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ZEE5’s Radhe Combo Offer is the perfect gift for all Salman Khan fans

OpIndia Staff
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ZEE5’s Radhe Combo Offer is the perfect gift for all Salman Khan fans

Any Bollywood fan knows that Superstar Salman Khan is the highlight of every Eid in India. Salman had been releasing his movies during Eid for a long time now. Staying true to this tradition, the actor is gearing up for his Eid release of 2021, Radhe – Your Most Wanted Bhai.

To celebrate this big feat of Salman Khan’s big-budget film, ZEE5 has introduced a special Radhe Combo Offer, on its annual subscriptions, giving all the Bhai fans an exclusive opportunity to watch Radhe movie online

What is the Radhe Combo Offer?

The Radhe Combo Offer is a special offer introduced by ZEE5 in which for just Rs 499, subscribers get an exclusive pay-per-view ticket of Radhe movie along with a full year of ZEE5 Premium subscription. ZEE5 has not only slashed the subscription prices by half, it is not even charging for Radhe’s ZEEPLEX ticket.

The movie rental for Radhe on ZEEPLEX is around Rs 249, but if you opt for a Radhe combo offer, you’ll be able to watch Radhe along with a host of other projects available on ZEE5.

What makes the Radhe Combo Offer special for Bollywood lovers?

In the Radhe Combo Offer, a user not only gets to watch Salman Khan’s upcoming film Radhe but also gets unlimited access to a wide array of exceptional content available on the ZEE5 platform. ZEE5 is a host for numerous movies, web series and even TV shows across languages and genres.

It hosts many of Bhai’s evergreen movies such as Hum Saath Saath Hai, Maine Pyaar Kiya, Karan Arjun and more, along with a long list of other Bollywood movies from stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and more. And since this offer is specially introduced around Eid, it is surely an Eidi from Salman Khan to not just his fans but to every other Bollywood fan out there.

Radhe releases on May 13, 2021. Besides Salman Khan, the film also has Disha Patani and Jackie Shroff in the pivotal roles and Randeep Hooda is playing the big baddie. The movie is helmed by Prabudeva.

Cartoonist gets Twitter notice for a caricature of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Cartoonist gets Twitter notice for a caricature of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray: Details

Twitter, which has a history of arbitrarily suspending accounts of many users who do not fall into line with its leftist ideologies, has sent a notice to political cartoonist and satirist Vikaso, username @vikasopikaso, for his cartoon on the ‘best CM’, which according to the request to Twitter ‘violates the law(s) of India’.

The cartoonist took to Twitter to share the copy of the notice he received from the legal department of Twitter today. He captioned hi Tweet: “Finally, received my first notice for a cartoon on the best CM ;)”.

In an e-mail dated May 10, the legal department of Twitter has informed the cartoonist that they have received a “request from India regarding the Twitter account @vikasopikaso, that claims the following content violates the law(s) of India.”

The caricature in question was that which the cartoonist posted on April 3. The satirist, through his sketch, took a jibe at Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. The political cartoon featured a ‘confused’ CM in an orange kurta, depicting Uddhav Thackeray. Two briefcases with ‘Lockdown’ written on one and ‘Vasooli’ written on the other lies in front of the CM, who looks flustered, as if having difficulty in choosing one of the two.

The microblogging site informed the Twitter user that they have not yet taken any action on the reported content. The mail read that it was Twitter’s policy to notify users if they receive any legal request from an authorised entity (such as law enforcement or a govt agency) to remove content from the account.

Saying so, Twitter said that meanwhile, the user has the option to explore his legal options. It read that the cartoonist was informed so that he might seek legal counsel and challenge the request in court or may voluntarily delete the content or may find some other resolution as deemed fit.

Twitter, while it did not remove the content in question, has a history of silecing non-Left accounts. In February 2020, the account of Twitter user ‘“टीपूडा” whose username is @PR1CELES5 was suspended by the micro-blogging site. The Twitter user, whose real name is Amol, had simply paid the price for exposing the bias of cartoonists through ‘corrected’ cartoons.

Prior to this, a Twitter user who mad hilarious spoofs of Rahul Gandhi also had his account permanently suspended by Twitter which made people wonder if it was due to his political ideology.

The Uddhav Thackeray government has also in the past display extreme intolerance towards its detractors. Last year, six Shiv Sena goons had assaulted a retired Navy officer for sharing Uddhav Thackeray cartoon. The WhatsApp forward was allegedly a satirical cartoon featuring Uddhav Thackeray and his allies Sharad Pawar and Sonia Gandhi.

‘Nothing is further from the truth than the claim that Centre dropped the ball on Covid preparedness’: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar

OpIndia Staff
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‘Nothing is further from the truth than the claim that Centre dropped the ball on Covid preparedness’: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar

The relentless attack on the Centre by the opposition for alleged mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis occupied a large space in the media since the beginning of the second wave. While the common man grappled for hospital beds and medical oxygen, the states and opposition preferred indulging in a blame game rather than adopting a solution-oriented strategy. After the Centre being blamed for ‘dropping the ball on Covid preparedness,’ Union Minister Prakash Javadekar in an exclusive write-up at the Indian Express said the allegation is ‘far from the truth.’

Covid preparedness by the Centre

Narrating the Centre’s approach right from the beginning of 2021, Prakash Javadekar revealed that the Centre on January 06 had written to the Kerala state government urging to take immediate steps as the new cases had begun to surge. To follow it up with concrete actions, a high-level central team was sent to the state to support its efforts. 

Refuting claims of the Centre adopting a dawdle approach to the upcoming second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Javadekar straightened the record by informing that the central government had been proactive in Covid management with national-level coordination.

The Minister also highlighted that despite health being a state subject, the Union health ministry consistently monitored case trends, evaluated states’ preparedness, provided technical expertise, and oversaw the formulation of state and district-level response strategies.

Clarifying that the Centre did not restrict itself to just issuing guidelines, Prakash Javadekar informed that more than 75 high-level teams comprising central government bureaucrats and public health experts had been deployed across various states since September 2020.

What was the purpose of these teams? It was to ensure that their feedback reduced the information asymmetry between the Centre and states and help identify key gaps in states’ preparedness and response strategies.

Did the Centre ignore the warnings of the second wave?

When the sudden surge in new coronavirus cases took the nation by surprise, several state authorities chose to fire-fight the damage caused to their reputation rather than the crisis itself.

Prakash Javadekar said, “On February 21, when the daily case count was below 13,000, the Union health ministry noted sharp inter-state variations in trends. Immediately, a letter was sent to states like Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Maharashtra, which were witnessing a spike in cases. High-level central teams for monitoring and assisting state governments were announced on February 24 for the states and UT witnessing a surge — Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir.”

Saying that the states undermined the gravity of the situation, “Throughout March, the Centre actively monitored the spread of infections in these states, engaging with state governments, reviewing their response measures, and ensuring compliance with the reports prepared by central teams. If these states had taken the Centre’s early warnings and feedback more seriously, the current surge would not have been as fierce,” Javadekar added. 

The states and the opposition not just tried hard to brush their mismanagement under the carpet, but also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly declaring ‘victory’ over the corona crisis.

Putting things into perspective, Javadekar reiterated Prime Minister Modi’s message to the Chief Ministers in a meeting chaired on March 17. 

“Most of the Covid-affected countries in the world have suffered many waves. In our country also, there has been a sudden increase in cases in some states after decline… We have also noticed that the positivity rate in Maharashtra and MP is very high and there is a rise in the number of cases, also…This time, cases are rising in many areas and districts which were unaffected so far. In a way, they were safe zones, but now fresh cases are emerging. In the last few weeks, this increase is more than 150 per cent in 70 districts of the country. If we don’t stop the pandemic in its tracks, the situation can lead to a country-wide outbreak. We must immediately stop this emerging ‘second peak’. I think it is necessary now that difficulties in governance at the local level should be looked into, reviewed and resolved. Our confidence should not become over-confidence and our success should not turn into negligence,” was the Prime Minister’s message. 

How prepared was the Centre for the second wave?

The Union Minister specified that the Centre had already anticipated the second wave and had deployed more than 50 teams in the worst-affected districts across the country, to assist state governments in containment and surveillance measures. 

He added that the Centre reviewed action plans of almost 200 high-focus districts between March 27 and April 15. As new challenges emerged, the Minister informed that the Government of India deployed a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the ongoing crisis.

“Contrary to the misinformation, the central government was simultaneously dealing with all these aspects of pandemic management,” said Javadekar brushing off every claim of mismanagement and failure in handling the Covid-19 pandemic by the Centre.

From sending approval letters to states for enhancing medical oxygen capacities using PM Cares Fund in January to making available 9000 tonnes of oxygen a day within a month, it is imperative to analyze every step taken by the Centre as well as the states to form a formidable opinion on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Class privilege at its worst: Farhan Akhtar defends receiving vaccine at center where only senior citizens and specially abled above 45 are eligible

K Bhattacharjee
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Class privilege at its worst: Farhan Akhtar defends receiving vaccine at center where only senior citizens and specially abled above 45 are eligible

Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar on Saturday announced that he had received his first Covid-19 vaccine dose at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai. He expressed his gratitude towards the Mumbai Police and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and even had advise for others. There is just one problem, however. He is apparently not eligible for the vaccine at the particular site.

According to reports, the vaccination at the Andheri Sports Complex is a drive in facility available only to those above the age of 60. Farhan Akhtar clearly is not above 60 years of age. Therefore, it is unclear how he received the vaccine at the particular site.

A report by the Indian Express states that civic officials claim the site is not yet under operation. Assistant Municipal Commissioner K-west (Andheri), Vishwas Mote, reportedly, did not respond to texts or calls.

The discrepancy has not escaped the attention of people online as well. Unless authorities issue a sound clarification over the matter, it appears that Farhan Akhtar secured a Covid-19 vaccine for himself using his class privilege.

The questionable justification by Farhan Akhtar

After he was called out by netizens over the matter, the Bollywood actor defended himself saying that the drive in facility was for those above 45 years of age. Even then, he responded with extraordinary meanness and arrogance.

However, the BMC clearly said in its tweet that the drive in facility was only for those above 60 years of age.

There was another tweet where the BMC did say that the drive in facility could be access by specially-abled people above the age of 45 as well.

Farhan Akhtar surely does not look like someone who falls under the specially-abled category.

The reality of Class Privilege

While it is unclear if Farhan Akhtar is eligible for the vaccine at the center, it is easy to understand why ordinary citizens are not pleased with the series of events.

It cannot be denied that there exists a distinct class privilege in every society. People in the upper echelons of society have greater excess to resources for themselves. It is a universal feature of human civilization. There is no country in the world where this principle does not hold true.

Even in the USA, no ordinary person expects Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden to be held accountable for violating laws. Even if they do violate, which is especially true in the case of Clinton, there always appears to be magical loopholes that appear out of the blue to their rescue.

The same exists in India as well, only that it is far more prominent. It is for this reason that Prashant Bhushan can get away with contempt of Court by paying a measly sum of 1 rupee while others can get slapped with significant fines for frivolous petitions.

It is for the same reason that someone like Yogendra Yadav can incite protests amidst the Covid-19 crisis without any repercussions while ordinary people can be harassed by the Police for not wearing a mask inside their own car.

It is for the same reason that the doors of the Court can be opened at midnight by liberals for terrorists but a petition related to Bengal violence has to wait much longer to have its day in Court.

Class privilege operates at all levels and is dependent on the circumstances in the concerned circumstances. The discussion around class privilege often sparks derision from people not the non-Left bent because Communism as a political philosophy is based on class solidarity but the existence of class privilege cannot be denied.

Often, the ones who use their class privilege to gain access to resources are the ones most vocal when it comes to preaching egalitarianism. Farhan Akhtar himself appears to be one such individual and so are many of his liberal comrades.

Farhan Akhtar: The quintessential hypocrite

For all his moral sermons, which are offered a dime a dozen, it appears that Akhtar did not even have to think twice to gain privileges access to the Covid-19 vaccine in the midst of a pandemic. All moral sermons go for a toss in the midst of a pandemic and understandably so.

Many hypocrites such as Farhan Akhtar are often the strongest proponents of Communism or left-oriented political parties. Such personalities will cheer for Aishe Ghosh by day and use their class privilege to subvert the law by night.

Farhan Akhtar was one of the most vocal entertainers to have spoken out against the Citizenship Amendment Act without any knowledge about the facts of the matter. It is understandable why he did so. It was important for him to virtue-signal on the matter so that the other million occasions on which he used his class privilege to gain unfair advantage does not receive adequate attention.

Such hypocrites feel such a sense of entitlement that they do not hesitate to arrogantly admonish ordinary citizens if they dare to question them. When a concerned Indian citizen had asked him to ask people of his camp to not go around destroying property, he had labeled the person a bigot.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, Akhtar would not hesitate to gain access to resources in the midst of a crisis. It is the sheer sense of entitlement that leads to a general disrespect for the law among the populace. When people recognise that others can flout the law and get away with it without any repercussions, why should they go out of their way to uphold basic human decency?

Such antics at a large scale inevitable leads to a moral degradation of a society. The age of the Royals may be over but Aristocracy is a feature of human existence that will last till eternity. No one really expects class privilege to go away and every reasonable person understands this. But when the aristocratic class of a society becomes parasitic and does not feel a sense of duty towards ordinary citizens, the consequences are always devastating.

Twitter restores official handle of Lieutenant Governor office of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha after govt steps in

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter restores official handle of Lieutenant Governor office of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha after govt steps in

In yet another incident of arbitrary suspension, social media giant Twitter had on Monday suspended the official account of Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha. The real reason behind the suspension was not clear, though several media reports claim the account was taken down for violating the platform’s rules.

The official Twitter account of the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, which goes by @OfficeOfLGJandK, now showed the message: “Account suspended”, along with an explanation of the possible reason for its suspension. “Twitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules,” the message reads.

Source: Twitter

The spokesman for the government of India had said that the account has been suspended because of some technical issues and the matter has been taken up with Twitter.

After the statement by the spokesperson, the account of the LG was restored.

Account restored

It is still unclear why the account was suspended. The social media behemoth, of late, has faced criticism for exercising its arbitrary suspension policies. It had recently taken down popular Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut’s account, accusing her of violating their platforms’ rules and regulations. However, the same scrutiny did not apply to Islamist Sharjeel Usmani, Farhan Khan Ali and sundry other leftists who have been wishing and celebrating the deaths of those who do not share their worldview.

From dead babies to hushing rapes: How the spectacle of human sacrifice has come to dominate liberal protests

K Bhattacharjee
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From dead babies to hushing rapes: How the spectacle of human sacrifice has come to dominate liberal protests

Yogendra Yadav, darling of the liberal intelligentsia, was aware that a woman had been raped by AAP leaders at the Tikri border farmer protest site, according to a report by Bhaskar. In spite of that, he chose to remain silent about the matter.

No doubt, he chose to remain silent because he believed that if the crime attracts national attention, then it would undermine the legitimacy of the protests. She was blackmailed as well and has since then died of Covid-19. But those on the outside must ask ourselves this question.

If they are willing to sacrifice the life of a woman and silence a crime as devastating as rape for their protests, then what else are they willing to sacrifice? Unfortunately, it is not the first time that news of crimes against women have emerged from farmer protest sites.

The crimes against humanity at protest sites

An editor at India Today had revealed months earlier that women were being sexually harassed at the protest sites. And yet, it was summarily ignored by everyone in the liberal camp. As days passed, people even forgot about it. And now, we have a dead woman who was raped.

Deaths at such liberal protests have become extremely normalised in recent times. During the Shaheen Bagh protests, a baby had died due to the negligence of parents. The baby was exposed to the cold Delhi winter every night and eventually, the infant was unable to cope with the harsh weather.

Even the death of a baby was not enough to move conscience of our liberal intelligentsia. And expectedly so. The perverse mentality that has come to dominate such protests was captured perfectly by the parents of the dead infant. The parents said that they would be willing sacrifice their other child for the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act as well.

It is emblematic of the pathological attachment that liberals have towards politics. For them, politics transcends every aspect of human life. Politics dominates every aspect of the human experience for them. Personal relationships, entertainment, sports, every single facet of existence must conform with their vision of politics.

Liberalism is a Godless religion

It is mostly due to the fact that most liberals have substituted religion in their lives with politics. Liberals worship their political ideologies and ideologues with the same reverence that ordinary people reserve for their Gods. The vacuum that the absence of religious belief entails is occupied by piety towards their political ideology.

Liberals have their own Gods, their own priests, preachers, institutions for promoting their religious belief and their own versions of doomsday apocalypse prophecies. Protests against ‘fascism’ and ‘authoritarianism’ are their own version of festivities.

Consistently, the deaths and rapes at such protests is the liberal equivalent of the human sacrifice ritual that was widely widespread once upon a time. The human sacrifice ritual takes two forms in liberal circles and there are consequently, two varieties of responses to it.

First and foremost is the deaths due to natural causes which are used to galvanise the protests further by wrongly placing the blame on the authorities they are rebelling against. We saw the manner in which the blame for the deaths of protesters during the farmer protests were placed at the feet of the central government even though they had nothing to do with it.

Posters could be found at protest sites with the names and photographs of those who had ‘attained martyrdom’ fighting against the ‘fascist regime’. Consequently, candles were lit in front of the protesters and the venue became some sort of a shrine.

The other category is the one that the unfortunate baby and the woman fall under. These are deaths due to negligence or crimes committed by the protesters themselves. The liberal response to such deaths is starkly different. Everyone pretends that it just did not happen despite everyone being aware of the monstrosity that has been committed.

There is a ritualistic response to such unfortunate events. Everyone just shuts their eyes to it and waits for the tide to blow over. No one dares report the crime to authorities because anyone who does so would be accused of betrayal of tribal loyalties and that person would be considered more wicked than the rapists themselves.

Politics above humanity

No one wants to suffer the collective wrath of the tribe. Therefore, the response invariably is denial of the entire series of events that led to it. Their hearts are so consumed by political tribal loyalties that they sincerely believe that such silence is justified.

It is not only the protesters themselves who harbour such mentality. Liberal media, intelligentsia, academia, liberals in all spheres resolutely hold the belief. That is why outlets like The Wire choose to remain silent regarding the matter.

It is for the same reason that the intense “Believe All Women” rule does not apply to the women who have accused US President Joe Biden and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual misconduct. Liberals genuinely believe that women and children on their side of politics are worth sacrificing to achieve larger political objectives.

The unfortunate woman at the farmer protests and the infant at Shaheen Bagh are merely pawns whose deaths must not be allowed to dent liberal politics.

While liberals seek sadist pleasure from India’s tragedy porn, hundreds of bodies of COVID-19 patients remain refrigerated for a year in the US

OpIndia Staff
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While liberals seek sadist pleasure from India’s tragedy porn, hundreds of bodies of COVID-19 patients remain refrigerated for a year in the US

While the US liberals have been cashing on the second wave of Coronavirus outbreak in India to tarnish the global image of the country, the United States has still not been able to dispose of the bodies of Covid-19 patients, who died last year.

On Friday (May 7), the New York Post (NYP) reported that the dead bodies of 750 Coronavirus patients are lying in a refrigerated morgue on the Brooklyn waterfront in New York for more than a year. The bodies were kept in the long-term storage facility that was built in April 2020, when the country was overwhelmed by the early outbreak of the pandemic.

Reportedly, refrigerated vehicles were used when hospitals, morgues and funeral homes in New York were overburdened by the high number of Covid-19 related fatalities. Dina Maniotis, the executive Deputy Commissioner to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, conceded that the storage facilities were meant to be temporary. She told the City Council’s Committee on Health that the family members of the deceased individuals would be notified and briefed about the next plan of action.

Refrigerated trucks were supposed to serve as ‘temporary storage’ space

Maniotis informed that many of them have asked the City Council to bury the deceased on Hard Island, which is New York’s potter’s field (place to bury the unknown). Some family members of the deceased are not in touch with the city council anymore. After learning about the state of mismanagement, Councilman Mark Gjonaj inquired as to why the bodies had not been buried yet. “Why are we delaying that any longer than we have to?” he asked.

Massive surge in ‘unknown’ burials last year during the peak of Covid Crisis in US

Reportedly, the unprecedented step to ‘store’ the dead in refrigerated vehicles had to be taken, keeping in mind the state of the city last year. Around 900 people were buried in the potter’s field in New York during the Coronavirus outbreak last year. Similarly, an emergency morgue set up last year on the 39th Street Pier in Sunset Park neighbourhood had stored more than 1300 dead bodies, including Coronavirus patients. Hart Island, which is the largest public cemetery, witnessed 2666 burials last year as compared to 1200 annually.

US Liberal media sell the story of India’s ‘tragedy porn’, shy away more showcasing its own apathy

Amidst a surging Coronavirus wave, India has become the centre of attention for media all around the world. This has led to wider coverage of India in the worldwide press, focusing on the imagery of the customary Hindu funeral pyre as a way to “shock” their non-Indian audience. After controversial journalist Barkha Dutt was seen reporting from crematoriums, now photographs of tragic funeral pyres, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have now become valuable commodities, bought and sold in the Western press.

The British-American media company Getty Images now hosts multiple images depicting multiple Indian funeral pyres lit ablaze on their website. From here, any potential media group around the world can buy these images, in three different sizes, with the largest size priced at about Rs. 23,000. While the liberal media have been publishing such images to peddle its anti-India agenda, it has yet not dared to show pictures of 750 dead bodies of Covid-19 patients lying unattended in a morgue in New York.

Talent agencies advise Bollywood celebs not to post vacation pics, amplify COVID SOS posts to build brand: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Talent agencies advise Bollywood celebs not to post vacation pics, amplify COVID SOS posts to build brand: Report

While India is braving a new wave of Covid-19 and the general public struggles to arrange for basic medical facilities for their loved ones, Bollywood celebrities, including big names like Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani, Jhanvi Kapoor and many others have been jetting off to exotic locations in these challenging times. Saif Ali Khan’s daughter Sara Ali Khan, his son Ibrahim Ali Khan and her mom Amrita Singh also made a trip to the Maldives recently.

These celebrities have, on many occasions, taken to their social media accounts to post their vacation pictures.

Posting lifestyle posts on social media during these testing times affecting brand image, talent managers warn Bollywood celebrities

Now, according to a report by the Mint, many talent agencies and managers have asked these celebrities to stop rubbing their privilege in people’s faces in such testing times, as it may impact their brand image.

According to the report by Mint, many brand experts have opined that while celebrities are always under the scanner, a sensitive persona presented in the current situation would go a long way for them. It would impact how brands view them, which in turn would help them in sealing endorsements and public appearance deals.

Celebrities busy donating, amplifying SOS messages on social media

Therefore, to change the perspective of the critics who have openly called out celebrities for displaying such insensitivities even as the society around us continues to suffer due to the sudden surge in coronavirus cases, talent agencies have been advising a number of Bollywood celebrities to either donate money for medical equipment, food packets or relief work or amplifying SOS calls on social media, the Mint report said.

While Alia Bhatt has partnered with journalist Faye D’Souza to put out information, Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu are coordinating help on Twitter.

Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment has opened its direct messages on Twitter out to the public.

Commenting on this situation, Karthik Nagarajan, chief content officer at media agency Wavemaker India said: “There is a definite correlation between celebrities showing the decency of respecting sentiments around them and how that impacts the positivity they generate, now more than ever before, which could play a huge role in brand endorsements.”

Atul Kasbekar, producer, veteran fashion photographer and founder of celebrity management company Bling! Entertainment Solutions said stars flaunting their lifestyles during the current crisis would be terribly insensitive and downright stupid. “It’s common sense to be prudent; otherwise it could be a solid dent to their image and can turn against them. We’re definitely telling people to tone it down and keep it low-key,” Kasbekar added.

It is pertinent to note here that recently not only regular internet users but even several big names have squinting their eyebrows at the news of celebrities taking international trips and enjoying luxury resorts during pandemic times. 

Veteran actor Annu Kapoor had in April taken to Twitter to criticise celebrities for posting pictures from their vacations. Shobhaa De and Shruti Haasan have also slammed celebs for enjoying holidays in exotic locales while the common man suffers.

“I humbly appeal to rich and famous from all walks of life and media not to post their pictures vacationing at exotic locations while the most of the world suffers with pandemic. Kisi ko jalaa ke majloomon ki baddua kyun lena (Why should you attract curse of the downtrodden by making them jealous)?” Tweeted Annu Kapoor.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi backtracks after saying ‘Article 370 is India’s internal matter’

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi backtracks after saying ‘Article 370 is India’s internal matter’

Days after calling the decision of the Indian government to abrogate Article 370 as India’s internal matter, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi took a U-turn. In a tweet on Monday (April 10), he claimed that the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is an ‘internationally recognised dispute’ and as such cannot constitute India’s internal matter.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi wrote, ” Let me be clear: Jammu & Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute on the UN Security Council agenda. (The) final settlement of the dispute lies in UNSC resolution calling for (a) free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices. Nothing about J&K can be India’s internal matter.” However, just a few days ago, Shah Mahmood Qureshi had conceded that Article 370 was India’s internal matter.

Screengrab of the tweet by Shah Mahmood Qureshi

In an exclusive interview with Samaa TV on May 6, the Pakistani Foreign Minister had stated, “Article 370 is their andhruni mamla (internal matter). The people of Kashmir are frustrated (supposedly) for breaking the promises made to them. We have seen the matter is still pending before the Supreme Court of India. People in India have challenged its constitutional validity.”

It is notable here that the primary requirement for the UNSC resolution calling for a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir means the entire Jammu and Kashmir, including the PoK and Gilgit Baltistan. For a plebiscite to happen, Pakistan has to vacate the areas currently under its illegal occupation.

U-turn of Imran Khan and Pakistani government on resuming trade ties with India

Interestingly, the U-turn by the Pakistani Foreign Minister is truly characteristic of the government of Pakistan. It is imperative to note here that Pakistan, in August 2019, had unilaterally cut off trade ties with India unilaterally after India abrogated Article 370 to remove all riders for Jammu & Kashmir being an integral part of India. Almost two years after abruptly snapping ties with India, reports emerged about Islamabad resuming trade ties with New Delhi.

The Pakistan’s cabinet committee on economic affairs took a decision on importing sugar and cotton from India. However, the Pakistani government later took a U-turn. While explaining the rationale behind the decision, Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf had said that Imran Khan as Commerce Minister approved a limited resumption of trade ties with India on March 26 but as a Prime Minister he opposed it.

“He may be the same persons but wears two different hats,” was the bizarre reasoning given by the Pakistani NSA when asked about Imran Khan’s flip flop on trade with India. Speaking to a Pakistani news anchor, Yusuf termed Imran Khan’s decision as an example of the “strengthening of institutions.” This outlandish statement came on the heels of Imran Khan’s refusal of an official proposal of the Pakistan government to allow imports of cotton and sugar from India to control prices and cope with a shortage in the country.

The Liberal ‘Ummah’: How the community stays quiet when one of them is a rapist

Nirwa Mehta
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The Liberal ‘Ummah’: How the community stays quiet when one of them is a rapist

‘Ummah’ is an Arabic word for ‘community’, usually referring to single group of people which shares common religious beliefs. The Muslim community often refer to the Ummah to allude to a universal brotherhood between Muslims. Muslims globally, refer to the Ummah to say that globally, it is their religious identity that comes first, not that of the nation they belong to.

The ‘liberals’ in India too have their own ummah, so to speak, as they have common beliefs in terms of ideology. For the ‘liberals’ in India, anything that does not fit their view, is a ‘bigoted’ view point and anyone who does not agree with them is a ‘Sanghi’. Much like non-Muslims are considered Kafirs by the staunchest supporters of Ummah.

As per ‘liberals’, the ‘Sanghis’ are busy planning genocide against minorities and have zero respect for women. They also like to identify themselves as feminists and ones who are ‘fighting for equality’ and ‘against injustice’. Much like every criticism of radical Islamism is charted to Islamophobia by the Ummah, any criticism of the Liberal Ummah is charted to bigotry, democracy dying, anti-woman, Hindu patriarchy, so on and so forth.

So, when one reads about allegations of heinous crimes such as rapes, one would assume that the victim will have the ‘liberals’ as their natural ally.

However, here is what actually happens.

Yogendra Yadav was aware of rape of a girl at Tikri border, report says

Two Aam Aadmi Party leaders were accused of raping a woman who used to attend the so-called farmers protests at Tikri border in Delhi. As per Dainik Bhaskar report, the victim’s father said that former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav, who is a ‘farmer protestor’ these days, knew about the allegations of rape but did nothing. The victim tested positive for COVID and succumbed to the virus.

So a leader knew that a woman has accused some men of raping her but he chose to stay quiet.

Here is another one who did so.

Aam Aadmi Party volunteer had alleged party workers of sexually abusing her. She said she let Arvind Kejriwal, the party chief and Delhi Chief Minister know about it.

The volunteer then committed suicide. In the above video you can hear the victim narrate that when she informed Arvind Kejriwal about the sexual abuse, she was asked to ‘compromise’.

Arvind Kejriwal told a victim of sexual abuse to ‘compromise’. Not that he stands by her, not that he will ensure justice to her but ‘compromise kar lo‘.

You know how the ‘comedians’ in India like to believe they are the most liberal and feminist of the lot and are all about equality and how they spout gyaan on consent? Well, a lot of women accused a lot of these comedians of sexual abuse in 2018 during the #MeToo wave. Know what some women revealed? All India Bakchod’s Tanmay Bhat knew about sexual misconduct of one of their collaborators but did nothing.

What is it about the so-called liberals who are otherwise champions of women’s rights suddenly go silent when someone they know is accused of rape? Where does the ‘believe her’ go? From Tehelka’s Tarun Tejpal to former TERI (The Energy and Resource Institute) chief R K Pachauri, the ‘liberals’ have downplayed the molestation charges and tried to silence those who spoke up.

At a time when it takes tremendous courage for victims to speak up on sexual abuse, why are the ‘liberals’ always around to silence a victim?

It is the community. Which is why when women put out a list of academics and accused them of using their position of power to abuse women, the apostles of feminism shamed the women for releasing list on social media instead of ‘following due process’.

In 2017, a damning list of academics in Indian institutes was put up on Facebook by a student, where she had accused the professors mentioned in the list of engaging in sexual harassment. At that time, the champions of naming and shaming sexual harassers, the Leftists cabal had taken it upon themselves to prove how this naming and shaming was ‘blackening faces’ and they were uneasy with the name and shame list.

They released a statement statement which was signed by 12 self proclaimed feminists including Ayesha Kidwai, the Leftist professor from JNU, who believes she is a parallel judiciary by leading a public inquiry against the Vice-Chancellor of JNU, Nivedita Menon, who believes Kashmir is not an integral part of India, Vrinda Grover, the advocate who rallied to save Yakub Memon and Kavita Krishnan, pro-Naxal ideologue activist who tried to pass off Diwali as a non-religious festival.

You see, this is how the liberal ‘ummah’ works. They will look out for each other even if it goes against everything they claim they stand for. Just like the Ummah launched a ‘hug a Muslim’ campaign after Tablighi Jamaat spread Coronavirus, just like the Ummah started a ‘I am a Khan and I am not a terrorist’ or a allied campaign after every terrrorist attack, just like victims speaking up after beat down and labelled Islamophobes, the ‘liberals’ will whitewash these crimes too. No woman will be allowed to speak up. They will term this crime a figment of the ‘Sanghi imagination’, because just as Muslims can do no wrong as long as the Ummah prevails, their allies, the liberals, can do no wrong as long as the establishment plays Nero’s Guest.

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