Rakesh Tikait, the current spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union(BKU), has emerged as one of the prominent leaders leading the ‘farmers’ agitation against the three Farm Bills passed by the Centre in September 2020. He had come under the scanner for egging on the protesters to use brute force and violence during the Republic Day rally.
Throughout the six months of protests, his desire to gain political mileage from the continuous farmers’ demonstrations was palpable. Now, another aspect of the BKU leader has come to the fore.
According to a report by Zee News, a woman farmer from Kinauni village located in Shahpur police station limits of the Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, has accused the BKU leader of forcefully encroaching her family’s 3 bighas of land worth lakhs of rupees. She further claimed that Rakesh Tikait and his son Charan Singh, on the night of May 30, used a bulldozer to damage her standing crop.
Sushila Devi and her son Vineet Balyan, speaking about the injustice they have suffered, said they had first appealed to the district administration and requested them to take strict action against Rakesh Tikait.
The victim’s family furthered that even after complaining to the district administration, no legal action has been taken against Rakesh Tikait and his son so far. This compelled Sushila Devi and her son Vineet Balyan to appeal to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath seeking justice.
Commenting on the BKU leader, Sushila Devi said: “Rakesh Tikait is not a farmer leader but a very big land mafia. They forcibly do this on the lands of small farmers”.
Rakesh Tikait and his history of inciting violence
For the uninitiated, Rakesh Tikait is not only responsible for fomenting the riots that emerged in the national capital on Republic day but was also accused of playing a prominent role in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
Seven-year ago, Rakesh Tikait was booked for stoking communal disharmony with his allegedly inflammatory speeches which eventually led to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar flare-up. Rakesh had been booked for stoking communal disharmony in the run-up to the 7 September 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
Rakesh Tikait and his brother Naresh, according to locals of Muzaffarnagar, were both “main criminals” in the town’s grisly communal flare-up. Rakesh was said to have attended the mahapanchayat on September 7, and the police had arrested him for inciting communal enmity with his inflammatory statements.
Tikait later acknowledged to attending the mahapanchayat meeting but refrained from participating in the violence that followed. He said that the crowds were out of control and that no one was paying attention to any leader.
Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed the petition filed by actor Juhi Chawla against the 5G rollout in the country, adding that the lawsuit was filed to garner publicity.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakhs on actor Juhi Chawla and others who had filed the petition, observing that the petitioner had abused the process of law by circulating the web link of the hearing on social media websites.
Actor #JuhiChawla fined Rs 20 lakh by Delhi High Court over 5G technology plea. The court said that the plaintiff abused the process of law as it appears the link for the hearing was shared on the actor’s social media handle for publicity.
The court also noted that the plaint was defective and not maintainable. Moreover, the court ruled that Chawla did not comply with the mandate under Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure. It said that the plaint was not verified.
Chawla and others had contended in their petition that it was an established fact that there “could be danger of imminent nature” due to the 5G rollout. The Centre, however, argued that the suit was not maintainable in view of Sections 80 and 91 of the CPC.
Delhi HC proceedings disrupted by unidentified man after Juhi Chawla shares the weblink of hearing on her social media accounts
As the Delhi High Court began hearing a lawsuit filed by Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla against the implementation of the 5G technology on Wednesday, an unidentified man entered the online hearing disrupting the proceedings. The man interrupted the hearing several times by singing songs from the movies of the actress.
The interruptions had started immediately after the proceedings in the court had started, with the man repeatedly asking “where is Juhi ma’am. I can’t see Juhi ma’am.” As the court was talking about not receiving notes by email from the petitioner’s lawyer, this was ignored by the court.
As the proceeding in the case moved forward, the man started singing songs from Juhi Chawla’s movies. As a result, the court asked the officials to mute them.
The High Court has now directed the police to identify the individuals who disrupted the hearing of the plea by Juhi Chawla.
Juhi Chawla files lawsuit against 5G technology
Bollywood Actress Juhi Chawla had filed a lawsuit against the implementation of 5G technology in India on May 31. According to the actress, if 5G technology were to be installed, then people and humans will be exposed to radiofrequency radiation (RF) at a rate of 10 times or 100 times the current figure.
Juhi Chawla said in a statement, “We are not against the implementation of technological advancements. On the contrary, we enjoy using the latest products that the world of technology has to offer, including in the field of wireless communications. However, whilst using the latter kind of devices, we are in a constant dilemma, because after doing our own research and studies regarding the RF radiation from wirefree gadgets and network cell towers, we have sufficient reason to believe that the radiation is extremely harmful and injurious to the health and safety of the people.”
Since the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, experts have hinted at the possibility of the leakage of the deadly virus from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Although leftist media organisations such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post were quick to dismiss it as a ‘racist conspiracy theory‘, the superlative work done by DRASTIC in this regard has now forced even the US government to take cognisance of the matter.
DRASTIC, abbreviation for Decentralized Radical Autonomous Search Team Investigating COVID-19, is a group of individuals interested in finding the true origins of the Wuhan Coronavirus. They are not journalists or spies but engineers, entrepreneurs and individuals across various disciplines. The group works anonymously, unearths never-seen-before documents from the internet and puts them out in the public domain. Although the members have limited resources, they are motivated by curiosity and zeal to spend days in pursuit of the truth.
One key member of the group is an Indian man from Kolkata in West Bengal. He goes by the pseudonym of ‘The Seeker.’
In an email to Newsweek, he informed that he had a career in architecture, painting and filmmaking. Often, he would dig up the web to research on topics that interested him. The Seeker would then post his findings on Reddit, which had earned him 7,50,000 karma points. Initially, he had bought into the mainstream media narrative that the virus had infected humans from animals at the infamous wet markets in Wuhan.
Screengrab of the Twitter profile of the Seeker
He had then tweeted, “Nobody wants to see their parents or grandma and grandpa die over a stupid virus from an exotic animal market.” But soon, he became skeptical of the conventional narrative and began interacting with individuals who had begun to rip it apart. This made ‘The Seeker’ curious about the virus and its origins. He stumbled upon a Medium post written by Canadian entrepreneur Yuri Deigin in which he discussed about a virus RaTG13. The said virus was revealed to the world by Wuhan Institute of Virology researcher Shi Zhengli.
Deigin found that RaTG13 virus had a similar genetic makeup to SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19. This further intrigued ‘The Seeker’, who then posted it on his Reddit account. His handle was permanently terminated from the social media site. The censorship by Reddit further prompted him to find like-minded individuals in Twitter groups to further explore the topic. In no time, The Seeker was addicted to the idea of discovering the mystery behind the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus.
The Seeker was motivated by civic responsibility
It was a sense of social responsibility, besides the obvious curiosity, that led him to this mission. “COVID has taken the lives of countless people and devastated so many others. But it has also left so many clues that haven’t been followed up. Humanity deserves answers,” he had emphasised. The Seeker was convinced that the mystery behind the Wuhan Coronavirus lay in the RaTG13 virus. He and other members of the DRASTIC began crawling research papers of Wuhan Institute of Virology on the internet.
The genetic code of RaTG13 matched another genetic code posted by Shi Zhengli years ago. DRASTIC determined that the virus originated in a mineshaft in Mojiang County in the Yunnan Province of China in 2012. The team found that 3 out of six miners had died while three of them developed pneumonia. The team was left wondering whether this was a precursor to the pandemic. Although Shi Zhengli had accepted that she worked in the said mineshaft but claimed that the 3 miners died due to fungal infection.
How the Wuhan lab leak theory gained credence?
Using his online research skills, The Seeker found CNKI, which is a huge database of Chinese academic journals and theses. Fueled by tea and occasional arcade games, he scrolled through the database for days until he struck gold. The Seeker found a 60-page thesis authored by a student at Kunming Medical University in 2013. Titled, “The Analysis of 6 Patients with Severe Pneumonia Caused by Unknown Viruses,” the paper found that the miners had died of SARS-like Coronavirus. He shared it on Twitter on May 19, 2020.
Screengrab of the tweet by The Seeker
Key revelations by The Seeker
After it had become public, the Chinese authorities swung into action and limited the access control to ensure that it was never found again. Interestingly, The Seeker also found that the corporate media ignored the story when the miners had died of SARS-like infection in 2012. “The general lack of interest in facts or reason surprised me. And it still perplexes me that even with all their resources, the corporate investigative media is lagging terribly,” he noted.
He worked in close association a Madrid based data scientist named Francisco de Asis de Ribera. The Seeker found new pieces of the Coronavirus puzzle while Ribera fitted the pieces together. He discovered detailed plans of Wuhan Institute of Virology to test the infectivity of SARA-like viruses in lab animals and human cells, undergo cross-species mutation and genetic recombination of the viruses. He also stumbled upon a database hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology in China. The Seeker found that the theses were supervised by Shi Zhengli herself.
Screengrab of the tweet by The Seeker
He found that the Wuhan Institute of Virology never bought the argument that the three miners had died of a fungal infection, as espoused by Shi Zhengli. The researchers, working at the institute, were concerned about a viral outbreak and thus tested the blood of neighbouring villagers and obtained genetic sequences of 8 other SARS-like viruses from the mine. DRASTIC found that China had the information with them in advance but instead chose to conceal it and let people die. The Seeker concluded, “I no longer see science as an exclusive domain. Everyone can make a difference.”
Apart from the Congress Party, the Aam Aadmi Party has also joined the fray in an attempt to hinder the ongoing Central Vista Project. Islamist AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan has written to PM Narendra Modi on Thursday, ‘warning’ him against demolishing mosques inside govt premises under the Central Vista project. Amanatullah Khan is also the chief of Delhi’s Sunni Waqf Board.
In the letter, Khan, the AAP MLA from Okhla, voiced concern that people on social media have shared their fears that some mosques were “on the verge of being demolished” as a result of the project.
Screenshot of Amanatullah Khan’s Tweet where he shared the letter written by him to PM Modi
Taking to Twitter, the AAP leader wrote in Hindi: “Zabta Ganj mosque at Mansingh Road, the mosque at Vice President’s residence and the mosque at Krishi Bhawan may face damage due to the Central Vista project. I will discuss the issue with PMO and Hardeep S Puri (Union Housing and Urban Affairs minister). No damage to these mosques will be tolerated.”
Screenshot of Amanatullah Khan’s Tweet
Khan stated that he really hoped that the central government would provide assurance within 10 days of receiving his letter that no Waqf property will be demolished or its character altered as a result of the Central Vista project, in order to prevent any legal action.
One of the mosques regarding which the AAP leader has raised concerns is reportedly inside the premises of the Vice President’s residence. The other one is at Krishi Bhawan and the third is the Zabta Ganj mosque at Mansingh Road.
Imam of Zabta Ganj mosque asks Muslim not to fall for propaganda, assures mosque would remain safe
Interestingly, after the warning issued by Amanatullah Khan, the Imam of Zabta Ganj mosque at Mansingh Road, Asad Khan Falahi, has assured that there is no threat to the mosque and asked people of his community not to fall for fake news and propaganda circulating on social media.
The cleric said that he has had a word with the administration and also has the documents and blueprint of the Central Vista Project. He assures that the mosque will not be affected in any manner during the Central Vista construction. He urges Muslims not to be fooled by unfounded rumours.
Delhi’s Shahi Masjid Zabta Ganj near India Gate is safe and faces no threat to its existence, says Imam of the mosque Asad Khan Falahi pic.twitter.com/JoWX5N1ljt
Aam Aadmi Party legislator Amanatullah Khan is known for his antics to flare up communal tension by his Islamist politics.
Amanatullah Khan, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), recently made a veiled genocidal remark about Hindus while remarking on the country’s rampant mucormycosis (black fungus) epidemic. In his tweet on Saturday (May 22), Khan wrote, “Orange fungus is the root of other fungi in the society.” His carefully worded tweet was aimed at mocking the saffron colour, which is linked with the Hindu religion.
On April 7, Aam Aadmi Party legislator and Amanatullah Khan threatened violence against Hindu priest Swamy Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, the Mahant of Dasna Temple over his alleged remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
In accordance with the Sharia (Islamic law), AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan had earlier issued a death threat calling for the beheading of Swamy Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati.
Taking action against his tweet which called for the beheading of the temple priest, Delhi Police had registered an FIR against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s MLA Amanatullah Khan.
Similarly, in the violence which erupted on December 15, 2019, when Islamist mobs rampaged across the national capital under the guise of anti-CAA protests, Amanatullah Khan was seen leading the disturbances in Jamia Nagar. That same day, chants of “Hinduon se Azadi” were heard in the same place. During the violent riots, buses were also set on fire. The Delhi Police raided Jamia Millia Islamia University on the same night, entering the campus to apprehend the criminals.
A 22-year-old man from Delhi has been arrested from North East Delhi’s Khajuri Khas area for calling the police and threatening to murder PM Modi. As per reports, the man is named Salman, alias Arman and he had called up the police control room to claim that he is going to kill the PM.
As per reports, Salman had called up the Police Control Room around Thursday midnight and claimed that he is going to murder the Prime Minister. Police ran a trace on his phone number and located it in Delhi’s Khajuri Khas area.
Salman is reportedly a drug addict and a history-sheeter with several cases against him. He had also been convicted earlier in a murder case in 2018 and is currently out on bail. He had also spent time in a juvenile correction home. The addict reportedly stated to the police that he wanted to go to jail.
Reports have stated that Salman had a quarrel with his father at home at around 10 pm on Thursday. He was found to be under the influence of some substance when police reached him. When he was asked why he wanted to go to jail, he reportedly replied, “wahin man lagta hai mera.” (I like being in jail).
Salman also admitted to taking some drugs in the evening. Delhi Police have informed that as per protocol, Salman will be interrogated by intelligence bureau officials first before any legal action by the police.
In November last year, the Delhi police had arrested another man in a similar incident. A man had made a threatening phone call declaring that he wants to kill the PM. He had later admitted that he was under the influence of drugs.
BJP Councilor in Jammu and Kashmir, Rakesh Pandita, was shot dead by Islamic terrorists on Wednesday. Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba’s front organisations have claimed responsibility for the murder.
While the region has been plagued by Islamic terrorism for decades, the language that the terrorists have used to justify the terror attack this time around is quite remarkable. The statement and the name of the Islamic terrorist group that has claimed responsibility provides a unique glimpse into the damage that Congress party and the opposition parties have inflicted on the politics of the country.
The statement was issued by an Islamic terrorist group that calls itself “People’s Anti-Fascist Front”. In the statement, they have described Rakesh Pandita as a ‘fascist Hindu’ and they have also ranted against ‘Hindutva thugs’. Pandita was a peace-loving citizen of this country who participated in the politics of this country, a right guaranteed to every citizen of this country by the Constitution of India.
Source: Aditya Raj Kaul
But opposition political parties embraced dehumanizing rhetoric against the BJP that has landed them in a situation where their language is indistinguishable from that used by Islamic terrorists. Not merely that, terrorists have realised that rhetoric adopted by opposition parties can be used as a convenient justification for violence against BJP politicians and workers.
It is important to mention here that the murder of Rakesh Pandita had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with his religion. He was murdered because he was Hindu. The Congress party and other opposition leaders by accusing the BJP of being ‘fascist’ have provided terrorists with a convenient excuse to indulge in terrorism.
Only days ago, ‘liberals’ online were having a serious debate on whether they should help BJP supporters combat the Covid-19 crisis. Such discussion was based on the assumption that all BJP supporters are fascists.
When every Hindu who supports BJP is labeled a fascist, the consequence was bound to be terrible. Now, we have Islamic terrorists feeling emboldened enough to murder BJP politicians and justify their actions with claims that they are murdering fascists.
Islamic terrorists call themselves ‘Antifa’
It’s not just liberals in India that the statement is geared towards, it is also designed to appeal to western liberals. Western liberals claim that anyone who is not a fascist is Antifa. That is how they have justified political violence against Conservatives in the United States of America and whitewashed the intense spell of rioting by Antifa in cities across the country.
Now, we are in a situation where Islamic terrorists have started calling themselves ‘Antifa’. The irony of the situation is enough to make heads explode in disbelief. Islamic terrorists in Kashmir wish to appeal to western liberals by the usage of the term and since, those in the latter camp are predisposed to consider every Hindutvavadi a Nazi, terrorists might even succeed in finding takers for their extremist ideology among liberals in the West.
There has been great political violence against BJP workers in West Bengal following Trinamool Congress’ victory in the assembly elections. That has not received the condemnation it deserves and TMC senior leaders have managed to deny that political violence ever occurred because they know fully well that liberals in country and most influential media houses truly believe that BJP workers are fascists against whom violence is justified.
It was only a matter of time before Kashmiri terrorists came to the same realisation. When the rhetoric of terrorists are indistinguishable from those adopted by mainstream opposition politicians, it is well past time that opposition leaders engage in proper introspection.
Dehumanising rhetoric has terrible consequences
Rahul Gandhi himself has accused the BJP and RSS of furthering a ‘fascist ideology’. His allies have done the same as well. They have normalised the use of such dehumanising rhetoric to such an extent that even terrorists feel safe in assuming that their crimes against humanity will be pardoned if they use the same.
The murder of Rakesh Pandita is a consequence of the genocidal hatred that Kashmiri terrorists bear against the Hindu community. It has already led to one genocide before and if Indian security forces suffer a lapse for even one single moment, which can happen under such stressful circumstances, we have no reason to doubt that it will happen again.
It is not the first instance that liberal rhetoric has been found to be in perfect sync with terrorists in Kashmir. For instance, the ‘gaumutra’ jibe, which is so popular among liberals in the country, was used by the Pulwama terrorist in a pre-recorded video justifying his suicide bombing.
Dehumanising rhetoric against political opponents has extremely devastating consequences for the health of the polity in the country. Opposition parties need to wake up to the damage they are causing, otherwise genocidal rhetoric will continue to find credence and once genocidal rhetoric is normalised, it is only a matter of time before an apocalyptic catastrophe.
In absence of strong leadership and reinvigorating agenda to inspire people’s trust, spokespersons of the Congress party and other opposition parties have often resorted to abusive, ugly and boorish behaviour during TV debates, presumably in their attempt to castigate the BJP and ridicule their representatives.
For a long time now, opposition spokespersons have tried to gloss over their party’s inadequacies and blunders by taking recourse to bluster and abusive posturing. Recently, a Twitter user who goes by the handle @moronhumour has chronicled 18 instances when Congress spokespersons had shed any semblance of propriety and indulged in making unflattering remarks against their opponents.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate
Last week, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate called BJP leader Sambit Patra “Naali Ka Keeda” in a live debate on Aaj Tak. It is worth noting that Shrinate was once an NDTV journalist.
Here’s a #Thread on the most foul-mouthed Spokesperson in the opposition to show you the level of Indian opposition.
1/n – Supriya Shrinate of Congress calling Sambit Patra as “Naali Ka Keeda” Live on Aaj Tak. (2021). She was once an anchor on NDTV.pic.twitter.com/jh6TUnBiBY
However, this was not the first incident that Shrinate had resorted to obnoxious behaviour on a live television. If her previous debates are anything to go by, she is a repeat offender and had displayed little tolerance to hear out opposing views. When spokespersons of other parties try to contradict her statements and call out Congress’ treachery, she heckles them with insulting remarks such as “non sensical” and “shut up”.
2/n – Surpriya Shrinate of Congress is a repeat offender must say. When points of rebuttal are finished, she brings out “Non Sensical” and “Shut Up” to counter !! (2020) pic.twitter.com/sh4M0AmeTb
Besides Shrinate, there are several other Congress spokespersons, who use unparliamentary language to counter their opponents in a TV debate. Ragini Nayak is one of them, who is particularly shrill in her attack against the opposition spokespersons.
In a TV debate on Aaj Tak, Nayak called BJP’s Gaurav Bhatia “sadakchaap”, “totle aadmi”, “thali ke baigan”, “badtameez aadmi” and other insults because he dared to counter the Congress spokesperson. It must be noted that Nayak had once served as the DUSU president.
3/n – Ragini Nayak of Congress calling Gaurav Bhatia “sadakchhaap”, “totle aadmi”, “thali ke baingan”, “Badtameez Aadmi” on Aaj Tak (2021). She was once the DUSU President !! Look at the level of arrogance, discourse and frustration. pic.twitter.com/WswgrGYeGs
Nayak is used to losing her cool while debating on television. In 2018, Nayak called Gaurav Bhatia “Tera Baap Chor hai(Your father is a thief)” on his face during a news show on India TV.
4/n – Not the first time that Ragini Nayak has fits against Gaurav Bhatia. She once called him “Tera Baap Chor Hai” on his face on India TV. (2018) pic.twitter.com/VyNk7b1rNY
Another Congress leader who is known for being uncivilised in her discourse on TV debates is Alka Lamba. Alka, who was earlier a member of AAP party, had insulted BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia by making unwarranted remarks on his parents. “badtameez inka baap hoga, badtameez inki maa hongi(His father must be ill-mannered, his mother must be ill-mannered),” said Alka on an India TV debate earlier this year.
5/n – Alka Lamba of Congress and erstwhile AAP is known for her antics. Here she calls Gaurav Bhatia “बदतमीज़ इनका बाप होगा,बदतमीज़ इनकी माँ होंगी” on India TV. (2021)pic.twitter.com/pNfqBivA2B
When she finds no logical rebuttal to her opponents, Alka tries to mock her opponents by poking fun at their names, possibly in a bid to rile them up. During a debate on News 18, Lamba mocked BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan by calling him: “Guru Prakash me nahin, Guru Andhkar me hain(Guru is not enlightened, he is in the dark).”
6/n – Alka Lamba of Congress started to mocking the name of BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan as “गुरु प्रकाश में नहीं, गुरु अंधकार में हैं”. Don’t know how is this a way to rebutt a point when you have none. (2021). pic.twitter.com/QkqUnf2MAq
Some of the Congress spokespeople were so exasperated by the questions asked of them during debates that they did not hesitate from reviling the anchor of the show. Late Rajiv Tyagi of the Congress party had in 2018 called journalist Ameesh Devgan a “bhadwa” and a “dalaal” during a TV debate.
7/n – Late Rajiv Tyagi who once went a step ahead and rather started abusing the anchor Ameesh Devgan himself and called him “Bhadwa” and “Dalaal” when he had no counter. (2018) pic.twitter.com/nud3xnkM0B
Late Rajiv Tyagi had once got up to literally assault then CNN IBN7 Anchor Sumit Awasthi to make his point during a debate.
15/n – Late Rajiv Tyagi once got up to literally go “hands on” with then CNN IBN7 Anchor Sumit Awasthi and shot his point down. It was a shouting match. (2018) pic.twitter.com/o8s6ZA94YY
MC Abbas, who once fought MLA election on AAP ticket and now describes as ‘independent political analyst’ had once started heckling BJP’s Nupur Sharma by calling her “Dadi Maa”, “Auntie”, “Ekta Kapoor”, “Vamp” in the midst of a debate on Republic TV.
8/n – MC Abbas who once fought MLA election on AAP ticket and now goes by “Independent Political Analyst” on TV debates started calling Nupur Sharma of BJP names “Dadi Maa”, “Auntie”, “Ekta Kapoor”, “Vamp” on Republic. (2020) pic.twitter.com/YwlilEeqZS
Not just verbal abuses but BJP spokespersons are also subjected to physical attacks by opposition leaders. Anurag Bhadouria of Samajwadi Party had once been involved in a fight with BJP’s Gaurav Bhatia after he pushed Bhatia around in the India TV studios.
9/n – When Anurag Bhadouria of Samajwadi Party got personal and physical itself with Gaurav Bhatia in the India TV studios. Must one of the firsts..!! (2018) pic.twitter.com/Vbjnbt6HLc
Then, there was Congress spokesperson Alok Sharma, who threw a glass of water at the BJP leader during a live debate on News 24 channel.
10/n – Another first may be, When Congress Spokesperson Alok Sharma threw a glass of Water at BJP Spokesperson during Live TV Debate on News 24 Channel. (2019) pic.twitter.com/IFXudIRsT7
Nishant Verma, who had once fought on AAP ticket, had threatened BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra of hanging him upside down on a debate on Republic TV last year.
11/n – Nishant Verma who once fought on AAP Ticket must be the most foul mouth TV panelist (male) till date. Tells Sambit Patra “Ulta taang dunga” on Republic TV Debate. (2020) pic.twitter.com/KtQaL6642f
Even though it is the Congress party’s comments that are echoed by Pakistani leaders, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera had once described PM Modi as Masood Azhar, Osama Bin Laden, Dawood Ibrahim and ISI on India TV.
11/n – Nishant Verma who once fought on AAP Ticket must be the most foul mouth TV panelist (male) till date. Tells Sambit Patra “Ulta taang dunga” on Republic TV Debate. (2020) pic.twitter.com/KtQaL6642f
In one instance, Rajiv Desai, who is known to sympathise with the Congress party and is alleged to be its spokesperson, had abused BJP leader Nupur Sharma by calling her “moron”, “crass” and “bubblehead” while debating on Times Now.
13/n – Rajiv Desai, an alleged Congress Spokesperson calling Nupur Sharma BJP names like “moron”, “crass”, “bubble head” just because she’s giving him back points he can’t digest. pic.twitter.com/A9i4z8Grcm
AAP leader Somnath Bharati is perhaps the most abusive of the lot. He had once abused a female TV anchor of Sudarshan TV. “bhadwagiri band karo, dhandhe pe baith jao,” he had once said. This was extremely foul language that roughly translates to, “don’t be a pimp, go and start prostitution.”
14/n – Somnath Bharti of AAP to Sudarshan TV anchor on Live TV (2018).
Twisting names of opposition spokesperson seems to be the hobbyhorse of the embattled Congress leaders who find themselves cornered in a TV debate. In a debate show on Republic TV, Sujata Paul of Congress started calling Sambit Patra names such as “Daya Patra” to not let him make his point.
16/n – Sujata Paul of Congress starts calling Sambit Patra names “Daya Patra” to not let him make his point. Not sure if this can be taken as rebuttal in a debate ?! pic.twitter.com/cPLJARf8cn
Sanjay Nirupam of the Congress party had made sexist and derogatory jibes against Union Minister (then BJP leader Smriti Irani. “Aap to TV pe thumke lagati thi,aaj chunavi visleshak ban gayi (You used to dance in TV shows, and now you have become a psephologist),” he had said in a debate in 2012.
17/n – Sanjay Nirupam of Congress should be high on “Hall of Shame” of most foul mouthed spokesperson making a sexist slur on the face of Smriti Irani (2012) –
“Kal tak Television par thumke laga rahi thi, aaj neta ban gayi”
When there are no arguments to defend the untenable, Congress spokespersons take to threatening TV anchors. Akhilesh Pratap Singh of Congress had once threatened 2 senior anchors— Late Rohit Sardana and Manik Gupta—asking them to toe the line & save their jobs or risk retribution.
18/n – Akhilesh Pratap Singh of Congress, threatens 2 senior anchors Late Rohit Sardana and Manik Gupta to toe the line & save their jobs on Live TV when finished with no arguments !! pic.twitter.com/PzZjBH75wm
The above mentioned 18 instances are in no way an exhaustive list of incidents when the opposition spokespersons have crossed the decency and descended to unseemly behaviour on national television. There might be several other incidents of similar nature which are not captured in this list. However, the said incidents amply demonstrate how the discourse has been vitiated by opposition spokesperson, who have no qualms in resorting to abuses, threats and insults to attack their political opponents.
SARS-COV-2 has wreaked havoc across the world. The origins of the Coronavirus are yet uncertain, with speculation life that it was engineered in a Chinese lab from where it leaked either intentionally or otherwise. It was rubbished as a conspiracy theory by ‘experts’ but events from recent weeks have given massive credence to the plausibility of it.
Coronaviruses have existed for a long long time. The virus responsible for the SARS pandemic years ago was a Coronavirus. MERS is also caused by a virus that belongs to the Coronavirus group of viruses. It has been speculated by scientists for quite some time that a more dangerous Coronavirus could emerge that could prove to be much more deadly than the one that causes SARS. SARS-COV-2 proved to be one.
In October, 2019, a month before the first case of the Coronavirus is believed to have been reported in China, an event was organised that facilitated a 3.5 hour “pandemic tabletop exercise that simulated a series of dramatic, scenario-based facilitated discussions, confronting difficult, true-to-life dilemmas associated with response to a hypothetical, but scientifically plausible, pandemic.” That event, organised on October 18 that year, was called Event 201.
Event 201 recorded the participation of 15 global business, government, and public health leaders in the simulation exercise “that highlighted unresolved real-world policy and economic issues that could be solved with sufficient political will, financial investment, and attention now and in the future.”
According to its website, “The exercise consisted of pre-recorded news broadcasts, live “staff” briefings, and moderated discussions on specific topics. These issues were carefully designed in a compelling narrative that educated the participants and the audience.”
The website said, “Experts agree that it is only a matter of time before one of these epidemics becomes global—a pandemic with potentially catastrophic consequences. A severe pandemic, which becomes “Event 201,” would require reliable cooperation among several industries, national governments, and key international institutions.”
Event 201 Scenario
The Event 201 Scenario imagines a an outbreak of a novel zoonotic Coronavirus that is transmitted from bats to pigs and eventually humans.
The website says, “The disease starts in pig farms in Brazil, quietly and slowly at first, but then it starts to spread more rapidly in healthcare settings. When it starts to spread efficiently from person to person in the low-income, densely packed neighborhoods of some of the megacities in South America, the epidemic explodes. It is first exported by air travel to Portugal, the United States, and China and then to many other countries. Although at first some countries are able to control it, it continues to spread and be reintroduced, and eventually no country can maintain control.”
The scenario that was imagined
It is speculated that vaccines will not be available for at least a year. An antiviral drug is imagined that can help those sick but has no impact on curbing the spread of the virus. The scenario predicts 65 million deaths in the first 18 months. The pandemic is expected to continue until 80%-90% globally have been exposed to the virus at which point it is expected to become an endemic childhood disease.
Event 201 Exercise Team
The exercise team consisted of representatives from the John Hopkins Center for Health Security, the World economic Forum and from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Source: Event 201 official website
Professor George F. Gao, Director-General, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, was one of the ‘players’ at the exercise. Other players included Adrian Thomas from Johnson & Johnson, Latoya D. Abbott from Mariott International, Sofia Borges from the UN Foundation, Avril Haines from Colombia University who has previously served as the served as Assistant to the US President and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor, Stephen C. Redd from the American CDC and Timothy Evans from the McGill University.
Recommendations
The John Hopkins Center for Health Security, World Economic Forum, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came up with a series of recommendations. The seven recommendations are listed below:
Governments, international organizations, and businesses should plan now for how essential corporate capabilities will be utilized during a large-scale pandemic.
Industry, national governments, and international organizations should work together to enhance internationally held stockpiles of medical countermeasures (MCMs) to enable rapid and equitable distribution during a severe pandemic.
Countries, international organizations, and global transportation companies should work together to maintain travel and trade during severe pandemics. Travel and trade are essential to the global economy as well as to national and even local economies, and they should be maintained even in the face of a pandemic.
Governments should provide more resources and support for the development and surge manufacturing of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics that will be needed during a severe pandemic.
Global business should recognize the economic burden of pandemics and fight for stronger preparedness.
International organizations should prioritize reducing economic impacts of epidemics and pandemics.
Governments and the private sector should assign a greater priority to developing methods to combat mis- and disinformation prior to the next pandemic response.
Bill Gates denies Event 201 ever occurred
Bill Gates in April 2020 denies Event 201 ever took place even though the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was one of the major participants of the event. He told the BBC, “Now here we are. We didn’t simulate this, we didn’t practice, so both the health policies and economic policies, we find ourselves in uncharted territory.”
The organisers also denied that they predicted the Covid-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, which is technically speaking correct as the event focused on a hypothetical Coronavirus outbreak and not SARS-COV-2.
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said that “the Center for Health Security and partners did not make a prediction during our tabletop exercise. “For the scenario, we modeled a fictional coronavirus pandemic, but we explicitly stated that it was not a prediction,” they said in a statement.
“We are not now predicting that the nCoV-2019 outbreak will kill 65 million people. Although our tabletop exercise included a mock novel coronavirus, the inputs we used for modeling the potential impact of that fictional virus are not similar to nCoV-2019,” the statement read.
Fact-checkers ran to provide cover
Unsurprisingly, numerous ‘fact-checks’ emerged that attempted to clean the air about anything that might present the organisers in poor light. It is to be borne in mind that the conduct of such ‘fact-checkers’ have been extremely dubious since the beginning of the pandemic.
‘Fact-checkers’ rushed to brand the lab-leak hypothesis a conspiracy theory, thereby giving social media platforms a convenient ruse to ban accounts and censor content that highlighted the same. One of them said it was ‘neither coincidence nor conspiracy’.
USA Today in its fact-check declared “A Bill Gates-backed pandemic simulation in October did not predict COVID-19”. It is true that the simulation did not predict Covid-19 but the simulation was designed around a zoonotic Coronavirus.
What China said about Event 201
China also took note of the event, ignoring that the Director-General of their own CDC participated in the exercise. In an obvious attempt to hit back at USA, the Global Times said in a report published in April 2020, “Last October, a high-level pandemic exercise named Event 201 was hosted by a couple of US organizations. The drill simulated a scenario that a fictional virus called CAPS, which causes more severe symptoms than SARS and transmits via the respiratory route like the common flu, had caused a pandemic. Like COVID-19, there is no vaccine for CAPS.”
“Given the fact that the simulated virus is so much like COVID-19, is this just a coincidence? Another question is, why did it not take enough preventive measures at the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak since the US has predicted a similar pandemic.” GT added.
The first case of Covid-19 is reported to be a Hubei resident in China, detected on the 17th of November 2019.
Days after the Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray cancelled its decision to spend Rs 5.98 crore for appointing a private agency to boost the image of the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, now Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is being questioned regarding its Rs 2 crore annual expenditure on administering its social media accounts, particularly its 34 Twitter accounts, reports TOI.
Politicians across parties have together asked Maharashtra’s Municipal body to review this avoidable expenditure.
MLAs and corporators from several political parties claimed that no technical analysis was conducted to determine the reach and impact of @mybmc and 33 other Twitter handles, many of which are unverified. Moreover, on February 12th it was reported that 12 out of these 34 accounts remained shut due to some ‘technical glitch’.
The closure was particularly vexing considering the BMC, which is experiencing financial difficulties owing to the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, pays a company close to Rs 2 crore a year to administer its Twitter accounts.
Now, the Maharashtra MLAs and corporators have demanded that a new tender process is expedited and a new agency is established as soon as possible.
Image credit: TOI
BMC appoints company to handle its social media accounts without floating a tender
Notably, in the year 2019, BMC had arbitrarily, without floating a tender, awarded a Rs 5.8-crore contract to S2 Infotech International Ltd to manage the 34 Twitter handles till July 2022. Apart from the main @mybmc account, the 34 accounts include one each for 24 wards in the city and separate accounts for various departments. According to the report, while S2 Infotech was awarded the contract, they subcontracted the work to some other firm. An official said that around 35 staffers, including designers and content creators, were deployed at wards and departments to manage the Twitter handles.
According to TOI, while S2 Infotech International did not respond, the BMC chief said that the use of social media channels to raise awareness about initiatives and services received approval from the standing committee. This, he added, enabled the BMC to have “its own breaking news space and bust fake information in real-time.
However, SP MLA and corporator Rais Shaikh expressed surprise that while Mumbai Police has only one Twitter handle @MumbaiPolice, BMC has 34, which has increased costs and led to confusion.
The Ajit Pawar SM account fiasco
Here it becomes imperative to note that on the 13th of last month, the cash-strapped Maharashtra government had set aside about Rs 6 crores to manage Ajit Pawar’s social media accounts and improve his image.
The approval from the Uddhav Thackeray government to use taxpayers money to boost the image of Ajit Pawar had come at a time when the Maharashtra Treasury is in bad shape in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19 in the state that has ravaged the state’s finances.
However, after severe backlash, Pawar himself issued the instructions to cancel the earlier government order in this regard.
Earlier in the day, OpIndia reported how a temporary Coronavirus treatment facility set up by Hemkunt Foundation in Sector 61 of Gurugram, Haryana was removed over allegations of turning it into a warehouse and giving ration to farmer protestors.
Following the removal of the temporary Coronavirus treatment facility, a member of the NGO, Jitendra Pal Singh, has filed a complaint against the owner of land namely, Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Vinesh Gurjar and the tent house operator Jagat Singh Yadav alias Babli. The complaint has been registered on June 3rd, 2021, at the police station in Sector 65, Gurugram under sections 323, 427, 506 of the IPC.
The police confirmed that an FIR has been registered under sections of criminal intimidation, mischief causing damage and voluntarily causing hurt.
Subhash Boken, Gurgaon Police PRO, said: “We will be conducting an enquiry in the matter. The organisation was in contact with a tent house company and was in possession of the land through a verbal agreement. Since there were no patients at the centre, the company asked the volunteers to vacate the place. There was a dispute over this. We have received a complaint from the volunteers and will take action.”
Meanwhile, Jagat Singh, the tent house operator, said: “We gave this land to the foundation for a makeshift Covid centre for just two months. There was no patient in it for many days owing to a dip in the number of cases and the landowner asked them to vacate the land.
“Some of the volunteers of the foundation told him that they are distributing ration kit in farmers protest and we can’t let the land as warehouse. We informed the foundation four days ago but they have not vacated yet,” added Singh.
According to information from sources, the place is generally rented out to people to conduct marriages. Since it was vacant, the owner of the property leased it to the controversial NGO for a period of two months after the Community development director of Hemkunt Foundation, Harteerath Singh, had asked for a 20,000 sq. ft land to set up a Covid-19 centre.
Hemkunt Foundation started the Covid relief camp on May 4th, 2021. 36 beds were set up inside the tent. A separate small tent was set up near this camp where Covid-19 tests were conducted on people.
According to information, the NGO refused to admit patients who tested positive for Covid-19. They were sent to different hospitals. Only individuals with breathing problems who need oxygen were accommodated at the foundation. These individuals were released after receiving oxygen for a day or two.
Only 15 to 17 patients were seen until roughly 15 days after the organisation began operating this camp. The tent facility provider, meanwhile accused the NGO of trying to make it into a warehouse while there are no patients in the last 10 days.
Covid relief centre converted into a warehouse by the Hemkunt foundation
When inquired, it was discovered that between May 20, 2021, to June 3, 2021, over 4/5 of a large canister of rations arrived at the relief camp, mostly consisting of flour, rice, all pulses, sugar, and spices. It was then dispatched to Delhi. Even today, a large quantity of ration is stored in this makeshift Covid Care Center.
When the owner of the land learnt that the place was being used as a warehouse, he asked the foundation to vacate the plot. When Hemkunt Foundation failed to vacate the area, the owner approached the subdivisional magistrate of Badshahpur, Satish Yadav, who visited the place to take stock of the situation.
Deepak Kumar, SHO of Sector 65 police station, stated that as soon as a complaint was received, a police squad and the subdivisional magistrate of Badshahpur, Satish Yadav, went to the spot. “The landowner is planning to set up his own makeshift oxygen centre for residents and they have been asking the Hemkunt Foundation to vacate. There is no legal or written agreement between the parties, due to which they are bound to vacate the private property. We have intervened and given two days to shift their set up,” said Kumar.
Hemkunt Foundation’s connections with celebrities and state administration
Speaking about Hemkunt Foundation’s clout and connections, a volunteer working at the makeshift Covid relief centre, informed that Bollywood actor Salman Khan had donated 4 ambulances to Hemkunt Foundation which were used at this facility. He furthered that almost 10 to 15 luxury vehicles belonging to Maharashtra state Government used to be parked here at this Covid centre at all times. On May 3 also, 3 Maharashtra Government’s luxury cars bearing numbers MH-01CT-5461, MH-01DE-2830 and MH-14JA-4202, were parked outside the facility, informed the volunteer.
Earlier OpIndia reported how the foundation has collected funds from foreign donors through crowdfunding websites such as Ketto, Milaap and DonateKart.
It has to be noted that Hemkunt Foundation was one of the main organizations after Khalsa Aid to be working at farmer protest sites at Delhi borders. They had set up a tent city for the protesting farmers.
We also reported how Hemkunt might be breaking FCRA laws under the pretext of collecting funds for Covid-19 relief, as its name does not show up in the directory of NGOs registered in India maintained by the Government of India.
Hemkunt Foundation claims ‘goons’ destroyed their Coronavirus treatment facility
In a statement, the NGO alleged, “We need your help! Our O2 Centre at Gurgaon was destroyed forcefully today and our belongings were damaged. To continue helping everyone in need, we need access to 20,000 sq. ft. land at or near the City Centre of Gurgaon. Please help us spread the word.”
Hemkunt Foundation has claimed that a group of men ambushed the centre and destroyed it for exceeding the two-month lease period. It has also allegedly paid ₹3.5 lacs as maintenance. Following the incident, a team of police headed by SDM (Badshahpur) Satish Yadav went to the spot to defuse the situation. SDM Yadav said, “We are talking with foundation members and land owner and have asked them to give some time to vacate the land as the foundation is doing social work.”
Now the Foundation has filed a complaint based on which the Gurugram police booked 22 people. Out of the 22, only two, including the landowner, were named in the FIR, said the police.
