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Poster of Khalistani terrorist Bhindranwale spotted outside Gurudwara in Jammu, locals say its there for years

OpIndia Staff
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Poster of Khalistani terrorist Bhindranwale spotted outside Gurudwara in Jammu, locals say its there for years

In a shocking example of how brazen terrorist sympathies are disregarded in India, a poster depicting Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was spotted on full display in Gangyal, Jammu today. Bhindranwale was a militant religious extremist and is responsible for launching a violent insurgency in Punjab against India in the 1980s. Bhindranwale is an extremely sympathetic figure to Khalistanis. Khalistani terrorist groups consider Bhindranwale as their spiritual leader.

Images of the Bhindranwale’s poster in Jammu went viral on social media today, but no one knows exactly how long the Bhindranwale poster has been put up there. Estimates from local people in Jammu range from 2 to 10 years as to how long a Bhindranwale poster has been present there. The poster is placed outside the main Gurudwara located in the Digiana Camp area of Gangyal in Jammu.

However, this is not the only poster of Bhindranwale in Jammu that has been spotted. Mohit Kandhari, a journalist for The Daily Pioneer, on a tweet dated November 9th, 2020, posted two pictures of Gurudwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha in Jammu. In both of the pictures, a portrait of Bhindranwale is prominently displayed on the Gurudwara’s façade.

Bhindranwale, who certainly played his part in desecrating the sacred Golden Temple, is now present on the faces of Gurudwaras, not in Canada but in India. Bhindranwale, who instructed his followers to fill the Golden Temple complex with weapons, was definitely no follower of Guru Nanak. Bhindranwale had led all of his followers into death against an obviously impossible battle against the Indian military. And today this man, who accomplished nothing but the deaths of his followers and the thousands of ordinary citizens who died in Punjab following Operation Blue Star, is now being lionized through the means of propaganda.

All of this comes in the backdrop of the intense Farmers Protest in India, which have mobilized farmers in areas like Punjab and Haryana, areas which have a higher proportion of Sikhs in the populace. An intense propaganda machine to incite and inflame the passions of Sikhs is in place. Bhindranwale’s image was used in these protests also. OpIndia has reported multiple stories on how Pakistanis, Khalistani groups and to some extent, even the Canadian Government all wish to incite a civil disobedience, revolt or some sort or mass casualty event through their insidious propaganda.

On a day India talks about the brutal murder of Rinku Sharma, ‘artists’ and ‘activists’ demand justice for Munawar Faruqui

OpIndia Staff
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On a day India talks about the brutal murder of Rinku Sharma, ‘artists’ and ‘activists’ demand justice for Munawar Faruqui

Nearly 100 ‘artists’ and ‘writers’, including far-left anti-India propagandist Arundhati Roy, former Bollywood entertainers Swara Bhasker and Kalki Koechlin have demanded dismissal of all charges registered against alleged stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui and four others for making derogatory statements targeting Hindus and their deities.

“As artists and concerned individuals, we are alarmed that in a country that claims to be the world’s largest democracy, a stand-up artist was imprisoned for over a month, and faces serious criminal charges, for no crime,” the statement signed controversial self-proclaimed writers and artists. 

The statement has also been signed by Rajmohan Gandhi, Mallika Sarabhai, Pooja Bhatt, Shonali Bose, Anand Patwardhan. A few members claiming to be ‘comedians’ including Kunal Kamra, Sanjay Rajoura, Anuvab Pal, Prashasti Singh, Aravind SA, Urooj Dingankar and Anirban Dasgupta, have also signed in favour of accused Faruqui.

Some ‘authors’ Amitava Kumar and Tanya Selvaratnam, Canadian filmmaker John Greyson, filmmaker Shruti Rya Ganguly, UK-based architect Sofia Karim, and feminist activist from Brazil, Sonia Corrêa have also jumped in support of Munawar Faruiqui, who is accused of hurting religious sentiments of Hindus.

The statement comes on a day when the national consciousness was shattered by the brutal murder of Bajrang Dal activist Rinku Sharma. He was allegedly murdered over arguments related to his donation drive for the construction of the Bhavya Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

Munawar Faruqui and four others arrested for mocking Hindus, released on bail

‘Stand-up comic’ Munawar Faruqui, along with four others identified as Edwin Anthony, Prakhar Vyas, Priyam Vyas and Nalin Yadav, was arrested for mocking Hindu Gods in a stand-up comedy show in Indore based on the complaint of Eklavya Singh Gaur, an activist and the chief of Hindu Rakshak Sangathan.

They were booked under IPC sections 295-A (outraging religious feelings), 269 (unlawful or negligent act likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life) and other relevant provisions. Section 269 was invoked for allegedly ignoring COVID-19 safety protocol. Faruqui was sent to judicial custody till January 13 which was later extended to January 27.

He was released from the Indore Central Jail late in the night on February 6 after he was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court.

During a show in April last year, Munawar Faruqui mocked the 2002 Godhra carnage where 58 Hindus returning from Ayodhya were burnt alive by a Muslim mob. In a part of the clip that had gone viral on social media, one can hear him refer to the carnage as a fictional film ‘directed’ by Amit Shah and ‘produced’ by RSS.

Congress, its alliance with AIUDF, CAA, Assam and more: 5 things Himanta Biswa Sarma said on India Today Conclave

Jinit Jain
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Congress, its alliance with AIUDF, CAA, Assam and more: 5 things Himanta Biswa Sarma said on India Today Conclave

Earlier today, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala came head to head during the India Today Conclave East 2021 on how the Congress party made way for the BJP in the northeast. The debate between the two spanned a host of topics, including the growing dominance of the BJP in the northeast, the leadership crisis facing the Congress party, the “political harakiri” of the Congress to align with AIUDF, along with some lighter moments when the two politicians took a dig at each other on their possible defection.

While Surjewala was optimistic that Congress would be successful in making a come back in the northeast, Sarma was unapologetic in criticising the Congress party and predicting that the party cannot revive its electoral fortunes unless they do away with the Gandhi family.

Here are the 5 key takeaways from the discussion between BJP’s Himanta Biswa Sarma and Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala:

Congress has reduced itself to a family affair: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Speaking about the leadership crisis staring the Congress party, BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma remarked that the Congress party has been reduced to a family affair and that their return to power and prominence from here is nothing but wishful thinking.

“I don’t want to comment on the leadership crisis of the Congress party…Randeep Ji would be a little upset with me but the way the Congress party is managing itself and the way they have converted their political party into a family affair…I am all along saying that the Congress party will not able to come back,” Sarma quipped.

Congress can’t dream of coming back to power as long as it is led by Rahul Gandhi: Sarma

Taking a swipe at the senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his never-ending foreign tours, Sarma said, “Congress has a leader who is always abstaining. With an abstained leader, when there is an action in India, your leader will be found in another part of the globe. With that kind of leadership, you cannot compete with someone like Narendra Modi.”

The Assam finance minister was ruthless in his attack on the senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. In a sharply critical remark against the Gandhi scion, Sarma asserted that the Congress party could not even dream of coming back to power as long as Rahul Gandhi is at the helm of the affairs of the party.

“I have always maintained that let Rahul Gandhi continue to be in the Indian politics because as long as he is there, Congress will not come back to power, you cannot dream of coming back to power,” Sarma said.

BJP committed to implementing the CAA, says Sarma

As the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) back into the public discourse, the Finance Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that the BJP was ideologically committed to implementing the Act. He also added that the act will be implemented in other states as well, including West Bengal.

“Party stand won’t be diluted, and BJP is committed to the cause. CAA will apply to pan India. Whether we win or lose, we will support Hindus and minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh,” Sarma said.

“I’m sure Randeep Surjewala will soon join us”: Sarma takes a dig at Congress spokesperson

Taking a swipe at the Congress spokesperson, Himanta Biswas Sarma said that he feels Surjewala will soon join the BJP. The remark was in response to the claims made by Surjewala that the BJP has grown in the northeast primarily because of the defections from Congress and other parties.

Sarma, in his response, said, “The way Surjewala Ji is citing towering personalities of the BJP. From LK Advani to Murali Manohar Joshi, I am very sure that you will be inspired by the sacrifices made by them and will soon join us.”

Congress committed political harakiri by aligning with AIUDF: Sarma

Commenting on the Congress party’s alliance with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) president Badruddin Ajmal for the Assam elections, Sarma said the people of the state will not spare Congress for committing this “political harakiri”.

‘People are enraged that Congress is aligning with Ajmal, a person who has destroyed Assamese culture and ethos, captured land in Kaziranga. Congress has betrayed the people of Assam, coming generation will not spare the party,” Sarma said.

Twitter continues purge of conservative voices, permanently bans journalist group Project Veritas for exposing Big Tech corruption

OpIndia Staff
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Twitter continues purge of conservative voices, permanently bans journalist group Project Veritas for exposing Big Tech corruption

Continuing with its policy of banning voices that do not conform to its leftist ideology, Twitter has permanently Project Veritas from its platform. Project Veritas is a guerilla news outlet with a conservative bent, which has exposed Twitter’s bias on several occasions. The guerilla news outlet is famous for exposing corruption within American newsrooms, including ABC News’s quashing of a Jeffrey Epstein story years before the allegations of grooming and paedophilia fully came to the limelight. The founder of Project Veritas, James O’Keefe, was also locked out from his Twitter account. Many observers and commentators, including Tucker Carslon of Fox News, have described these suspensions as an example of Big Tech censorship.

A Twitter spokesperson said that @Project_Veritas was “permanently suspended for repeated violations of Twitter’s private information policy.” Moreover, the Twitter account of James O’Keefe, @JamesOKeefeIII, was “temporarily locked for violating our private information policy” and that O’Keefe is “required to delete the violative Tweet to regain access to their account.”

These suspensions are the direct result of video clips that Project Veritas posted on Wednesday. A week ago, Project Veritas released video clips from an online video conference done by Facebook, in which Facebook executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, discussed the development of censorship tools in order to combat ‘hate speech’ online. Facebook Vice President of Integrity, Guy Rosen explained this in the video, “We have a system that is able to freeze commenting on threads in cases where our systems are detecting that there may be a thread that has hate speech or violence, sort of in the comments.”

On Wednesday, Project Veritas posted a video on Twitter showcasing a Project Veritas journalist confronting Guy Rosen about his remarks on the Facebook video conference. In this video, the Project Veritas journalist confronts Rosen outside his house, just as Rosen is retuning from a jog. The journalist confronts Rosen and asks, “When you talk about freezing comments containing hate speech, what do you mean by that?”

During this exchange, Rosen ignores the journalist’s questions and proceeds to enter his home unimpeded. In the video, Rosen’s house number was visible but not his street address. However, this display of house number is the reason why Twitter has censored two journalism-related accounts on their platform.

In an interview with TheWrap, James O’Keefe told the outlet, “What I’m trying to understand is, what about what we did is quote ‘posting private information’?

O’Keefe further added, “Reporters with microphones [and] cameras engage in reporting activities on the streets all the time in residential communities, so I’m trying to understand what Twitter considers violating their rules against posting private information. Does Twitter consider reporting information the public has a right to know private information? This is quite the Rubicon we’re crossing if Twitter wants to ban this particular piece of information.”

In a uniform statement to outlets such Fox News, The New York Post etc, O’Keefe says that Twitter’s claim of a violation of their private information policy was ‘false’.

“Twitter invited Project Veritas to, and we did, appeal that decision with Twitter. In an apparent act of retaliation for daring to question their authority, Twitter responded to our appeal by suspending our account, continuing to tell us that Project Veritas could delete the tweet and have our account reinstated.”

James O’Keefe added, “This is nothing new from Twitter – just last fall Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey admitted in Congress his company’s decision to block the New York Post was erroneous while still demanding the Post kneel before them by deleting the tweet.” This is a callback to when the supposed paragon of free speech virtue, Twitter, censored a Hunter Biden corruption story by The New York Post, by locking The New York Post’s twitter account. The pretext given for this censorship was also in the name of protecting private information.

“Here we go again – Twitter opting to delete news and demand fealty when their decision is dared to be questioned. “ O’Keefe said.

O’Keefe later announced his come back to Twitter after deciding to delete the tweets which allegedly violated Twitter’s private information policy in order to reinstate his account

Reaction from Tucker Carlson

The reaction to this incident of Big Tech censorship has been apoplectic in American conservative circles. Tucker Carlson, one of the highest rated T.V. news hosts in America took note of this story. On Fox News, Tucker Carlson told his audience that the Democratic Party and Big Tech corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter are colluding to censor free speech and the free internet.

Tucker notes, “Your right to say and think what you want, to read and watch what you want, that threatens them above all. Why? Because if you have access to information, you can form your own judgments. A free Internet is their enemy. The moment they took power, Democrats began a kind of Counter-Reformation against the free Internet. They started the most sweeping mass censorship campaign in the history of this country.”

Then Tucker Carlson gives reference of LifeSiteNews, a pro-life, anti-abortion website taken off YouTube, owned by Google. “Why did they do that?” asks Carlson rhetorically. “Simple: Google supports abortion, like a lot of big corporations do. Children distract the labor force. If you’re raising your family, you are not serving shareholders. Google doesn’t want a debate on the subject, so they just shut the debate down. Hundreds of thousands of subscribers to LifeSiteNews will no longer be watching videos that question abortion, because they’re not allowed to.” added Carlson attempting to quantify the enormous ways in which Big Tech censorship silences and poisons political discourse.

On the subject of Project Veritas’s censorship, Tucker Carlson said, “There was no justifiable reason to do this, but no one in the media asked questions about it or appear to consider it a problem.” Tucker criticizes Poltico’s reporting on this issue, calling out the reporter by name. Tucker claims the reason why Project Veritas faced censorship from Twitter was because it criticized the ‘people in charge’.

Tucker claims that the goal of Big Tech companies engaging in censorship and the mainstream press cheering them on, is to impose a monoculture on society with uniformity of thought and no dissent. “They just accept whatever the Central Committee decides is the slogan of the day, and anyone who mocks or disagrees with those slogans is silenced. In the name of diversity, we must have uniformity. We’ll have all the impediments to achieving this goal of uniformity, including centuries of tradition, the First Amendment to the Constitution, and the fact this was a free country.”

Established in 2011, Project Veritas is a non-profit journalism enterprise. Project Veritas describes itself as investigators of corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions. Project Veritas has had varying success over the years. One of the most successful operations conducted by Project Veritas was the video leak of ABC News anchor Amy Robach telling people in the studio, but off-camera, that her bosses at ABC News spiked her expose of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The Robach video was viewed and shared by tens of millions of people and was covered in mainstream press internationally.

Project Veritas’s reporting has exposed various scandals and conspiracies, from Antifa’s criminal conspiracies which lead to criminal arrests to revealing corrupt bias in Big Tech companies. There can be no doubt that first and foremost, Project Veritas is a journalism enterprise. It utilizes undercover audio/video recordings, in order to expose powerful institutions. The Big Tech censorship of Project Veritas by Twitter reveals that Twitter is not a neutral observer which prioritizes free speech and letting the tweets ‘flow’

Let us recall that Twitter refused to block accounts which were classified by Indian security agencies as inciting violence during the Farmers Protest, citing the freedom of speech and the free flow of information. That’s why it is important to take note of Big Tech censorship, especially by Twitter, which is clearly has a double standard based on political beliefs. Twitter will not ban accounts promoting violence as classified by the Indian government, but will permanently suspend accounts of journalism groups like Project Veritas.

Project Veritas had leaked Twitter CEO’s video

Last month, Project Veritas had released a video, where Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was heard saying that the company will intensify censorship on its platform following the ban on Donald Trump. In the secret recording, which was reportedly leaked by one employee of Twitter, Jack Dorsey could be seen discussing the platform’s long term policy in terms of political censorship. He had said to his employees, “The focus is certainly on this account (Donald Trump), and how it ties to real-world violence, but also we need to think much longer-term around how these dynamics play out over time. I don’t believe this is going away any time soon.”

The Twitter CEO had divulged that the attempt to silence and ban conservative opinion-makers is not just limited to Donald Trump. He pointed out that the censorship will continue, well past the inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden on January 20. He had said, “we know we are focused on one account right now, but this is going to be much bigger than just one account, and it’s going to go on for much longer than just this day, this week, the next few weeks, going on beyond inauguration. We have to expect that. We have to be ready for that.”

Jack Dorsey also admitted that the micro-blogging platform intended to banning more conservative handles. He added, “The moves that we’re making today, around, you know, QAnon, for instance, is one such example of a much broader approach that we should be looking at and going deeper on.

Uttarakhand: Days after glacier burst tragedy, little ‘Blackie’ waits for his lost caretakers near Tapovan tunnel

OpIndia Staff
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Uttarakhand: Days after glacier burst tragedy, little ‘Blackie’ waits for his lost caretakers near Tapovan tunnel

Last week, a massive flash flood wreaked havoc in Uttarakhand after the water level in Dhauliganga river rose suddenly due to the breakdown of a glacier near a power project at Raini village in the Tapovan area of Chamoli district. Hundreds of people were reported dead, missing or injured due to the glacier burst tragedy in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The rescue operations continue at Tapovan tunnel on the sixth day today following the glacier burst.

Amidst all this, heart-melting scenes have emerged, where a two-year-old Bhotia breed dog named ‘Blackie’ has been spotted waiting outside the tunnel of the Tapovan dam. According to reports, the dog has been waiting there for the last three to four days. He has been awaiting the return of his caretakers who fed and petted him.

Actually, Blackie was born close to the area where the NTCP’s hydel project was coming up. The labourers working at the construction site use to feed and pet Blackie. Every morning, the canine came uphill to meet his caretakers and would return by the evening. This was the routine he had been following.

Like always, on the day of the incident too, Blackie came uphill to meet his caretakers, only to not find them there. Since then, Blackie has been, reportedly, waiting there in hope to meet his caretakers.

Many times he has been shooed away by the rescue operators, but Blackie does not budge. He keeps coming back to check on his caretakers. Locals say that Blackie has been looking extremely anxious for the last three days.

An Army officer said that the dog was likely the pet of someone trapped inside the tunnel.

A resident named Ajeet Kumar has told Times of India: “He must have realized something was amiss. The place was full of strangers who paid no attention to him.” Kumar added that Blackie used to laze around close to the project site. 

One of the workers named Rajinder Kumar said, “We would give him food, a sack to sleep on when we worked. Blackie would be around during the day and leave in the evening when we did.”

According to reports, more than 50 labourers were reported to be working on the site at the time of the incident. Though rescue teams have been working ceaselessly, 30 people are still feared to be trapped inside the Tapovan tunnel.

As many as 36 bodies have been recovered from different areas hit by the glacier burst, while 204 people are still reported missing.

As Twitter talks tall about FoE in India, read how its board had ‘expert’ close to China and how it possibly led to censorship

OpIndia Staff
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As Twitter talks tall about FoE in India, read how its board had ‘expert’ close to China and how it possibly led to censorship

Concerns have surfaced regarding censorship on Twitter related to anti-China tweets since the appointment of Fei-Fei Li as an independent director to the Board of Twitter in May 2020. Li joined Twitter after quitting as chief scientist of Google’s artificial intelligence/machine learning initiative following a controversy surrounding the tech giant’s Project Maven.

The concerns are especially consequential given the manner in which Twitter has refused to cooperate with the Indian Government over malicious accounts fanning dangerous conspiracy theories which could create law and order problems in India.

Fei-Fei Li is believed to be instrumental in the setting up of a Google AI lab in China suspected on involvement in Project Dragonfly touted to be a search engine that would align with the surveillance regime of China.

“They seem to have ignored the backstory of Li’s previous cooperation with China,” said Wang Longmeng, a France-based commentator. “Li Fei-fei … secretly opposed Google’s cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense from a high moral standpoint … but turned a blind eye to Project Dragonfly, in which Google was planning to help the Chinese Communist Party vet online speech,” he said.

According to Wang, Li was one of the “loopholes” that democratic countries will have to plug. According to reports, Fei-Fei Li is also an adviser to China’s Tsinghua University. The University’s Vice-President has said that one of the main purposes of the University’s AI Research is fulfil national defense needs under a “military-civilian integration policy.” She has extensive ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including the CCP’s United Front Work.

It is further reported that multiple Twitter accounts which had criticised her appointment had been suspended a week after her appointment without rhyme or reason. According to India Today, the Twitter account of one of their own reporters was affected after he interviewed the father of soldier Subedar Nyima Tenzin from the Special Frontier Force (SFF) during the conflict between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The India Today report says, “Reporting from the ground, India Today’s @AbhishekBhalla7 managed to interview the father of a solider injured in a mine blast. This interview went viral and further irked the Chinese establishment now that the SFF and that its soldiers regularly fought against China as part of the Indian Army was no secret.”

“Bhalla’s Twitter handle went kaput soon after; “unusual activity” cited on the restricted page. It was taken up with the Twitter India team and the account was restored soon after,” it added. Twitter, however, said, “We would like to reiterate that the account was never suspended. The reporter was facing a login related issue which was resolved quickly.”

Furthermore, in late August, @ChinarCorpsIA, an official handle of the Indian Army, was allegedly shadow banned. Other OSINT handles critical of Twitter faced similar issues. Speaking to India Today in September 2020, Solomon Yue, Vice-Chairman and CEO at Republicans Overseas, called for a US-Senate level hearing on Twitter’s shadowban.

He told the news network, “What I like to see is that Twitter users who have experienced shadow banning of CCP critics by Twitter gather their evidences while my friends in the US Senate to hold a Senate Committee hearing based on their evidences. Twitter is not supposed to regulate free speech when it was exempted from users’ legal actions by Congress.”

‘Tibet is occupied territory’, international conflict resolution expert calls for India to resolve the Sino-Tibetan conflict

OpIndia Staff
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‘Tibet is occupied territory’, international conflict resolution expert calls for India to resolve the Sino-Tibetan conflict

A book discussion event was organised through video conferencing on 10th February, to discuss the book ’Tibet Brief 20/20’ authored by eminent author Dr. Michael Van Walt Van Praag. Dr. Michael Van Walt is an international lawyer, a mediator and advisor in intrastate peace processes, and professor of international law and international relations.

Several distinguished persons from India and abroad participated in the book discussion, including Former RAW chief Mr. C.D. Sahay, Tibetan politician in exile and activist Gyari Dolma, former Ambassador Jyoti Pande, former diplomat Anil Trigunayat, Professor at Delhi University Dr. Abanti Bhattacharya, Tibetan activist and writer Tenzin Tsundue, former Special Secretary with Government of India Krishan Verma, and Editor of The Sunday Guardian Joyeeta Basu. The event was moderated by Ms. Samiksha Roy, Research Associate at Usanas Foundation.

Talking about his book, Dr. Michael Van Walt said that contrary to what Beijing claims and what many people believe, Tibet was never part of the China. There are no legal bases on the occupation by PRC and it is solely on ‘self-serving basis’, he said. The author ascertained that Tibet is occupied territory and China doesn’t have sovereignty over it.

Dr. Walt discussed India’s role in the matter, and placed three major policy recommendations for India on its Tibet policy. He said, Firstly, it is important for India to understand that not only Tibet but the entire Himalayan region is of utmost importance for Indian geopolitical interests and India should start working to secure its interests. The Indian Government has an obligation under international law to resolve the Sino-Tibetan conflict. Delhi should send a message that the conflict has not been resolved and the world needs to pay attention to it, he recommended.

Secondly, India needs to actively counter the Chinese historical narrative, which is an integral part of China’s strategy on Tibet which is misleading the world. Not contesting this has made it significantly harder to challenge other narratives such as the one on the South China Sea. It would be of critical importance for India to bust the narrative and try to project the real narrative on Tibet.

(cover of the book, Source- Amazon)

Thirdly, a major issue that leads to concerns is the non-recognition of the territory taken by the force by China. Late last year, the US Department of State referred to Tibet as an ‘occupied territory’, which was a significant move. India and the whole world should not succumb to China’s pressure. This would strengthen India’s position and help to resolve the conflict on the border.”

He further argued, “Let me make this clear – India has a special role to play when it comes to the Tibet issue. Other countries look towards India for guidance on their Tibet policy. What India does have a significant effect on the world’s Tibet policies.”

He said that only way to stop the bullying is by ending the compliance with the bully’s demands. “This has started and we can see that the world increasingly countering the Chinese aggression. The need now is to bring similar powers together in an alliance to counter China,” he added.

Tibetan activist and writer Tenzin Tsundue called China their enemy, saying that they are destroying Tibet. He said that they are not giving up and will recreate a freedom movement in Tibet. Saying that he was born in Tibet and educated in India, Tenzin added he feels pain when India does not speak up for Tibet. “I want India to protect its borders from China,” he said. He also stated that one of the problems in fulfilling the commitment to the Tibetan independence movement is the ignorance amongst Indians on the Tibet issue. A lot of people in India have been believing in the slogan of ‘Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai’. No Indian textbooks talk about Tibet, he said.

Tenzin Tsundue also informed that he will start a path yatra from Dharamshala to Delhi on 12 February to make people aware of the Tibet issue.

Ambassdor Anil Trigunayat said that China has never respected the ‘One India’ policy, and therefore India should not be reciprocating the same.

Balochistan liberation activist Bilal Baloch also joined the event and argued that this is the time when India must change its policy of ‘non-interference’ towards the other countries. He said – “Dragon is a dragon; it will definitely bite you. He added that China is interfering in the internal issues of India, and even Pakistan is spreading religious extremism in India. Therefore, India also should revise its policies on Tibet and Balochistan.

‘We had been timid with China in the past. This time we looked them in the eye’: Former COAS Gen Bikram Singh

OpIndia Staff
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‘We had been timid with China in the past. This time we looked them in the eye’: Former COAS Gen Bikram Singh

Amidst the disengagement process on the India-China border along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Former Army Chief General Bikram Singh said that this was the first time India looked China in the eye in contrast to earlier governments’ timidness in dealing with the hostile neighbour.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave East-2021 in Kolkata on Thursday, General Bikram Singh (Retd.), who was the COAS of the Indian Army during the UPA era, said that India’s response to Chinese aggressive actions along the border was timid in the past and any provocations were resolved through diplomatic channels. However, this was the first time India looked China in the eye and mobilised the forces, he said.

“We had been timid with China in the past. Whenever they came into our land, we solved it diplomatically. This was the first time we looked China in the eye and mobilized,” said General Bikram Singh (Retd.).

“Since the 1993 agreement, China has had a poor track record in terms of adhering to confidence-building measures and protocols,” he added.

The retired COAS also pointed out that the costs at both strategic and political levels are high for Xi Jinping if China continues to clash with India along the border.

Further, General Bikram Singh (Retd.) added that India needs to move ahead with cautious optimism as we cannot take China at face value.

General Singh’s statements come at the backdrop of a recent agreement between India and China to start disengagement of troops on the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake nearly nine months after the military standoff in eastern Ladakh.

India-China standoff

Clashes between the two countries have occurred along the Line of Actual Control raising fears of serious conflict breaking out between the two countries. The Chinese troops had clashed with the Indian Army on the intervening night of June 15 and 16, leading to a violent hand-to-hand clash with the Chinese counterparts. In the clash, 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives.

The Indian Army had made a major breakthrough and occupied six new heights along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh. This was after India had acted proactively to occupy heights in regions on the Southern Bank of the Pangong Tso lake and strengthened their positions.

After claiming farmer protests are apolitical, ‘Andolanjeevi’ Yogendra Yadav seeks donations for his political party

OpIndia Staff
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After claiming farmer protests are apolitical, ‘Andolanjeevi’ Yogendra Yadav seeks donations for his political party

Icchadhari ‘protestor’ (Andolanjeevi) Yogendra Yadav who had earlier claimed that the anti-farm law agitation was ‘apolitical’ in nature as he had inserted himself in the protests, has now demanded donations for his political party.

In an expected turn of events on Friday, Yadav tweeted, “Now that we’ve been officially anointed “andolanjeevi”, we thought we might ask for support for Jai Kisan Andolan! If you are an Indian Citizen and believe in andolanjeevis, please contribute to Swaraj Abhiyan.” The full-time activist had put out the bank and UPI details, urging his followers to contribute so that he can further his anti-farm law propaganda.

During the talks between the government and the so-called farmer leaders, the central government had summarily refused to entertain Yogendra Yadav. However, even after the central government’s curt refusal to allow any political personality to be involved in negotiations with the farmers’ unions, Ichchadhari protester Yogendra Yadav, a political activist and former psephologist, was stubbornly trying to affect his importance by forcing himself into the ongoing negotiations.

Yogendra Yadav, who OpIndia has fondly christened as Icchadhari protester, has been seen in every disruptive protest that the country has witnessed over the past few years. Yogendra Yadav was also instrumental in the Shaheen Bagh protests and the larger anti-CAA protests that eventually led to the anti-Hindu Delhi Riots where over 50 people were killed. While the riots took place on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of February, Yogendra Yadav was involved with those who planned the violence ever since the 7th of December.

It is rather interesting that after inserting himself in the so-called farmer protest, which was incidentally spearheaded by Khalistanis, Yogendra Yadav is now using the same protest to collect money for his political party in the name of further protests. It only goes to show that Yogendra Yadav, who often inserts himself in every protest in the country, especially when it is spearheaded by Islamists and Khalistanis, is only interested in creating his own political clout while the nation burns owing to these protests he fans.

Yogendra Yadav cries foul after receiving ₹50 donation

Ahead of the Haryana State Legislative elections, Yogendra Yadav had endorsed ‘environmentalist’ Tejpal Yadav as one of his party candidates. While taking to Twitter, he pleaded for monetary support from his like-minded followers. But, he was up for a rude shock when he only ₹50 for his supposed ‘green politics’.

Yogendra Yadav lamented, “You know what? My appeal to donate for this environmental crusader got 816 likes and 168 retweets but only ₹50 in donation. Is that how we support green politics? Will some of us turn our likes into action?”

Everyone takes Ram’s name, now I am scared too: Elderly neighbour of Rinku Sharma demands that culprits be hanged

OpIndia Staff
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Everyone takes Ram’s name, now I am scared too: Elderly neighbour of Rinku Sharma demands that culprits be hanged

An old neighbour of Bajrang Dal activist Rinku Sharma, who was murdered in cold blood by a Muslim mob who had barged into his house and killed him with a knife on February 10 (Wednesday), cries as she recounts the horror. In a video shared on social media, Maya Devi, who has been living in the same area as Rinku’s family for years, laments, “the child (Rinku Sharma) was killed mercilessly in front of us, but we could do anything to save him”.

She says that the incident has traumatised them and now even they are scared of living in that area. “Ram Ram to sabhi karte hain, aaj is bacche ko mara hain, ram ke naam par mara hain, aisa hona nahi chahiye”, (everybody takes tha name of Ram, the kid has been killed for taking the name of Ram, this should not have happened), said the grieving neighbour, demanding that the culprits be hanged to death.

‘Khoon ka badla khoon, badla chahiye humme’, said the elderly neighbour of Rinku Sharma

Maya Devi can be furthered heard saying in the video that Rinku Sharma was a gentle and a very nice boy, he was a devotee of Ram and Balaji (Hanuman), but assailants killed him before my eyes. Now I am scared too, added Maya Devi.

“Khoon ka badla khoon, badla chahiye humme” (we want revenge, blood for blood), weeped the elderly neighbour.

We reported how, Rinku Sharma, who was a lab technician in a hospital in Paschim Vihar, was killed in cold blood for raising ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans and being a part of the donation drive for the Ram Mandir.

His family members informed that he had even taken out a rally, following the Bhoomi Pujan of the Ram Mandir. Rinku’s mother Radha Devi said that even while he was being stabbed, the Bajrang Dal activist continued raising the slogan of ‘Jai Shri Ram.’ She also said that her deceased son had received threats for being associated with Barang Dal.

Divulging horrifying details, a Bajrang Dal activist told OpIndia that the knife with which Rinku Sharma was stabbed, had got stuck in his back. The accused at first tried to take out the knife from his back, probably with an intention to again stab him. They kept frantically twisting the knife to pull it out. When unsuccessful, they mercilessly pushed the sharp knife deeper inside Rinku’s back. They then fled, leaving Rinku gravely injured. Rinku was rushed to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Mangolpuri, where he succumbed to his injuries at 12 noon on Thursday.

We also learnt that women were also a part of the frenzied Muslim mob which barged into Rinku Sharma’s house on Wednesday. The mob which included women were laden with batons, sticks, and knives.

After pushing themselves into the house, the mob attacked Rinku Sharma’s family members with sticks and batons, They reportedly even leaked the gas cylinder. Rinku Sharma, meanwhile, tried to escape from there. A few amongst the mob grabbed Rinku and stabbed him with a sharp knife.

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