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Susan Sarandon, addicted to powerful psychedelic drugs, comments on farmer protests in India

OpIndia Staff
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Susan Sarandon, addicted to powerful psychedelic drugs, comments on farmer protests in India

The ongoing anti-farm law agitation in India has been witnessing the support of international celebrities from singer Rihanna to former pornstar Mia Khalifa. Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon is the latest celebrity to interfere in India’s internal matter.

In a tweet posted on Friday, the actress wrote, “Standing in solidarity with the Farmers Protest in India. Read about who they are and why they are protesting below.” Susan Sarandon had shared the link of a New York Times article, peddling anti-India propaganda to the global community. The Hollywood actress featured in several movies such as ‘Atlantic City’ (1980), ‘Thelma & Louise’ (1991), ‘Lorenzo’s Oil’ (1992), ‘The Client ‘(1994), and ‘Dead Man Walking’ (1995).

Screengrab of her tweet

Susan Sarandon had earlier revealed her obsession with psychedelic drugs. In a startling interview in 2014, the then 67-year-old actress said that she was hooked to ‘magic mushrooms’ and Ayahuasca, a psychedelic tea. Magic Mushrooms contain a hallucinogenic compound named psilocybin, which is classified as Scheduled I drug and is not legally permitted to be used for medical treatment in the US. She has a penchant for marijuana too and advocates its use over alcohol.

Greta Thunberg Files and anti-India propaganda

On February 2, Greta Thunberg inadvertently revealed the sinister global campaign against India after she shared a ‘Toolkit’ for those who want to support the ongoing ‘farmer protests’ in the country. On first glance, what the documents revealed was that the farmers’ protest and the support it seemed to get from various quarters was in no way organic, as many wanted Indians to believe. As we reported, the documents tweeted by Greta Thunberg revealed that the plan was afoot since November 2020, at the very least.

In one of the linked documents, titled ‘Solidarity with Indian farmers – Twitter storm’ contains meticulous planning about the tweets to be posted to ‘garner international attention’ to the ‘farmer protest’. We already reported how that document proved that Greta Thunberg and Rihanna did not tweet support for the farmers spontaneously, but the tweet was planned well in advance.

Did the Donald Trump meme come first or PM Modi’s? How Congress spread lies about Smriti Irani’s post

OpIndia Staff
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Did the Donald Trump meme come first or PM Modi’s? How Congress spread lies about Smriti Irani’s post

A global campaign is underway against India and sinister forces are attempting to use the ‘farmer protests’ to incite unrest and chaos across the country. On the face of it, the protests are supposedly against Prime Minister Modi and his government but the Khalistani underbelly of the protests has become impossible to deny in recent times.

Under such circumstances, an old meme of Prime Minister Modi is circulating again where the text says, “They’re after you, I am just in the way.” The meme has been shared by the former Dutch ambassador to India as well as others such as Union Minister Smriti Irani.

The Congress party, however, accused Smriti Irani of stealing the meme from former US President Donald Trump. Of course, the young generation is well aware that memes are meant to be stolen and it is not something that is to be held against anyone.

Tweet by UP Congress

Nevertheless, the Congress party did decide to engage in such petty behaviour. And as it turns out, they were wrong when they said that and Smriti Irani, in fact, did not steal the meme from Donald Trump. In fact, the original meme featured Narendra Modi much before Trump shared it himself.

Journalist Aditya Raj Kaul made the observation that the then US President had copied the meme from the Modi campaign when Donald Trump shared it first on the 18th of December 2019.

Donald Trump Prime Minister Modi meme
Aditya Raj Kaul tweet

We have Suresh Nakhua, spokesperson of BJP Mumbai, who shared the meme on the 17th of December 2019. There, a user commented that the meme was very old, probably a year old.

Donald Trump Prime Minister Modi meme
Suresh Nakhua shared the meme before Donald Trump

We had one user share the meme featuring Prime Minister Modi in March 2019, months before Donald Trump shared it.

The Modi meme from March 2019

Under such circumstances, it can be said for certain that the meme featuring Prime Minister Modi was in circulation much Donald Trump shared it in December 2019. The Congress party, in its zeal to undermine the NDA Government at the center, is deliberately spreading information.

Farmer organisation’s flag with portrait of Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale seen in Ludhiana during ‘Chakka Jam’

OpIndia Staff
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Farmer organisation’s flag with portrait of Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale seen in Ludhiana during ‘Chakka Jam’

Farmer protesters blocked highways across north India on Saturday, including the Eastern Peripheral Expressway around Delhi between 12 noon and 3 pm as part of their countrywide ‘chakka jam’. Now this latest edition of the anti-farm lkaw protests have once again confirmed the link of the agitation with the Khalisthani movement, as an image of Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was displayed during the blockade.

During the ‘chakka jam’ protest in Ludhiana, a flag with the portrait of Bhindranwale was displayed on a tractor. News agency ANI has taken to Twitter to share a video of the same.

The black coloured flag has the image of Bhindranwale, along with the logo of Naujawan Kisan Ekta.

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was a Khalistani who was killed in 1984 during Operation Blue Star, which led to the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and anti-Sikh riots across the country.

The flag with the picture of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale leaves not an iota of doubt that the ongoing agitation, going on in the border areas of the national capital since over 3 months in the name of farmers, is nothing but a planned insurrection by Khalistani elements.

A primary probe into the source of the PowerPoint ‘Toolkit’ that environmental activist and baby-protestor Greta Thunberg had accidentally Tweeted also suggested that it was put together by a Canadian based pro-Khalistani group.

Earlier too, ahead of the Republic Day riots, members of a group going by the name of “Khalistan Zindabad” had discussed ‘picking up arms’ and ‘carry as many arms as possible’ in the initial days of January on the popular messaging application Telegram.

Meanwhile, security had been beefed in Delhi and the NCR after the call for Chakka Jam by farmer leaders, who were also involved in the 26th January insurrection. Along with Delhi police personnel, Paramilitary forces had been deployed in several areas of the Delhi-NCR including border areas. From drone cameras to multi-layered barricading to 50,000 security personnel, the authorities have made watertight arrangements to make sure that the Republic Day insurrection is not repeated.

BJP MP Udayanraje Bhosale presents token of appreciation to Yogi Adityanath for renaming Mughal Museum after Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

OpIndia Staff
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BJP MP Udayanraje Bhosale presents token of appreciation to Yogi Adityanath for renaming Mughal Museum after Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

BJP MP Udayanraje Bhosale, a descendent of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, has presented a token of appreciation to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath for his decision to rename the under-construction Mughal Museum in Agra after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The BJP MP took to Twitter to share a video of the same.

On 14th September 2020, Yogi Adityanath had announced his decision to rename the 141 crore Mughal Museum in Agra. The decision was taken at a review meeting of development works of Agra division last year.

A press statement had quoted Yogi Adityanath as saying: “How can Mughals be our heroes? “The very name of Shivaji will invoke a feeling of nationalism and self-esteem”.

He made it clear that his government always nurtured the nationalist ideology and anything which smacks of subservient mentality will be done away with, a government spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, SP and Congress leaders had slammed CM Yogi Adityanath for renaming Mughal Museum in Agra after Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The foundation stone for the Mughal Museum in Agra was laid by the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in January 2016. When completed, it will be the fourth museum in Agra containing the models of all historic monuments of the city.

Digital maps of Agra according to various eras will also be placed in the museum, along with details of various excavation sites. This will include the fabled ‘Agravan’ of the Mahabharat era as well as Agra under Mughal emperor Akbar. The handicrafts of Agra will also be displayed at the museum.

Meet Sangeet Toor, The Wire and The Caravan columnist, who spread fake news about ‘bombs dropped at protest site’

OpIndia Staff
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Meet Sangeet Toor, The Wire and The Caravan columnist, who spread fake news about ‘bombs dropped at protest site’

An outrageous fake news about bombs being dropped at protest sites was peddled by Trolley Times recently on social media. The newsletter dedicated to the ‘farmer protests’ credited a ‘ground report’ by one Sangeet Toor for that piece of false information.

According to her Twitter profile, she is currently based in Washington DC. However, it appears she is India currently covering the ‘farmer protests’.

Sangeet Toor
Twitter profile screenshot

We attempted to learn more about Sangeet Toor given the international campaign against India that is currently underway. We soon discovered that her columns have appeared at far-left media outlets such as The Caravan and The Wire.

In her column for The Caravan, she has covered the protests focusing on the participation of women. The media portal, which is accused of spreading fake news to incite violence during the Republic Day riots, described her as “a cybersecurity analyst and writer based in Chandigarh. She is currently documenting the history of land rights and peasant struggles in Punjab.”

The Caravan column authored by Sangeet Toor

In her column for The Wire, Sangeet Toor wrote, “Punjabi youth have made it loudly clear that they want to be led by mature, pro-people and pro-democracy leaders. Not surprisingly then, it was the activists of Bharat Kisan Union Ugrahan from Punjab who were the first to participate in the Shaheen Bagh protests and to protest the revocation of Article 370.”

The Wire Column
The Wire Column

One of her columns that was originally published on the Trolley Times was reproduced by The Wire.

The Trolley Times column that was reproduced by The Wire
The Trolley Times column that was reproduced by The Wire

Sangeet Toor has also made an appearance for an interview at the Shere Punjab Radio, which is headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, to speak about the ‘farmer protests’.

Sangeet Toor appeared at the Shere Punjab Radio for an interview

She also appeared at an event organised by the Jakara Movement on the 13th of January where she was described as a freelance journalist. The movement describes itself as a “grassroots community-building organization working to empower, educate, and organize Punjabi Sikhs, and other marginalized communities; to advance their health, education, and economic, social, and political power.”

Sangeet Toor appeared at a Jakara Movement event
Sangeet Toor appeared at a Jakara Movement event

Sangeet Toor also participated in a “celebration of the music about the farmers struggles against the 2020 farm laws.”

‘Songs of the Soil’ event

She has also written movie reviews at Film Companion.

Sangeet Toor
The movie reviews she has written

According to Trolley Times, it was Sangeet Toor who provided the information about bombs being dropped at a protest site, which is ostensibly false. The Delhi Police has also responded to the false claim and said, “The claim of dropping improvised bombs by drone is a figment of imagination.”

Caught planning insurrection in India, Canada-based Poetic Justice Foundation tries to wash its hands off the farmer protests

OpIndia Staff
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Caught planning insurrection in India, Canada-based Poetic Justice Foundation tries to wash its hands off the farmer protests

Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF) has been under the scanner after environmental activist Greta Thunberg accidentally exposed on February 3 how anti-India forces are trying to create unrest in India. Amidst allegations of creating disharmony in India, now the organisation has claimed that it has no links with the ongoing anti-farm law protests in the country.

In a statement issued on Saturday, co-founders of the organisation Mo Dhaliwal and Anita Lal said, “Poetic Justice Foundation did not coordinate Rihanna, Grete Thunberg or any number of specific celebrities to tweet about the #FarmeraProteat. We didn’t pay anyone to tweet — and certainly didn’t pay anyone $2.5m to do so. However, we did generally encourage the entire world to share this issue. Through the international collective of organizers we encouraged the world to pay attention and amplify this message.”

Dismissing accusations of promoting disharmony in India, the organisation claimed, “Poetic Justice Foundation did not coordinate any pretest activities occurring within India. Up to India’s Republic Day, January 26th, 2021, and beyond — whether at Red Fort in Delhi or elsewhere in the country. We were not involved in directing or fomenting any protest activity of any sort within India.”

Poetic Justice Foundation claims being hounded by Indian nationalists

Poetic Justice Foundation alleged that they have been receiving hateful messages from ‘self-proclaimed Indian nationalists’, despite not advocating hate or harm at any point. “We were drawn to the Farmers Protest due to our connection and love for our people. This made us especially aware of the many human rights violations occurring in India,” it said.

The organisation further claimed, “In response to the ongoing Farmers Protest in India, we saw violence being inflicted upon peaceful protestors. We saw journalists being jailed. We saw the Government of India safeguarding the interests of corporations while engaging in disinformation to vilify farmers, landless farmers and labourers.”

PFJ seeks refuge of Amnesty International, Press Freedom Index to give itself a ‘clean chit’

PJF said that they connected to like-minded people in India and employed the members of the community to raise awareness about the movement globally. The group conceded that they held meetings and brainstormed ideas to ask questions to the Indian democracy. “Why is India killing its farmers? Why is India killing its minorities? Why is India killing its own democracy?” the statement read.

The organisation claimed that the gathered well-researched information and made it publicly available on a website, askindiawhy.com. “We didn’t take them down, because we believe in the work. There is
no hate being propagated and we will never promote hate,” it alleged. Poetic Justice Foundation took the refuge of India’s press freedom idex to suggest that free speech was being curbed in India.

It said, “Human Rights Watch has cited India for crackdown on basic freedoms while politicized institutions are given free rein to wreak havoc on the citizenry. Amnesty international faced so much interference they had to
discontinue their aid work in India. This is not conjecture. These are verifiable facts.” Further, accusing the Indian media of levelling ‘incorrect’ allegations against PJF, it claimed that it is a ‘concerted’ effort to deviate public attention from the real story.

Rihanna, paid propaganda against India, and Poetic Justice Foundation

Popstar Rihanna, who tried to instigate protestors in India by resorting to propagating false propaganda against the Indian government, has now been accused of receiving $2.5 million (Rs 18 crore) by a Public Relations firm that has Khalistani-terror links.

Skyrocket, a PR firm where Khalistani Mo Dhaliwal is a director, allegedly paid $2.5 million to pop star Rihanna to tweet favouring the farmer protests. In Indian currency, that is well over Rs.18 crores. The sources also believe that the toolkit shared by climate activist Greta Thunberg was “fed to her” as part of a “larger conspiracy to create disharmony” in India.

Individuals such as Mo Dhaliwal, Marina Patterson, worked as a relationship manager in PR firms, Anita Lal, director of World Sikh Organisation in Canada, and Canadian MP Jagmeet Singh. Anita Lal is also a co-founder of the Poetic Justice Foundation, an organisation that features prominently in the toolkit shared by Greta Thunberg.

PJF founder M Dhaliwal voices support for Khalistan movement

Poetic Justice Foundation co-founder Mo Dhaliwal was heard in a video saying, “If the farm bills get repealed tomorrow, that is not a victory. This battle begins with the repeal of the farm laws. It does not end there. Anybody who tells you that this is going to end with the repeal of the farm bills is trying to drain energy from the movement.”

He further requested the youth to not dismiss the idea of ‘Khalistan’ and instead learn about the movement and embrace it. While addressing the gathering, the Khalistani supporter that their ultimate objective is the same, irrespective of whether they are holding a ‘Khalistani flag’ or a ‘farm bill flag’ or a ‘Kesari flag’. “We are being fed language that is separating us from each other,” he alleged.

After hounding Arnab Goswami relentlessly for months, Mumbai police now file defamation case against him, his wife and Republic TV

OpIndia Staff
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After hounding Arnab Goswami relentlessly for months, Mumbai police now file defamation case against him, his wife and Republic TV

Maharashtra police, working at the behest of Uddhav Thackeray government has been using every trick up its sleeves to harass and break the morale of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami. After recent efforts to slander his image by leaking his private Whatsapp chats backfired, Mumbai police has now filed a criminal defamation complaint against the journalist, over some claims made by him during a debate revolving around Sushant Singh Rajput death case in August 2020.

Almost 8 months after, when realisation suddenly hit upon DCP Abhishek Trimukhe, he filed a criminal defamation complaint against Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, his wife and the owner of the channel ARG Outlier for alleged defamatory statements made against him by Goswami under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499, 500 (defamation) and 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory).

“The said defamatory attacks have been made with a singular view of assassinating his (DCP Trimukhe’s) official character and thereby…maliciously and deliberately causing undue humiliation of the Mumbai Police Department,” the complaint said.

Despite not being on any social media platform, complaint accuses Arnab Goswami of ‘Tweeting’ contents of telecast

As per the complaint, Arnab Goswami made “grossly false”, “malicious” and defamatory statements during the coverage of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death by suicide last year. It further claimed that these defamatory statements were telecast on the channel Republic Bharat during a discussion about phone records of actor Rhea Chakraborty on August 7, 2020.

In the complaint, the DCP has accused Arnab Goswami of misrepresenting him and defaming his image in a Tweet. “There were some tweets which misrepresented Trimukhe. He had written about it to the Maharashtra government. The state home department gave its sanction (to file a complaint),” news agency PTI quoted a senior police official as saying.

The complaint further stated Goswami also tweeted the contents of the telecast. He alleged that Goswami runs the Twitter handle @arnab5222 with nearly 2 lakh followers, and has reiterated and recirculated the defamatory telecast to an even larger audience, through Twitter. Although a Twitter account with this name exists, it only has 18 followers, and the account has not posted anything that links it to Arnab Goswami.

The interesting part here is that Arnab Goswami is not present on the microblogging site nor on any other social media platform. Confirming the same, Arnab Goswami’s lawyers said that the tweets referred to in the complaint filed by DCP Abhishek Trimukhe were from a fake Twitter account.

From his name being dragged in a false TRP scam or accusing him of “terrorising” police in a debate to being arrested by the Maharashtra police in a years-old abetment to suicide case that had been closed smacks of vendetta.

Trolley Times, Greta toolkit’s ‘reliable news source’, peddles Washington DC woman’s false claims of ‘bombs dropped at protest site’: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Trolley Times, Greta toolkit’s ‘reliable news source’, peddles Washington DC woman’s false claims of ‘bombs dropped at protest site’: Details

Trolley Times, one of the sources for ‘reliable news’ related to the ‘farmer protests’ mentioned in the toolkit shared by climate activist Greta Thunberg, is sharing fake news that has the potential to cause a lot of violence. It has claimed on Twitter that the bombs are being dropped at the protest sites through helicopters.

Trolley Times said on Twitter, “Police has barricaded the KMSC stage from Sanyukt Morcha as well as Delhi side since January 27th. Protesters claim a helicopter dropped two improvised bombs near the stage.”

Trolley Times fake news
Trolley Times peddles fake news

The claim is clearly an ostentatious bid at spreading alarmist delusions through fake news. Raj Shekhar Jha, journalist with Times of India, slammed Twitter for allowing such dangerous propaganda to continue to thrive on its platform.

There is not the slightest bit of evidence for the preposterous claim that bombs were being dropped at the protest sites. However, ‘protesters’ have relied on such dangerous to peddle their propaganda.

The current information was apparently a ‘ground report’ provided by one Sangeet Toor whose Twitter profile has her location set to Washington DC. Thus, we have outrageous propaganda coming from a person who claimed to be based at the United States of America.

The Trolley Times propaganda came from Sangeet Toor
The Trolley Times propaganda came from Sangeet Toor

We had reported earlier how ‘Ask India Why’, the arm of the Poetic Justice Foundation responsible for the international campaign against India, relied on delusional claims made by former Supreme Court justice Markandey Katju to spread its propaganda.

Now, we have the Trolley Times using similar tactics to generate a sense of hysteria. Its website describes it as a ‘newsletter’ dedicated to the ‘farmers protests’. Navkiran Natt, Jassi Sangha, Surmeet Maavi, Gurdeep Dhaliwal, Ajaypal Natt, Jasdeep Singh, Thukral & Tagra and Narinder Bhinder are listed as their workers.

Karnataka: Authorities issue diktat to private temples to register with govt within a month, warns of action for failure to do so

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Authorities issue diktat to private temples to register with govt within a month, warns of action for failure to do so

In a shocking order, private temples in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka have been given a month’s time to register with the administration failing which the government authorities would take control of such temples.

According to the reports, Chikkamagaluru Assistant Commissioner HL Nagaraj has issued a diktat to all temples run by a private trust and temples other than those under the Muzrai Department asking them to register with the administration within a month. He also warned of severe action against Hindu temples if they fail to do so, he said in a press conference in Chikkamagaluru on Tuesday.

According to the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Act, 2011, the private temples have to register with the Assistant Commissioners concerned. However, no temples have registered yet.

“The registration process will avoid the possible misuse of funds. The applicants have to furnish details of the place, bank account, buildings belonging to each temple to get the registration done,” he said.

Govt will evaluate its resources, to be used for special events

After bringing these temples under its ambit, the government will also evaluate gold, silver and other valuables belonging to the temple in the presence of recognised evaluators and officers. The evaluated gold ornaments can be utilised during special events and celebrations, he added.

The diktats issued by the authorities in Karnataka to control the remaining free temples in the state indicate that the government intends to deviate its resources to fulfil its own agenda. This harsh decision comes at a time when Hindus across the country are demanding to free the temples from the clutches of the governments, just like religious institutions of other religion.

However, instead of liberating the existing temples, the BJP government in the state considers them as ‘cash cows’ and instead wants to bring it under the directive, however, instead of liberating existing temples aims at bringing more temples under the purview of the HRCE department.

Govt to reconsider order, orders to stop the process of registration

Following the backlash by the citizens of the state, Minister of State for Hindu Religious Organisations and Endowments Kota Srinivas Poojary has directed the authorities to stop registration of private temples.

Girish Bharadwaj, a Hindu activist and the leader of VHP, had written a letter to the Commissioner of Hindu Endowments Department highlighting how the circular to register Private and non-notified temples was a violation of the Fundamental Rights of Hindus. He had also cited the 2015 Karnataka High Court judgement that struck down the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Act, 2011, on the basis of which the order was passed recently.

The activist had sought the government to withdraw the said circular in the interest of Justice and Equity.

Following the backlash, the Karnataka government has now decided to halt the process of registration of private temples.

Teenage boy raped and killed, four youths shot dead – Pakistan grapples with PUBG and TikTok

OpIndia Staff
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Teenage boy raped and killed, four youths shot dead – Pakistan grapples with PUBG and TikTok

Two incidents of rape and murder have come to the fore in Pakistan, and both have been associated with two popular apps, PUBG and TikTok, both banned in India amidst concerns about data security. While TikTok is a Chinese app, PUBG is developed by a South Korean company, but the mobile version of it was developed by Chinese firm Tencent Games for both Android and iOS.

In the first case, a 15-year-old teenage boy was brutally raped and murdered for blocking an associate of the accused on the online gaming app PUBG. According to a local report, Lahore’s Raiwind City Police arrested four accused on charges of rape and murder of a 15-year-old teenage boy in Raiwind, Lahore, Pakistan.

According to a report by a local news channel Geo News, the suspects purportedly raped and murdered the teenager because he blocked a friend of the main suspect on the online PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) game.

The local police said that the accused kidnapped the boy on the 13th of January. They took the victim to Nankana Sahib, where they first raped and then murdered him. The victim’s body was later found in Sheikhupura. 

The Lahore police sent the DNA samples of the accused to a forensic lab for further investigation.

Last year on the 2nd of September, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India decided to block 118 mobile apps citing concerns that these are ‘prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order’. PUBG was also one of the apps banned by Indian govt.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had also decided to impose a temporary ban on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) in Pakistan. However, the decision had come owing to the fact that at least two people in Pakistan had committed suicide and their deaths have been linked to this online game.

Four avid TikTok users murdered in Karachi, Pakistan

Meanwhile, in another case, 4 social media users, including one female, particularly active on the Chinese short video app TikTok, were shot dead by unknown assailants near Anklesaria Hospital in Karachi’s Garden area early on Tuesday (February 2) morning.

According to a report by Dawn, two deceased identified as Muskaan and Amir were friends. City Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sarfaraz Nawaz Shaikh said that on the fateful night, Muskan and Amir met. Amir, who arranged for a car, invited two of his friends Rehan and Sajjad.

All four roamed around the city and Amir and Muskaan also made TikTok videos during that time, said the official, furthering that during the wee hours of the morning, while they were around Anklesaria Hospital in Karachi’s Garden area, some unknown assailants attacked them. The girl was sitting inside the car while the boys were standing outside when they were shot.

The girl succumbed to the injury inside the car. The three boys were rushed to the hospital where they too succumbed to their wounds.

Empty shells from 9mm pistols were found near the car, as per the report. The family of the deceased arrived at the police station and a first information report (FIR) would be registered.

The Pakistani local newspaper quoted a source as saying that the killing “appeared to be the outcome of some personal issues”. However, the police are trying to investigate the exact motive of the murder and the identity of the killers, he added. The SSP confirmed that there were no witnesses to the incident. 

It is pertinent to note here, that Rehan and Sajjad had previously uploaded a TikTok video in which they were seen doing aerial firing in Karachi’s Ittihad Town area. After the video went viral, police had taken cognisance and registered an FIR against the two youths.

TikTok, a video sharing app owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance, which is banned in India, apart from posing threats to national security and being extensively used to objectify women and glorify attacks on them, promoting rape, animal cruelty, domestic violence etc., the Chinese app has been linked to several deaths, as users had been using the app to post videos of suicide and even murders.

Several murders and suicides in the recent past have been associated with the Chinese social media app. The glorification of pervasive issues and the app’s toxicity has compelled the government to issue a blanket ban on the Chinese app.

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