Ace sports presenter Harsha Bhogle is not usually known to commit gaffes while commenting during cricket matches or while hosting post-match analysis. However, recently, Bhogle did inadvertently make an awkward remark that had the netizens in splits.
In a video interaction with the former English cricketer Michael Vaughan over the recently concluded test match in Ahmedabad, Harsha said: “If it is a contest between my ball and your ball” which made the social media users break into fits of laughter.
However, Bhogle’s comment ‘If it’s a contest between my ball and your ball’ tickled the funny bones of the social media users who couldn’t stop themselves from expressing their amusement over Bhogle’s poor choice of words to describe a cricketing contest between bowlers of the two rival sides. Many Twitter users shared the viral clip and express their hilarity over the comments made by Harsha Bhogle.
Bhogle and Vaughan were discussing the much-debated nature of the pitch in Ahmedabad that had come under the firing line of the English cricket fans and supporters, after the third test match between India and England at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad ended within two days and resulted in an embarrassing pasting of the visiting side.
Harsha was stressing the importance of having a surface that aides both bowlers and batsmen to have an even contest. He asserted that a contest in cricket is not between a bat and a bat or a ball and a ball. Instead, he added that a great test match cricket involves a tough competition between a bat and a ball.
“Great test match cricket is a contest between a bat and a ball. If it’s a contest between bat and bat, meaning I score 500, you score 500, that’s not fun to watch. If it’s a contest between my ball and your ball, that’s not great to watch either,” Bhogle said.
India registered a comprehensive victory over the visiting England side in the third test match in Ahmedabad when the visitors were bowled out cheaply in both their innings, thanks to the spin wizards—Axar Patel and R Ashwin—putting India on the brink of the World Test Championship final.
DIGIPUB News India Foundation, that counts Prabir Purkayastha as its Vice Chairperson, has criticised the new social media regulations and written to the government expressing its “reservations” regarding the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.
The association said in a statement, “These Rules in some places appear to go against the fundamental principle of news and its role in a democracy. While rules and laws already exist to hold news media accountable, the aforesaid rules enable the executive government to even remove content published as current affairs or news (Rule 14.) among other things.”
The DigiPub News India Foundation has written to Union Minister for I&B and Union Minister for Electronics and IT, expressing our reservations regarding the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. pic.twitter.com/vftBBDKczf
The statement also said that the new rules are a ‘threat to democracy’ and hinted that they were ‘unconstitutional’. It said, “We offer once again to have consultations with stakeholders before notifying these Rules. We ourselves wrote to the Honourable Minister for Information and Broadcasting on December 2, 2020, requesting to be part of a consultation process, but never received a reply. We believe it is still not too late.”
“We request you to repeal these Rules, or at least put them on hold, until meaningful consultations are undertaken with all the stakeholders,” it added. The letter was signed by Dhanya Rajendran of The News Minute, Prabir Purkayastha of NewsClick, Ritu Kapur of the Quint and Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri on behalf of DIGIPUB.
Prabir Purkayastha is the Vice Chairperson of the association and also a Director.
DIGIPUB director accused of money laundering
Prabir Purkayastha’s office and home was raided recently by the Enforcement Directorate to investigate the proceeds of crime related to PPK NEWSCLICK Studio Private Limited under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The company is alleged to have received over Rs. 30 crores in 3 years.
It was also alleged that the funds were disbursed to journalists and activists in the name of consultation fee. The beneficiaries include those associated with Teesta Setalvad. Other beneficiaries include Gautam Navlakha, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta among others.
Links to Gautam Navlakha
Prabir Purkayastha was the Director at companies along with Gautam Navlakha. Gautam Navlakha is one of the ‘Urban Naxals’ arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case and allegedly has links with Pakistan’s ISI. Following his arrest, it was reported that Gautam Navlakha was in touch with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists as well.
Gautam Navlakha was an “Independent Partner” of PP NEWSCLICK STUDIO LLP where he was appointed to the position on the 17th of April, 2017. PPK NEWSCLICK Studio Private Limited, the current owner of Newsclick, was incorporated on the 11th of January, 2018, 10 days after the Bhima Koregaon violence.
Turkey has set up a propaganda team, in collaboration with Pakistani ISI, to further their anti-India propaganda, reported Mediterranean-Asian Investigative Journalists. The said report has been reposted by Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS). Turkish state-owned media houses such as TRT World and Anadolu Agency have been hiring a large number of Pakistani and Indian Kashmiri journalists.
As per the report, 1/4th of top and middle-range posts at the TRT World have been handed out to them. This marks a strong departure from the traditional hiring at the news firm from English-speaking Westerners to that of the Indian subcontinent. The nefarious plan started out as part of the imitative to elevate Turkish President Erdogan to an ‘international leader’.
Turkish Intelligence agency MIT collaborated with Pakistan’s ISPR (Inter-Service Public Relations) to establish Erogan as the ‘leader’ of the Muslim Ummah. As part of its strategy, TRT World employed 50 Pakistani nationals in its 300-member staff. The number of Kashmiri journalists is reported to be more than a dozen. While undermining journalistic principles, TRT World and Anadolu Agency have been carrying out pro-Turkey and pro-Pakistan propaganda.
Pakistani, Indian Kashmiri journalists hired by TRT World without credentials
The journalists include Faisal Aziz Khan, Usman Mir, Ravale Mohydin, Mehboob Geelani, Baba Umar, Riyaz ul Khaliq, Iftikhar Gilani, Ruwa Shah, Mehnaaz Yaseen, Mohsin Mughal, Imran Garda, Faisal, Ahmed Bin Qasim and Shaheryar Mirza. “From the background of most of these journalists, it doesn’t appear that qualification was the only criteria to hire them, “the report noted. To avoid scrutiny in Philia Forum countries, the journalists have been reporting while applying for travel visas for ‘recreational trips’ and ‘honeymoons’ in gross violation of visa norms.
Turkish government grant citizenship, journalists commit visa fraud
Several journalists of Pakistani and Indian Kashmir origin were also granted Turkish citizenship. Interestingly, they did not notify back home so as to be able to continue carrying out the Turkey-sponsored propaganda. The Turkish state-owned media are also coercing media houses in three continents to delete their stories and threatening them with legal action in case of non-compliance. “The mercenary journalists have been invited, recruited, and settled in Turkey to reinforce and support the operations of Turkish intelligence in projecting Erdogan as the undisputed champion of the region as well as of the Ummah,” the report said.
Following Imran Khan’s rise to power in Pakistan, there has been an institutionalized effort in furthering anti-India propaganda. Earlier, Turkish hackers hacked the social media handles of famous Indian personalities such as Amitabh Bacchan as it dubbed India as ‘Pakistan’s enemy.’ At the same time, Pakistani hackers returned the favour to their Turkish counterparts by attacking UAE. “These are not random developments and hint towards constituting a part of institutionalized collaboration in information warfare,” a professor commented.
TRT World peddles Erdogan’s imperialistic fantasies
Pakistan has also propagated Turkish fictional web series on Ertugrul Gazi to sell the dreams of ‘Ottoman imperialism’ to the countrymen. The Turkish-government sponsored web series also served the purpose of inciting a section of Indians to rise against their own country. Interestingly, most journalists who featured in the report also endorsed the web series. It was also found that TRT World did at least 31 articles praising the conversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque, 972 articles criticising Saudi Arabia for Yemen crisis, 65 articles on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, 30 articles on Turkey-Pakistan-Malaysia alliance and 14 pieces criticizing Indian government in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370.
A majority of these articles were written by Pakistani ad Indian Kashmiri journalists, whose names featured in the list. “According to Turkish sources, it has been Erdogan’s part of systematic efforts that a lot of these content have been published by TRT World and Anadolu without by lines of these journalists.” In this way, the Turkish propaganda machinery has been effectively ensuring deniability and easy access to other parts of the world. An expert on Ottoman history emphasized that Pakistani ISI is actively recruiting and spotting individuals who can peddle Erdogan’s Caliphate campaign.
These journalists from Pakistan and Kashmir have also been towing the Turkish agenda even before their recruitment by the propaganda machinery. “There is a very strong possibility that journalists from Malaysia would soon get recruited in TRT World and Anadolu Agency,” the report added. Interestingly, a top producer at TRT World hails from Malaysia. TRT World has also started ‘A Place Called Pakistan’ and ‘Strait Talk’ series to project Turkey and Pakistan as two ideal destinations.
Turkish-Pakistan nexus exposed as smear campaign against Philia Forum counties unleash
The Turkish and Pakistani governments are now planning to label ‘Philia Forum’ countries as utter failures and anti-peace. And the targeting has already begun. While earlier the smear campaign was earlier facilitated by individuals, it is now a collective all-out effort. The Turkish intelligence agency MIT has appointed Erdogan’s confidantes to convene propagandists such as Ali Keskin and Mustafa Ozkaya to attack countries who question the Turkey-Pakistan nexus. In this game of information warfare, Turkey and Pakistan has institutionalized its joint campaign.
Through TRT World and Anadolu Agency, the Turkish government is doing an effective job at ‘reinforcing and supporting’ Erdogan’s ideas. Such a malicious agenda came to light during the #BoycottFrance campaign which received overwhelming support from Turkey, Pakistan and ‘some pockets’ from India. The same group of journalists also spearheaded the campaign for #BoycottUAE, thereby helping Pakistan to take it to the top spot on Twitter trends. While speaking about the two campaigns, a diplomatic expert remarked, “This is certainly an outcome of the mercenary army of info-terrorists being recruited by both the countries.”
“It seems that Pakistan is learning quickly from its friend as the ISPR has now successfully converted a large number of Pakistanis, especially youngsters, as foot soldiers of information warfare. Under Erdogan, Turkish media houses, especially TRT World, has become a massive pro-Caliphate channel. The criticality and degree of the propaganda campaign suggests that media watchdogs across countries should start filtering the content of these news networks and governments should start coming up with mechanisms and tools to combat the disinformation campaigns,” the report concluded.
The father of the daring Bihar girl Richa Bharti has been shot down by assailants in her native village of Nalanda district in Bihar. Richa Bharti had risen to fame after she had bravely refused to follow a judge’s order, who had asked her to distribute copies of ‘Quran’ to obtain bail.
According to the reports, the father of Richa Bharti, Mohan Kumar, was murdered due to a personal rivalry.
Speaking to OpIndia, Richa Bharti said that her father was a regular in their native village. On the night of 19th February, her father and mother were returning to their house from the fields at about 8:30 in the night. The assailants were hiding behind the tractor, lurking in the dark. Richa tells OpIndia that the assailants shot her father through the ear and then, used the towel he was carrying to strangle him and drag him across the field. After dragging him, they disposed of his body in the nearby well.
An FIR has been filed by the mother of Richa Bharti, Meena Devi, in the case. Richa Bharti’s mother has said in the FIR that two assailants, Chandramouli Prasad and Ranjit Kumar, started firing on Mohan Kumar before he was dragged and thrown in the well. Other than Chandramouli and Ranjit, a case has been filed against 8 unknown assailants.
A distraught Richa says that the murder was a result of the rivalry that the assailants had harboured for many years and had planned to kill him for a long time. The murder had nothing to do with her brave stand regarding the distribution of the Quran.
She has also claimed that no arrests have been made so far and the police has assured her that the assailants will be nabbed. The family of Bharti has provided names of 7-8 assailants and the police has said that the investigation is on-going.
Who is Richa Bharti?
A 19-year old college student, Richa Bharti was arrested by Jharkhand police in 2019 for sharing a post on Facebook that criticized the thief Tabrez Ansar in Jharkhand. In her post, she had questioned why Kashmiri Pandits did not take up arms even after their genocide while people from other religious community became extremists.
Tabrez Ansari, a 24-year-old man from Jharkhand, was allegedly brutally beaten by a mob in Jharkhand on the 18th of June on theft accusation. He had died on 22nd in police custody allegedly of cardiac arrest.
An FIR was filed against her by a local leader from the Anjuman Islamia Committee on the grounds that the post she shared had hurt his religious sentiments. The FIR was filed immediately, and within 2 hours, she was arrested by the SHO on Saturday.
As the arrests resulted in severe outrage, a judgement by the Ranchi Court judgement added fuel to the fire when it was ordered that she would be granted bail only if she distributed five copies of the Quran. Judicial Magistrate Manish Kumar directed Richa Bharti to donate a copy of the holy book to the Anjuman Islamia Committee and the rest four to the libraries of different schools and colleges.
Following the order, there was a massive outrage across the country, who had demanded the judge to withdraw his order. Later, the Ranchi Court, which had ordered Richa Bharti to distribute 5 copies of the Quran as a condition for bail, had taken back its ridiculous judgment. The investigating officer in the case had formally requested that the condition for donating the Quran be done away with due to “difficulties in its application”.
The controversial order of the judge had attracted the wrath of the public at large. There was huge angst among people, and demands for the judge’s sacking were also raised. People had donated a large amount of money to pay for Richa Bharti’s legal fees as well.
Two days after an SUV laden with explosive material was discovered outside Antilla, the residence of Mukesh Ambani and his family in Mumbai, more details have emerged in the case. The initial investigation into the case has revealed that the terrorists had meticulously planned the entire sequence of events before they parked the bomb-laden car outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence.
According to a report from India Today, the Mumbai Police’s initial assessment of the incident suggests that the terrorists had used two vehicles to plant a bomb outside Antilla in Mumbai.
The two cars – an Innova (white colour) and a Scorpio (green colour) were used by the terrorists. Both cars drove up to Mukesh Ambai’s residence Antilia from Thane or a neighbouring area.
The Mumbai Police had recovered 20 gelatin sticks from a Scorpio car parked outside Mukesh Ambani’s home on Thursday. Gelatin sticks are used to make explosives. At the spot, the police had also found several number plates from inside the vehicle, some of them matched the number plates of vehicles used by the Ambani family’s security team.
Also, the police had recovered a letter addressed to Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani from the bomb-laden car. The letter written by the terrorists said that the gelatin sticks and the SUV outside Antilia were just a “trailer”.
CCTV footage shows two cars from surrounding area used
The CCTV footage of the surrounding area enabled Mumbai Police to identify the vehicles used in the incident. In the CCTV footage, the two cars were seen driving towards Antilia separately but from the same direction. The two vehicles met up at a spot in Mumbai and then drove to Antilia together. The CCTV at the Mulund toll post captured the green Scorpio heading towards Mumbai around 1.20 am. The white Innova was also seen crossing the Mulund toll post and travelling towards Mumbai.
The police have found out that Scorpio was seen waiting at Priyadarshini Junction in Kurla, where Innova joined it at 1.40 am. Later, they proceeded towards Byculla. The vehicles turned right at Khada Parsi junction, drove towards Carmichael road and reached the spot outside Mukesh Ambani’s home at 2.18 am.
As they reached Antilla, the person inside the Scorpio parked the car outside Mukesh Ambani’s house and escaped in the second car Innova. The Innova then drove in the direction of Thane using the Eastern Express Highway. The car crossed the Mulund toll post at 3.05 am. However, the CCTV failed to capture the vehicle’s movement due to the low light in Thane.
Letter said the SUV and gelatin sticks were just a ‘trailer’
According to Mumbai Police, the security staff of the Antilla informed them about the suspicious Scorpio on Thursday noon. A police team, along with the bomb disposal squad and the canine squad, soon reached the spot to look into the matter. The police cordoned off the area and removed the car from the spot. By then, the Mumbai Police had recovered 20 unassembled gelatin sticks, some number plates and a threatening letter from the car.
The letter accessed by India Today TV is printed, and the language used is a combination of English and Hindi, with several spelling mistakes. The police hints that such errors were intentional to escape detection.
In the letter addressed to Nita Ambani and Mukesh Ambani, the terrorists said that the abandoned Scorpio and 20 unassembled gelatin sticks are just a “trailer”. The terrorists also warned that the next time the gelatin sticks will be assembled and claimed that the plans to attack the Ambani family are ready.
Here is the unedited version of the letter recovered by cops from inside the Scorpio, accompanied by an English translation:
“Nita Bhabi aur Mkesh bhyya aur femi; Ek jalak he ye; Agli bar ye saaman pora konekt hoke aayega. Orijinl gadi me ayega. Tum pora femili ko udane ke liye intajam ho gaya hai. Sambal jana. Gud nit”
(Sister-in-law Nita and brother Mukesh and family; This was trailer; Next time, the (explosive) material will be assembled. It will come in the original vehicle. We have made preparations to kill your entire family in the blast. Beware. Goodnight).”
Terrorists used number plates of the security team of Mukesh Ambani for bomb threat
The Mumbai Police also said the terrorists had used the number plates that matched the number plates of security vehicles used in Nita Ambani’s fleet. The police said that the terrorists had made elaborate plans and carried out a thorough recce of the area before making these number plates.
The Scorpio recovered from outside Antilia was stolen from the city. The vehicle’s registered owner said he was not using the car for over a year, and he wanted to sell it.
“I was travelling towards Opera House from Thane but found the steering wheel of the Scorpio difficult to use, which is when I parked it on the Mulund Airoli link road,” claimed the owner. The car owner said that his car was missing when he went back to the spot the next day.
He then lodged a complaint of car theft at the Vikhroli police station. The local police tried to trace the vehicle but could not find it.
The terrorists had tried to rig the Scorpio’s chassis number and most likely did some repairs. However, the police managed to retrieve the chassis number, giving them the vehicle’s registered owner’s contact details on Thursday night.
The Mumbai Police said that the 20 gelatin sticks found in the Scorpio are commercial grade and not military-grade explosives. The commercial-grade gelatin sticks are generally used in construction work and at quarries. However, if the 20 gelatin sticks were connected to a detonator and a timer, it could have been used to make an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) that could cause heavy damage.
Such bombs can blow up an SUV, like the Scorpio in this case. He said the explosives could also kill occupants of the SUV. “Gelatin sticks weighing around 2.5 kg can cause heavy damage to an area of 3000 cubic feet, i.e. around 200 square feet,” he explained.
Mumbai Police begins investigation into the bomb threat issued to Mukesh Ambani, all resources employed
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police has formed over 10 teams to investigate this high-profile case. The officials involved in the probe said the accused in this case appear to be “very sharp-minded”. They said the accused printed the threatening letter in gibberish language and spelling mistakes on purpose to mislead investigators.
The threatening letter was printed to avoid detection since a written document is easy to trace back to the owner with help from a handwriting expert.
The Mumbai Police has deployed all its specialised investigating branches to solve this case. More than 15 persons have been questioned, and hundreds of CCTV cameras are being scanned. The Thane Police have also been asked to trace the movement of the two vehicles used in the act.
The Mumbai Police has also sought the mobile dump data of the location and has activated its human intelligence network to trace people involved in car thefts. The car garages and number plate makers have also been questioned to trace the accused.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) have employed their resources to help crack the case and probe a possible terror angle. Reportedly, National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also spoken to Mumbai Police in connection with the case.
UPDATE on Mar 2, 2021: While previously the girl was kidnapped twice by Mehtab Rana, this time, it was found that the girl faked her own kidnapping. You can read the full update here.
In a shocking incident case of kidnapping, a 17-year-old girl was abducted, this time under a ‘burqa’, allegedly for the third time from Taraganj Iske area in Dayalbagh in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh.
As per reports, the victim is a 9th Std student in Dayalbagh in New Agra. The family members informed that the minor girl was at their house in Taraganj Iske. She had gone to the Dayalbagh Hospital with her aunt to buy medicines. Sensing an opportunity, the accused made the girl wear a burkha and took her away. Her aunt kept waiting at the hospital while the girl was abducted. The incident came to light on Friday after the CCTV footage of the abduction went viral on social media.
The family has alleged that one Mehtab Rana may be behind the abduction. He is a resident of Rasulpur Aurangabad village in Meerut, which falls under the jurisdiction of Bhavnapur police station. He is married and a father of 6 children. When the police analysed the CCTV footage, they spotted the abductor, allegedly Mehtab Rana, with a burqa-clad girl. In the video, the victim can be seen walking with the accused. The family members of the victim have informed that it is the third time when Mehtab has abducted the minor girl.
जाट समुदाय की लड़की अचानक ही जींस से आ गई बुर्के में और फिर अंतिम बार वो महताब के साथ दिखी.. घटना आगरा, UP की.
मेहताब उसे कहाँ ले गया ये अभी तक किसी को नहीं पता..
It must be mentioned that the primary accused has not been arrested so far, despite being 72 hours since the incident. The police have received information that Mehtab might have taken the girl to Delhi and staying at a relative’s place.
Following a social media outrage, the police have arrested the wife and two sisters-in-law of Mehtab Rana on Friday. At the same time, one of the accused’s brothers was also taken into custody and interrogated by the cops. The cops are conducting raids at several locations in the Meerut-NCR region. A team of New Agra police has also been camping at Meerut to trace Mehtab Rana.
Agra kidnapping where Hindu victim was shrouded in burqa: Accused Mehtab had abducted the victim twice in 2018
While speaking about the incident, SP Botro Rohan Pramod informed that Mehtab was a co-worker of the victim’s father at a hotel. The accused would live in Taraganj Iske area, where the victim resided. He would frequently visit her house and thus managed to trap the girl. SP Botro Rohan Pramod said that the accused had earlier kidnapped the girl in 2018. During that time, he had taken the victim to his house in Meerut. When the case was lodged, the police had arrested Mehtab’s brother.
It must be mentioned that a case was then registered under relevant sections of the POSCO act against Mehtab on the basis of the victim’s statement. A case was also lodged against his two in-laws for their involvement in the crime. Mehtab’s relative’s relatives not only facilitated the abduction but also provided him with a hideout to escape the cops.
Fearing police action, the family members of the accused had handed over the girl to the police. However, after a span of a few months, the girl was kidnapped yet again by Mehtab. The police had then swung into action and rescued the victim. The cops could not arrest the accused as he had got a stay order from the court. SP Botro Rohan Promod has said that Mehtab had again kidnapped the girl to put pressure on the victim’s family.
Victim’s family accuses police of negligence, alleges grooming jihad
The victim’s family has accused the police of negligence. According to them, the cops did not come to their rescue even after 3 hours of informing the women’s helpline. They have alleged that the police even initially denied lodging a case.
They have also claimed that one of the accused’s family member is a police official and as such the police had been indifferent about the case. The victim’s family has dubbed the incident as a case of ‘love jihad’ and has demanded action against others who are involved in the crime.
Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan is using charities as a cover to create a network between his government and terrorist organisations to expand logistical hub for jihadist networks in the South Asia region. According to the latest report by Swedish media outlet Nordic Monitor, Turkey is using an al-Qaeda-linked charity group – The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid (İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı or IHH) to broaden its support base among the country’s minority Muslim community and to expand logistical operations in support of global jihadist networks.
The Turkish charity group IHH has been working with Islami Sangh Nepal (ISN), its regional partner in South Asia. The ISN, which has been receiving funding directly from Turkey to finance various projects in Nepal, focuses its operations in areas close to Nepal’s border with India. Through ISN, the al-Qaeda linked IHH is seeking to gain a foothold in the region.
Both organisations are now under the lens of Indian intelligence services, which have more than one occasion singled out ISN for supporting jihadist terrorists in Nepal. On the other hand, the IHH has already been listed as an arms smuggler by the UN Security Council and has also been investigated for running a support line to armed jihadist groups in Syria in January 2014.
The IHH, which has direct links to the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), enjoys the support of President Erdogan himself. The IHH receives special funding privileges from the Turkish government, which has backed the al-Qaeda linked organisation when it faced numerous anti-terrorism investigations in the past. The Nordic Monitor suggests that Turkey’s Erdogan regime is helping the IHH in global operations using its diplomatic clout.
Al-Qaeda linked IHH active in three provinces of Nepal, close to India border too
The Turkey-based foundation is mainly active in three provinces of Nepal. Province No. 1, Province No. 2 and Lumbini Province. In addition to the capital Kathmandu, the al-Qaeda linked organisation has built mosques, madrasas, Islamic centres and orphanages in other cities. In the near future, the IHH intends to expand into the Sunsari region, an area close to the Indian border.
The link between Islami Sangh Nepal and radical Islamists is not just limited to the IHH. The ISN was listed as a member of an organisation called the Islamic World NGO Union (ISDB), which is merely a front for the Turkish paramilitary group SADAT. The obscure organisation is headed by Adnan Tanriverdi, a former senior military advisor to President Erdogan. Tanriverdi, one of the key advisors of Erdogan, is funding jihadist groups both inside and outside Turkish territory, along with providing military training and advice on military and security logistics.
Ali Fuat Yılmazer, the former head of the Turkish police intelligence section who specialises in radical religious groups, had testified in court in 2016 saying, “IHH campaigns are designed to provide assistance to jihadists involved in terrorism around the world and provide medical assistance, funding, logistics and human resources for jihadists”.
Turkey funding anti-India activities, in touch with radical Islamic organisations
It is also important to note that Turkey has been actively funding and supporting extremist Islamic organisations in Kerala and Kashmir. Turkey, led by Islamist leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has now emerged as the epicentre of anti-India activities. The expansionist Turkish government, seeking to establish its dominance in the Islamic world through its conservatism and ‘Ottoman traditions’, is now exerting its influence on South Asian Muslims.
In this endeavour, Turkey has joined hands with Pakistan to expand its influence in the region. The Turkish organisations have been in constant touch with Islamist organisations in the region.
The IHH, also known as İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı, has an alliance with radical Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI). The two radical Islamic organisations have met in the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections in 2019. The two key PFI leaders EM Abdul Rahiman and Prof. P Koya had met senior IHH functionaries.
Erdogan sponsoring religious seminars, protests in India
Erdogan is also funding religious seminars in India to radicalise Muslims and taking them on a full-expense covered trip to Turkey for further indoctrination.
Pakistani and Turkish officials had also funded hate preacher Zakir Naik, who has been accused of inciting and radicalising Indian Muslims with Qatar’s help. Besides criticising India over the humanitarian Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the subsequent riots, the Turkish government had reportedly pumped in funds to prolong the protests.
Reportedly, the Turkish government has also been funding separatist leader in Kashmir, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, for several years. As per the report, the Turkish government has also disbursed funds to a radical Islamist organisation in Kerala from time to time.
Powerful people do have extremely motivated enemies, but what happens when a powerful person becomes the centre of political rhetoric by an entitled political class that will burn the nation if they cannot grab power? The Congress party and allied elements have been indulging in high pitch rhetoric against industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. While we absolutely cannot say that any attack against the industrialists is a direct result of the rhetoric, one has to wonder if it played a part in fuelling the hate against them.
Only yesterday, a car laden with explosives was discovered outside Antilla, the residence of Mukesh Ambani and his family. According to the police, the act was “well planned” and committed by seasoned criminals. Further investigation into the matter is currently underway.
Mumbai Police stated on Friday, “The suspect who parked the car near Mukesh Ambani’s house was seen in CCTV footage but has not been identified as he was wearing a face mask and his head was covered by a hoodie.” “The car was stolen from Mumbai’s Vikhroli area sometime back, its chassis number was damaged a bit but police managed to identify its real owner,” it said.
“Some amount of gelatin was found in the vehicle. The vehicle was seized by police. The offence has been registered under relevant sections of the IPC and Explosive Substances Act. A letter was found in the vehicle but as an investigation is in the preliminary stage, we can’t share contents,” the Police added.
An individual would have to be extremely motivated, either by money or sheer hate, owing to ideology or political reasons, to actually steal a car and plant a bomb in front of the house of someone as connected and powerful as Mukesh Ambani. The interesting element here that needs to be kept in mind that Industrialists mostly are on good terms with political parties beyond the ideological spectrum. As a businessman, one might have their leanings but industrialists, especially on that scale, would need to work with every government that comes to power in a nation. Democracy is a revolving door and ideological leanings, if at all, does not form the basis of which government the industrialists work with.
That basic principle, however, was breached by the Congress party, especially, Rahul Gandhi. As it became evident that the Congress party had summarily lost its footing in India and the Gandhi surname no-longer had political premium attached to it, the desperation to re-invent their image, tainted with scams and loot, became overpowering. One way the Congress chose to wash its corruption image was to go after big industrialists like Mukesh Ambani, insinuating that Congress was a party for the poor, while the Modi government hobnobbed with industrialists and made policies to benefit them at the expense of the poor (and the country). This rhetoric had not a grain of truth to it – but lies sell. Lies against self made industrialists sell more and lies against Modi is almost a cottage industry that has flourished since he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Mukesh Ambani has been at the receiving end of negative propaganda for quite a few years now. The propaganda reached a frenzied peak with the onset of the ‘farmer protests’. Opposition parties and farmer leaders alleged that the farm laws were passed so that ‘Ambani-Adani’ could benefit from it. Regardless of the fact that there was no obvious way that the Ambani family could have anything to do with the passage of the law and there was no ostensible benefit for them in the laws in and of themselves, the propaganda against them continued unabated.
Not too long after, mobs began attacking Jio mobile towers in Punjab and managed to damage a great many of them. According to media reports, 1500 Jio towers were vandalised as protesting ‘farmers’, if one would like to call them that, went on a violent rampage and vented their ire against Mukesh Ambani and Reliance. There was no particular reason for this rampage, if one were to look at it closely. Reliance was not involved in passing the legislature, obviously. So why did they happen? Well, firstly, Congress had made up its mind that it had to oppose the farm laws. Since such lies sell and they had nothing concrete against the laws that actually benefited farmers, they chose to up the pitch against ‘Ambani-Adani’, it appeared.
Then, one fine evening, Greta Thunberg inadvertently revealed the toolkit that exposed the Khalistani hands behind the global campaign against India.
The document, titled, ‘Global Farmer Strike First Wave’, implores individuals across the world to be a part of the ‘largest protest’ in human history. The objective was, apparently, to protest against the ‘unregulated corporatisation’ of the farming sector.
The document registered actions people can take to undermine the democratic will of the Indian population. The proposed measures included, “Call/Email any of your govt representatives and ask them to take action, Sign online Petitions and take action to Divest from monopolists and oligopolists like Adani-Ambani” and “Organise an on-ground action near the closest Indian Embassy, Media House or your local Govt. office on 13th February, 2020.”
Let us say that again. One of the proposed measures in the toolkit included “Sign online Petitions and take action to Divest from monopolists and oligopolists like Adani-Ambani”.
One point in the list of “prior actions” said, “Physical Actions – Near Indian Embassies, Govt. offices, Media houses (or even Adani-Ambani offices) globally – 26th January”. Thus, we see a clear pattern of attempts to damage the business empire of Mukesh Ambani.
Snapshot of the Greta Thunberg Toolkit
And now, we have a car laden with explosives planted near the residence of the Ambani family. One is forced to wonder at this point if the attempt was merely the next step in the increasingly sinister attempts to target the business tycoon.
There have been grave attempts by political parties in recent times to revive their fortunes by demonizing Indian capitalists. The Congress party stands out among them. Rahul Gandhi’s entire political gambit at this point revolves around demonizing the Ambanis and the Adanis.
‘Hum do hamare do’ is a slogan that Rahul Gandhi has invented to insinuate that Prime Minister Modi is controlled by the business tycoons. Consequently, there has been a barrage of anti-Ambani and anti-Adani propaganda.
It would not be far-fetched to argue that the vandalism of the Jio towers was a direct consequence of the rhetoric adopted by the Congress party. A senior Youth Congress functionary was even celebrating the vandalism on social media.
There is, of course, no direct evidence as of now to link Congress’ rhetoric against Mukesh Ambani, the Khalistani involvement in the farmer protest, the vandalisation of 1500 Jio towers, the mention of Ambani in the Greta Toolkit and the explosives planted outside Mukesh Ambani’s home. The investigation is still underway and the motives of this act are still unclear. However, with everything that has happened over the past few months, one is forced to wonder if the rhetoric played a part in fanning the hate that culminated into this death threat.
We know for a fact that Khalistani elements have been involved in the protests against the farm laws and they have not made any effort to cloak their animosity towards Mukesh Ambani. While we ought to wait for the investigation to be completed, the danger that such rhetoric poses cannot be denied.
On Friday, the United States for the first time publicly accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of approving the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Biden administration also announced a new set of punitive measures indirectly targeting the Saudi Crown Prince.
Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the Saudi, approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said an intelligence report that was declassified by President Joe Biden’s administration. The Biden administration released the declassified intelligence report to Congress ahead of its public release on Friday.
“We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the intelligence report reads.
Khashoggi, a journalist who wrote for The Washington Post, was allegedly killed by Saudi officials after luring him inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. The journalist was killed and cut into pieces.
The report further says, “We base this assessment on the Crown Prince’s control of decision-making in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammad bin Salman’s protective detail in operation, and the Crown Prince’s support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi”.
The four-page document, titled “Assessing the Saudi Government’s Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi”, is marked as declassified by the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on February 25.
“We have high confidence that the following individuals participated in, ordered, or were otherwise complicit in or responsible for the death of Jamal Khashoggi on behalf of Muhammad bin Salman. We do not know whether these individuals knew in advance that the operation would result in Khashoggi’s death,” read the declassified report.
Biden administration introduces “Khashoggi ban”, to take punitive actions
Following the release of the report, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new set of punitive measures called – “Khashoggi Ban” that allows the Biden administration to restrict visas for individuals acting on behalf of a foreign government who are directly engaged in “serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including those that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents for their work.”
In a statement, Blinken said that the ban will cover family members and would immediately be applied to 76 Saudi individuals “believed to have been engaged in threatening dissidents overseas, including but not limited to the Khashoggi killing.” However, the new measures do not directly target the Saudi crown prince.
Responding to the media regarding actions against Saudi Prince, US Secretary of State Blinken said that “this is bigger than any one person,” contending that the Biden administration is trying not to rupture the relationship with Saudi, “but to recalibrate to be more in line with our interests and our values”.
The latest data released by Vancouver police shows an increasing trend of anti-Asian hate crimes in Canada. The annual data explores various statistics in the city, including increases in culpable homicide and assaults. At the same time, there was a decrease in the number of sex offences and robberies.
According to the reports, British Columbia Premier John Horgan released the data and said that the recent surge in the hate crimes against Asians in Vancouver Police is “deeply troubling”.
Today’s crime stats from Vancouver show anti-Asian hate crimes are up 717% over the past year.
This is deeply troubling.
Our work includes moving forward on anti-racism legislation, but there’s more for all of us to do in our stand against racism and hate in all its forms.
The latest data suggests that the number of incidents has increased from 142 in the last year to 280 in 2020. This is an increase of 97 per cent. There has also been an increase in hate crimes, particularly those against people of Asian descent.
The Vancouver police data said that anti-Asian hate crimes rose from 12 cases in 2019 to 142 such incidents in 2020, a 717 per cent increase. Vancouver police said that the increase in the anti-Asian hate crimes coincided with the increases in COVID-19 cases last March.
Const. Tania Visinitin of the Vancouver Police Department said the surge in crimes was noticed in May, and such incidents have slowed since the summer. “The trauma and psychological impact from these incidents trump everything,” she said.
The police officer said that the police department reached out to the community to encourage people to report hate crimes and make them aware that the police took the incidents seriously.
Addressing the issue, Premier John Horgan said there are difficulties in prosecuting hate crimes as it was difficult to prove the crime was race-related, as opposed to violent crimes.
“We need to ensure violence against people of colour is not just treated as violence but, in fact, hate crimes,” he said. “If you’re going to turn against people because of the colour of your skin, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Referring to recent attacks on Asians in the United States, Horgan said such incidents can occur in British Columbia.
The provincial government is reportedly framing anti-racism legislation and has also reached out to police forces to emphasize the importance of prosecuting hate crimes. The premier also said that the Education Ministry is also working with school boards and looking at anti-racism discussions and dialogues in classrooms.
“We need to make sure we’re talking about these issues all the time. Prevention starts by people stepping up when they see intolerance,” Horgan said.
