in the US as per RBI guidelines,” Purkayastha said.
Over and above this, the agency is also probing huge amount of payment made to journalists for any irregularities. Purkayastha has also been asked about payment of money to Bappaditya Sinha, a CPM member who maintains and runs Twitter accounts of some party leaders. Purkayastha acknowledged links of Newsclick with Sinha but claimed that he was paid for usage of his software and that ‘there is nothing wrong in it’.
China financed money to Newsclick to create a media narrative in favour of Beijing’s interest in India
Besides ED, other investigative agencies are also probing the Chinese links in the case, specifically into the funding by the CPC to build a ‘media narrative’ in India that suits China’s interests. These agencies are looking to find Singham’s links with a senior politician.
During the interrogation, the ED had asked Purkayastha to provide details of services exported by his company, for which it had received about Rs 28.5 crore between 2018 and 2021. The ED had also asked him to explain how Newsclick received money running into crores from dubious foreign sources within a few months of the launch of the company.
The agency had come across one payment of Rs 1.55 crore made to a ninth-class pass electrician by Newclick, who was hired for maintenance at his office. Purkayastha has been asked to provide information on the “nature of work” the latter executed.
Meanwhile, Purkayastha has claimed that the government has sent income tax, the economic offences wing of the Delhi Police and the ED behind them because they are not pro-government. “All of them have the same set of questions regarding the source of our funds and people associated with us,” he claimed.
“If they have anything against us, let them file all these facts in the charge sheet before the court. We are ready to face trial and respond to all those charges,” said the Newsclick founder.
Fearing arrest, Newsclick’s editor-in-chief had approached the Delhi high court seeking anticipatory bail. The High Court has provided him protection till July 29, when the case is listed for hearing.
An FIR has been filed against an unknown person for impersonating film director Rajkumar Hirani’s son and approaching aspiring actors to cast them for an upcoming film.
According to the reports, the fraudster had apparently created an Instagram account in the name of Rajkumar Hirani’s son and advertised for an audition call for a forthcoming project. The fake post advertised that there was an urgent requirement for male and female actors between the age of 18 and 25. The advertisement was for lead roles and negative roles for an upcoming film, which said that even freshers can apply. The advertisement also promised Rs. 20 crore to the selected candidate. Reportedly, the fake casting director was asking for a fee from the aspirants.
A complaint was filed by the film director’s office after it received inquiries about the authenticity of the audition calls posted on Instagram. The complaint was registered with Andheri Police in Mumbai.
Earlier this month, Hirani’s office received an email asking them about casting calls made by his son Kabir for a movie titled ‘3 Teenage’. Hirani’s office was shocked at the email as they were not working on any such project and had not given any casting calls either.
The aspiring actor who wrote an email to Hirani’s office said that the imposter had used Kabir’s name to make casting calls for actors required for the project and had asked them to contact the production house. In the advertisement put out on Instagram, the fraudster had also tagged the filmmaker’s account. The production house approached the police after another aspiring actor contacted them making similar enquiries.
“A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and investigation is underway. We are trying to ascertain if the accused fraudster has duped any aspiring actor using this modus operandi,” Vijay Belge, a senior police officer at Andheri Police station said.
The police are now investigating and trying to identify the identity of the accused, who had used the production house’s email ID, address and impersonated them to mislead people and cause a commotion in the filmmaker’s name
Earlier yesterday, Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who shot to fame with his morbid images of burning funeral pyres in India, was killed while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban terrorists near a border crossing with Pakistan in Spin Boldak. He was embedded with the Afghan armed forces, which is rapidly losing ground to the Talibs.
His death sparked massive outrage online, with several notable personalities expressing shock and disbelief at the reports that said Danish had died during a Taliban attack in Afghanistan. Soon enough, condemnations flowed followed by obituaries and mourning for the slain journalist.
Subsequently, Danish’s collection of work was also shared extensively online. Besides pictures clicked by him, social media websites were also rife with a video of him from a TED talk where he spoke about documenting conflict beyond borders.
In the video, Danish narrates the various strife-torn regions he had visited and shares pictures from those places with the audience. One of the places that Danish mentioned he covered was Jammu and Kashmir, in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370, when the Indian government stripped the state of its separate status and paved the way for its greater unification with the union of India.
Listen this video of DanishSiddiqui- He was an apologist for stone pelters and violent protesters and terrorists. Many defence forces and civilian were killed and injured in terrorist attacks but he didnt show a single photo of those attacks. pic.twitter.com/LtghS6s4vu
However, while talking about the pictures he had clicked in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, Siddiqui offered a lopsided view of the conflict, painting the Indian Armed Forces as an oppressive force and defending the violent protesters and terrorists as innocent residents, who he claimed were unwarrantedly targeted by the military troops.
Here’s the entire video of his TED Talk, which was uploaded on YouTube in June 2020:-
Source: YouTube
Speaking on the invalidation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Siddiqui described the abrogation as some sort of cruel act against the people of the state. He shared pictures of injured people, who in all probability could be violent protesters and possibly rabble-rousers, to insinuate that the decision to hollow out Article 370 had touched off a grave humanitarian crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.
One of the pictures shared by Siddiqui was that of an X-ray of a boy’s skull. The Reuters journalist said the boy had suffered pellet injuries on his head from the attack by the Indian Armed Forces. He further added that the boy had received initial treatment in a hospital and was itching to leave the hospital for the fear of being arrested by the Indian Armed forces.
Danish Siddiqui dehumanises Indian Armed Forces and provides a lopsided view of Kashmir conflict
While Siddiqui talked about the military action faced by protesters in Kashmir, he did not elaborate on the challenges faced by the personnel of the Indian Armed Forces deployed in the state. A raft of Indian Armed Forces has sustained injuries from the stone pelting that the protesters in Kashmir habitually indulged in. They have also been subjected to fatal attacks, most notably the Pulwama attack, when a Kashmiri terrorist rammed a vehicle laden with explosives to a CRPF convoy, killing 40 soldiers. Besides, women and the elderly have also been at the receiving end of the violent protests that demonstrators routinely undertook in Kashmir, long before the annulment of Article 370.
Yet, Siddiqui conveniently glossed over the grim details of violence and hostility directed towards the Indian Armed Forces and peaceful residents by the violent protesters in Jammu and Kashmir. Instead, he reported only the one-sided view of the conflict, shielding the violent protesters and terrorists that plunged the state into chaos and posed a risk to the national security of the country. In his attempt to evoke sympathy for the violent protesters and Islamists, Siddiqui ended up dehumanising the Indian Armed Forces, as if the challenges and difficulties faced by them in Jammu and Kashmir were not serious enough to warrant a mention or be captured in his photographs.
By offering a prejudicial view of the conflict, Siddiqui acted as an apologist for Islamic terrorism, which eventually claimed his life as frenzied Taliban fighters, intoxicated by the Islamist supremacist belief, killed him when he was covering the conflict in Afghanistan.
Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, judge in the Supreme Court of India, today gave the example of ‘climate activist’ Greta Thunberg to say that age is no bar in bringing change. Claiming that the teen activist has brought change to the world, he said that nobody is too young to effectuate Big Change.
Justice DY Chandrachud said that Greta Thunberg had begun her journey as a lone 15 years old outside the Swedish parliament. Glorifying the activism of the far-left activist, the Supreme Court Justice said that just like nobody is too young to bring change, nobody is too old also bring change.
Justice Chandrachud: @GretaThunberg began her journey as a lone 15 years old outside the Swedish parliament. Her example shows us that no body is too young to effectuate Big Change. You are never too old to be the change either.
He also said that Constitutional provisions seek to protect individuals from hegemonic power structures, regardless of where they come from. Justice DY Chandrachud made the comments while delivering a speech at the 101st Birth Anniversary Celebration of Hon’ble Justice Y.V.Chandrachud, his father. Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud was the 16th Chief Justice of India, and had served the longest term as the CJI, from 1978 to 1985.
The comments by the Justice DY Chandrachud praising Greta Thunberg comes at a time when Indian ‘climate activist’ Disha Ravi is facing prosecution in the Greta Toolkit case. The toolkit refers to a set of documents containing details of planned protests supporting the ongoing farmer protests, which were inadvertently published by Greta.
The Greta Toolkit had revealed that international celebrities like Greta and Rihanna were behind the protests against the three new farm laws enacted by the Indian government. The toolkit had revealed that it was not an organic wave of support but well-planned propaganda against the Indian government.
The document shared by Greta Thunberg listed a series of actions that people across the world could take to support the ‘farmer protests’ and also listed actions that had been undertaken. The document also made it clear that the global attempts to incite unrest in India had begun prior to the Republic Day riots.
The documents also contained tweets that could be posted to build pressure against the Indian Government. And many of these tweets were posted by a large number of people, with the recommended hashtags. Greta had later deleted the tweet containing the toolkit, but it was too late as the anti-India propaganda was already revealed.
