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Condom over Shivling: Netizens slam actress Sayoni Ghosh for desecrating Hindu symbol, expose her dubious ‘account hacked’ claim

Dibakar Dutta
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Condom over Shivling: Netizens slam actress Sayoni Ghosh for desecrating Hindu symbol, expose her dubious ‘account hacked’ claim

On Saturday, Bengali film actress Saayoni Ghosh came under fierce criticism after a vile Hinduphobic tweet, dating back to 2015, re-surfaced on social media.

On February 18, 2015, the actress had tweeted a picture wherein a female character was seen putting a condom over the sacred Hindu symbol of a Shivling. She wrote, “Gods cudnt have been more useful.” Her tweet maligning Hindu culture was posted on the auspicious occasion of Maha Shivratri, which was observed on February 17 that year.

Netizens warn the actress of legal action

While the actress got away with her brazen display of Hinduphobia in 2015, social media users were not ready to cut her any slack this time. Former Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy tweeted, “Ms. Saayoni Ghosh,You have put a condom on a Shivlinga which we Hindus, including me, hold as holiest of holies!”

He added that it constitutes a cognizable, non-bailable offence under Indian Penal Code Section 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class). Tathagata Roy cautioned, “Now be prepared for the consequences.”

Another user wrote in Bengal, “Shame on your filthy mindset. Kolkata police, take appropriate action against her for distorting the image of Hindu Gods. We will not tolerate any insult to Hinduism anymore.”

Slamming her for her double standards on ‘Eid’ and ‘Maha Shivaratri’, another user asked, “Isn’t it hypocrisy? (She is a) Bengali version of Swara Bhaskar.”

Saayoni Ghosh apologises after outrage, peddles ‘hack theory’

The actress, who has been in the film industry since 2010, was mistaken into believing that netizens are naive to buy her argument when she claimed that the derogatory post was the handiwork of a hacker. Labelling her own tweet as ‘obnoxious’, she informed, “Dear all, a post from 2015 has been brought to my notice which is extremely obnoxious..for all your information, I have joined Twitter on 2010 and after a brief use I lost interest in carrying forward. However, the account remained.”

She claimed that her PR agent Bhaska Roy informed her that her account has been hacked. She alleged that the account couldn’t be retrieved until 2017. “After a while, my pr Bhaska Roy intimidated me that my account has been hacked and we need to retrieve it immediately. For various reasons, we could only do that after 2017 and I got back in touch with the Twitter world with a bang,” the actress emphasised.

Furthermore, Saayoni Ghosh said that most post were deleted, except for a few unnecessary ones. “I would take strict measure to ommit content which hurt religious sentiment of people beyond repair,” she reiterated. The actress urged users to share her the link of the derogatory post so that she could remove it from her Twitter timeline.

“I hope not to be misquoted or misunderstood. My religion means a lot to me so does our unity in trying times,” she pleaded.

Netizens debunk ‘hack theory’ with convincing evidence

However, netizens refused to approve of her cliched ‘hack theory’, which many social media influencers rely upon on facing public backlash. It is important to remember that Saayoni Ghosh had originally uploaded the derogatory image of the Shivling on February 18, 2015.

But, her Twitter posts from that very day tells a different story. Assuming that a hacker took control over her account in a bid to malign her, why would that individual then choose to upload selfies with her friends? In the screenshot below, she was seen sharing selfies with her friend and uploading pictures of her vanity van.

Screengrab of the tweets by Saayoni Ghosh via Befitting Facts

Interestingly, Saayoni Ghosh had claimed that her account could not be retrieved until 2017. However, a Twitter user (@kannadaveera) shared screenshots of her tweets, dating back to September and October 2016. In the said tweets, the actress was seen promoting her film ‘Byomkesh O Chiriyakhana’ ahead of its release on October 7, 2016. She had also shared visuals of her character from the movie, just a day before the release of the film. Such content surely can’t be posted by a hacker.

The curious case of social media lingo

As per Saayoni Ghosh, she was unable to access her account till 2017. At this point, it becomes imperative to ask, “Who was promoting her own film using her Twitter account?” It is astonishing to see that the hacker who supposedly wanted to malign her image by uploading a Hinduphobic image was also helping her in promoting her film.

However, an interesting part of her tweets has been her writing pattern. In the contentious Hinduphobic tweet, which became the epicentre of social media controversy, read, “Gods cudnt have been more useful.” In the said statement, the spelling of ‘couldn’t’ is misspelt as ‘cudnt’. While writing on social media, several users tend to abbreviate words by omitting letters from it or using different letters altogether. For instance, the word ‘you’ is often replaced with ‘u’, or writing ‘of course’ as ‘ofc’.

Such spelling mistakes often become a part of one’s writing habit on social media. And this phenomenon becomes clearer in the case of Saayoni Ghosh. A glance at a compilation of her tweets, from 2012, shows similar spelling mistakes/abbreviations of the word ‘couldn’t’. It must be mentioned that her account was not hacked during that time asper her claim.

Screengrab of her tweets via @Saffron_Sunny87

The actress claimed to have retrieved her account in 2017. But, similar abbreviations of the word ‘couldn’t’ can be seen in her tweets, dating back to October 2018. Between 2012 and 2018, one particular word is written in a specific way, prior to the account’s alleged hacking and even after the account is restored.

Screengrab of her tweets via @Saffron_Sunny87

As such netizens were quick to dismiss her dubious apology and instead warned her of legal action for not being truly apologetic of her actions while trying to pass the blame seamlessly on a supposed hacker.

13-year-old boy raped, pushed into prostitution and begging after his kidnap and forced sex-change surgery: Shocking details emerge from Delhi

OpIndia Staff
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13-year-old boy raped, pushed into prostitution and begging after his kidnap and forced sex-change surgery: Shocking details emerge from Delhi

A horrific case of sexual assault has been reported from Northeast Delhi where a 13-year-old minor boy was allegedly forced to undergo a sex change surgery and repeatedly raped by his four predators, who later pushed him into prostitution and begging.

According to the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), the harrowing ordeal of the teenage boy began after he met the accused at a dance event in Laxmi Nagar about three years ago. The accused befriended the boy Raju (name changed) and took him with them to Mandawali on the pretext of providing him dance training.

After being taken to Mandawali, the accused made Raju participate in a few dance programs and also paid him for the performances. However, in due course of time, the accused told the boy that he would now have to live and work with the group.

The victim was drugged and raped multiple times before being pushed into prostitution and begging

Following this, the accused started administering drugs on Raju. He was forcefully made to undergo sex reassignment surgery. After the surgery, he was administered hormonal therapy to accelerate the transition. He was barely 13-years-old at that time.

The DCW stated that after the sex-change operation, the accused and his aides began to sexually assault the teenage boy. Raju was then pushed into prostitution. The accused brought customers who would sexually exploit him on several occasions. It is alleged that Raju was also forced to beg at traffic signals posing as a eunuch. The accused also lured people disguised as women, after which they assaulted and robbed their customers.

All along, the accused threatened the teenage boy that they would kill his family if he told anyone anything. Later, the accused managed to get Raju’s friend to also join them, the Delhi Commission for Women revealed. That boy was also assaulted, and culprits were preparing to get him also operated.

In March 2020, when the nationwide lockdown was imposed for the first time to contain the deadly spread of Coronavirus, Raju and his friend managed to escape. Raju went to his mother and narrated his ordeal. Raju’s family got a rented accommodation and started living there with the boys.

For a few months, they were safe, until the accused found out their whereabouts in December. The enraged men ambushed the boys and his family, vandalised the house they were living in, and took them away. The four accused then took turns in raping Raju and his friend, DCW said, adding that Raju’s mother was also threatened at gunpoint.

Two days later, Raju and his friend managed to escape again. This time, they hid at the New Delhi railway station. The next day, a lawyer found the children and brought them to the DCW.

Delhi police arrest two accused, in the lookout for two others

Raju revealed that a few policemen he met had pressured him to not file a complaint, saying that if a case is registered then he too would have to go to jail. The DCW, however, took prompt action in the case and informed the police who then registered a case under relevant sections of the law. The police have arrested two accused and efforts are on to nab the other two.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal said: “This incident is absolutely shocking and scary. A small boy was forcibly operated and raped by several men. Luckily, the victims were able to escape and got saved. We are now working on the rehabilitation of the victims. Police need to arrest all the accused as soon as possible and all of them should be given the strongest punishment.”   

CNN’s ‘Ted Cruz-Dorito’ clarification is fake, but here is a real ‘crowbar-ProBar’ correction issued post spreading fake news

Jinit Jain
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CNN’s ‘Ted Cruz-Dorito’ clarification is fake, but here is a real ‘crowbar-ProBar’ correction issued post spreading fake news

A hoax that had gone viral on the internet claimed that the Cable News Network (CNN) was forced to issue a clarification for stating that Sen. Ted Cruz was seen wearing a pin featuring a QAnon symbol that was later discovered to be a Dorito snack chip stuck to his suit. On Friday, an image surfaced on social media websites, showing a correction to a story that CNN had published on its website.

“CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated that Sen. Ted Cruz was seen wearing a pin featuring a QAnon symbol. It was later discovered that this was not a QAnon pin but a Doritos snack chip stuck to his suit,” the viral note read.

However, those who went on the CNN’s website in search of the article did not find what they were expecting as there was no story by the news network claiming Cruz of donning a pin for the controversial theory. Someone who shared the note on Twitter later revealed that the note was fake.

The Ted Cruz-Dorito hoax was an instant hit as thousands took online to make fun of Cruz for being untidy and unkempt. However, Cruz took it in a lighter vein, later sharing the screenshot of the doctored images and trolling those who had shared it.

‘I do love Doritos,” Cruz tweeted while sharing the fake images.

It is speculated that the doctored images were used by the detractors to criticise Cruz and some of his colleagues who moved ahead with objections to last week’s Electoral College ballot-counting even after a group of livid Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S Capitol. Nevertheless, shortly after the images went viral, it was promptly clarified that the correction was fake and such an article did not exist on the CNN website.

Ted-Cruz-Dorito clarification fake, but read about the genuine ‘crowbar-probar’ correction by CNN

While one correction was evidently fake, a genuine correction was issued by CNN in another article pertaining to Ted Lieu holding a crowbar while being at his office during the Capitol siege. A couple of days ago, CNN, the multinational media organisation, was the butt of all jokes for its embarrassing gaffe of declaring Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif, of holding a “crowbar” when an angry mob stormed the Capitol Hill last week. However, in reality, the lawmaker had actually grabbed an energy bar.

CNN was quick to recognise its faux pas and it soon issued a prompt correction.

“CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated that Rep. Ted Lieu grabbed a crowbar before leaving his office. He grabbed a ProBar energy bar,” a correction for a CNN story titled “How a swift impeachment was born under siege” said.

The article stated that Lieu was compelled to leave his office in the Cannon Office Building as the rebels converged on the US Capitol.

CNN’s correction on crowbar-probar widely discussed on social media websites

CNN’s correction was extensively discussed on social media websites, evoking risible responses from scores of people. Many users hailed the clarification as to the “Correction of the day” while others pleasantly mused over the possibility of Lieu wielding a crowbar to protect himself from the insurrectionists.

A WSJ reporter called it “Correction of the day”.

Another social media user Brianna Wu said she loved the idea of Lieu grabbing a crowbar and deciding to take on the insurrectionists by himself.

Several others also wondered that the editors and the reporters who authored the report are not to be faulted for assuming that the legislator might have actually grabbed a crowbar to defend himself.

Most of the people couldn’t hide their amusement over the correction tendered by CNN. Here are some of the reactions:

The CNN issued a clarification, stating that Lieu was simply hungry as opposed to the original report which misled readers into believing that the legislator held a crowbar to ward off rampaging protesters. Lieu was apparently holding a ProBar, an energy bar, and not a crowbar to fight off the demonstrators.

“California Rep. Ted Lieu was forced to evacuate his office in the Cannon Office Building as insurrectionists converged on the Capitol. Grabbing a ProBar energy bar in his office, Lieu said he and his chief of staff called the top aide to Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline while wandering the halls and asked if they could hunker down in Cicilline’s office in the Rayburn House Office Building,” the updated version of the story read.

Jhanvi Kukreja murder case: Autopsy reveals no sexual assault, accused sent to judicial custody

OpIndia Staff
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Jhanvi Kukreja murder case: Autopsy reveals no sexual assault, accused sent to judicial custody

Two weeks after a 19-year-old psychology student named Jhanvi Kukreja was murdered on New Year’s eve in Mumbai, the autopsy report has found no signs of sexual assault on the victim. Jhanvi had attended the party with two of her best friends, Shree Jodhankar (24) and Diya Padankar (19), who are the prime accused in the case.

As per reports, the post-mortem conducted on the victim found no evidence of sexual assault. However, Jhanvi had sustained 48 injuries on her body, including in the skull. The police have also conducted a DNA test of the accused with the evidence that was gathered from the crime spot. Senior Inspector Gajanan Kabdule (Khar) informed, “We have also recorded the statement of the doctor at Sion Hospital where the accused Jogdhankar had sought treatment claiming he mad met with an accident.”

Two accused sent to judicial custody

On Thursday, a local court in Mumbai sent the two accused, namely, Shree Jogdhankar and Diya Padalkar to judicial custody. While Shree has been sent to Taloja jail, Diya will serve her jail time in Byculla’s women prison. Earlier, the duo remained in police custody for 13 days. The Khar police informed the Court that Shree is short-tempered, has criminal antecedents and may resort to ‘dangerous steps.’

While the victim’s advocate Trivankumar Karnani had called for an extension of police custody to ascertain the motive behind the crime, Shree’s lawyer Mahesh Vaswani opposed the plea citing the accused’s co-operation with the police. Advocate Karnani added, “We have demanded a special public prosecutor for our case. We are not happy with current public prosecutor representing the police for a remand hearing. Maximum opportunity may be given to the police to complete custodial interrogation and we must not incapacitate them.”

Cops solely dependent on circumstantial evidence

The Khar police have failed to find eye witness testimonies or any concrete evidence, in connection to the Jhanvi Kukreja murder case. This is despite the fact that the accused had been in police custody for 13 days. As such, the investigative team is now solely dependent upon circumstantial evidence. Both the accused have denied any involvement in the crime.

Shree, who had suffered severe injuries, claimed that he did not remember anything that transpired on the night of December 31. Investigators found that the building watchman was sleeping at the time of the incident and as such did not hear any scuffle that took place on the second floor. The police found that Shree had a track record of violent behaviour. He had assaulted a paan shop vendor a year ago and had assaulted a taxi driver two years ago.

While speaking on the allegations, Shree’s advocate Mahesh Vashwani claimed that the ‘violent episodes’ were not mentioned by the police in the remand application. He also said that while Khar police failed to find eye witness testimonies in the Jhanvi Kukreja murder case, but has now come up with incidents that are more than a year old. Vashwani questioned as to why police could not ascertain how his client got severely injured during the New Year’s party.

VP Singh, IPS officer turned lawyer, informed that several convictions have taken place in the past based only on circumstantial evidence. However, he added, “Convictions based on circumstantial evidence are rare and happen only when physical evidence is not forthcoming.”

Citizens pay tribute to Jhanvi Kukreja

On Friday, friends and family of Jhanvi organised a condolence meet at the Khar Gymkhana between 5-6 pm. Several people came to pay tribute to the victim. They had also launched an online campaign, to gather support for Jhanvi. It has over 14,000 signatures.

Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, who had met the victim’s parents, tweeted, “Was completely shattered & numbed when the mother of 19 yr JhanviKukreja, at the condolence, meet today, told me that their future is killed. The killers of her daughter should be hanged. I pray to God that her wishes come true and I stand by #JusticeForJhanviKukreja”

The Jhanvi Kukreja Murder case

Jhanvi, a resident of Mumbai and a psychology student from Jai Hind College was found dead after she had gone to attend a New Year’s Eve party in Mumbai’s suburb Khar. As per the autopsy report, skull fracture was said to be the cause of her death. Reports also suggest that Jhanvi’s injuries were homicidal and not accidental. It is revealed that the deceased was brutally beaten approximately around 2.30 am. Her body showed injury marks on the hip and thighs.

“These injuries indicate that Kukreja was badly beaten with an intention of killing her,” said an officer from Khar police station in Mumbai. As per reports, it was around 6 am that the dead body was discovered.The Khar police, investigating the case, arrested Shree Jodhankar and Diya Padankar on January 2 (Saturday). They have been charged under section 302 (murder) and 323 (assault) of the IPC.

According to reports, Shree fractured his ribs and suffered injuries on his hands. He is currently admitted to the hospital. Once discharged, cops will take him under custody. Police are yet to figure out how Shree suffered injuries, however, they opined that Shree might have also had a fall during the scuffle.

‘Physically and mentally tortured’ former BARC CEO, arrested by Mumbai Police, admitted to hospital, daughter requests PM Modi to save his life

OpIndia Staff
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‘Physically and mentally tortured’ former BARC CEO, arrested by Mumbai Police, admitted to hospital, daughter requests PM Modi to save his life

Pratyusha Dasgupta, the daughter of former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta, has appealed to Prime Minister Modi to save her father’s life. She said that Mr. Dasgupta was admitted to the hospital on the 15th of January in an unconscious state. He is currently in judicial custody over the TRP scam.

Pratyusha said that her mother received a call at 3 a.m. asking her to reach JJ Hospital immediately. Once there, the doctors enquired why had no one from the family come sooner since Mr. Dasgupta was admitted 12 hours earlier. She provided a sequence of events that transpired. She said that no one from Taloja jail informed them of the development.

Pratyusha Dasgupta appeals to PM Modi to save her father Partho Dasgupta, former BARC CEO
Pratyusha Dasgupta appeals to PM Modi to save her father’s life

Apparently, it was so because that the authorities in prison did not have their contact information. Pratyusha says, “The reason provided was that they did not have our phone numbers to contact us and hence waited till my father was conscious enough to give them my mother’s phone number. This is in spite of the several mails we have sent to the Jail Authorities requesting permission to reach my father with my phone number mentioned at the end of the text.”

Pratyusha Dasgupta appeals to PM Modi to save her father Partho Dasgupta, former BARC CEO
Pratyusha Dasgupta appeals to PM Modi to save her father’s life

Pratyusha and her mother found Mr. Dasgupta lying in the emergency room with not even a bed-sheet covering him. There, he was incoherent and unable to express himself properly. His blood sugar levels had shot to alarming levels, 516 to be precise, she said. She adds that Mr. Dasgupta suffers “from a number of serious ailments for many years, including diabetes, hypertension, and ankylosing spondylitis, an auto immune disorder.”

Pratyusha Dasgupta appeals to PM Modi to save her father Partho Dasgupta, former BARC CEO
Pratyusha Dasgupta appeals to PM Modi to save her father’s life

Pratyusha says that they had tried constantly to reach the authorities in prison through regarding her father’s health condition. She said, “The state that he was in clearly indicates that he was being severely ill treated. He was in a completely traumatised state and it was apparent that that he had been physically and mentally tortured. His deplorable conditions were a result of severe and continuous torment inside the jail.”

Pratyusha Dasgupta appeals to PM Modi to save her father Partho Dasgupta, former BARC CEO
Pratyusha Dasgupta appeals to PM Modi to save her father’s life

She concludes her message to Prime Minister Modi saying, “My plea to you, sir, is to please save my father’s life by allowing proper medical treatment in a reputed hospital at our expense. Without intervention at the highest levels, I am now fearful for his life.”

Partho Dasgupta was arrested by the Mumbai Police over the TRP scam. Dasgupta was arrested from Pune Rural which is under the jurisdiction of Raigad police station. During the investigation, several evidence and witnesses have come forward and alleged that Mumbai Police have been intimidating them to speak against Republic TV, including Hansa officials. Hansa has also complained that they are being harassed by the Mumbai Police to give statements against Republic TV.

When Lalu Prasad’s daughter, Misa Bharti, also pretended to deliver a lecture at Harvard University

OpIndia Staff
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When Lalu Prasad’s daughter, Misa Bharti, also pretended to deliver a lecture at Harvard University

Yesterday, NDTV’s former journalist Nidhi Razdan took the social media by the storm as she revealed that she was conned with a job offer at Harvard University. The journalist said that she became the victim of a phishing attack and Harvard University never offered her a position as an associate professor in journalism. In a terse statement on Twitter, she said, “I have been the victim of a very serious phishing attack. I’m putting this statement out to set the record straight about what I’ve been through. I will not be addressing this issue any further on social media.”

Since Nidhi’s revelation, all social media platforms are buzzed up with speculations as to how a person of her position, who has worked for NDTV for almost 21 years, could be ‘scammed’. As Nidhi Razdan’s staggering confession was being widely discussed online, several social media users reminisced how RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti had also lied about being invited to deliver a lecture at the Harvard University and posted fake pictures back in 2015.

On March 7, 2015, Misa Bharti had told her friends in a Facebook post that she was on her way to Harvard to participate in an ‘India Conference’ on 7th and 8th March.

Misa Bharti’s social media post from 2015

She also tweeted, two days after the event, that she had participated in the conference. “At the #IndiaConference at Harvard University, with key speakers and panelists,” she tweeted.

Misa uploaded pictures of her Facebook wall where she was seen taking part in a discussion. The photographs also showed Misa speaking from behind the podium as if speaking to an audience. The picture was captioned in Hindi: “Harvard Vishwavidyalaya mein yuvaaon ki bhagidari ko lekar vyakhyaan dete hue” (giving a lecture at Harvard University on the role of youth).

She also released the photos to newspapers in Bihar along with a press release saying she delivered a lecture at the American university.

Image credit (The Quint)
Image credit (The Quint)

Misa had then, even re-tweeted some pictures posted by BJP leader Kiran Bedi, who was one of the speakers at the event. The pictures, apparently clicked by Bedi from the podium, showed Misa Bharti seated in the audience.

When Harvard University busted Misa Bharti’s fake claims

However, Misa’s lie was busted after Harvard University clarified that it did not invite Misa Bharti as a speaker at its India Conference. The university released a statement saying: Misa Bharti was invited as part of the audience and not as a speaker of any panel at the India Conference at Harvard. Her attendee status can also be confirmed from the fact that she had to purchase a ticket as an audience. She was not invited to deliver any lecture. “Misa did not deliver any lecture and therefore no local US newspaper covered her lecture. She did not deliver any lecture and therefore we do not have any official pictures or videos,” the university added.

The reports then suggested that at the conference, the speakers included activist-politician Kiran Bedi, actor-activist Rahul Bose, ex-Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan and BJP National Secretary Ram Madhav. But not Misa Bharti. Misa had allegedly gone on stage after the conference ended, took photographs and released it to newspapers.

Uttar Pradesh Police arrest one Mehboob from Karnataka for allegedly kidnaping a Hindu girl and trying to convert her to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh Police arrest one Mehboob from Karnataka for allegedly kidnaping a Hindu girl and trying to convert her to Islam

In what appears to be another case of grooming jihad, Uttar Pradesh police yesterday arrested a Muslim man from Karnataka who allegedly kidnapped a Hindu girl from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh with the intention of her forcefully converting her to Islam. The 21-year accused has been identified as Mehboob, a resident of Vijayapura district of Karnataka.

Accused allegedly befriended the victim on social media

According to reports, Station House Officer (SHO), Chiluatal police station, Neeraj Kumar Rai said that the girl’s father, a retired Army man, had filed a missing report on January after she did not return home from college. He said that it was revealed on scrutiny of call records of the girl’s mobile phone that she used to make frequent calls to a man mentioned as Mehboob on Truecaller app. Mehboob’s location was found in Karnataka. Following her father’s complaint, a case was lodged against the accused on January 11. Later on, a three-member police team was sent to Karnataka to trace the accused and the girl.

The case was lodged under sections 366 (kidnapping, abduction) and 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code and under the relevant provisions of recently enacted anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh.

Accused allegedly promised the victim to provide her a job

The girl’s father had reportedly mentioned in the FIR that the accused had befriended his daughter through social media and he lured her by promising to provide her with a job. The accused was reportedly arrested by Indi Rural Police and their Chiluatal counterparts near Indi Railway Station when he came to meet his father yesterday. The father of the accused, a porter at the railway station in Vijayapura’s Indi, said that he was not aware of his son’s relationship with the girl. He said that police came to his house and informed him that his son had kidnapped a girl from Uttar Pradesh and that he tried to forcefully convert her. He said that he offered the police to help them trace his son.

The Uttar Pradesh government had recently passed the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion Ordinance of 2020 that nullifies marriages performed for the sole purpose of conversion and penalises forced, deceitful religious conversion.

Kashmiri-origin appointee in Joe Biden’s White House team has links to Islamist org, CIA Director pick has concerns about ‘Hindu majoritarianism’: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Kashmiri-origin appointee in Joe Biden’s White House team has links to Islamist org, CIA Director pick has concerns about ‘Hindu majoritarianism’: Details

President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Sameera Fazili of Kashmiri origin as the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. Formerly, Sameera Fazili has served as the Director of Engagement for Community and Economic Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

The matter of concern, however, is that Fazili appears to be a member of Stand With Kashmir, an Islamist organization that is a proponent of Kashmiri Separatism. In August 2019, following the abrogation of Article 370, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) introduced her as a member of SWK.

She said in a statement, “We urge people of conscience to come out and show support and solidarity for the people of Kashmir as authoritarianism and Islamophobia rise around the world, from India to the United States to Europe. Come show your support for human rights, international law, and democracy.”

Stand With Kashmir (SWK) is a “Kashmiri diaspora-driven independent global citizen grassroots group committed to standing in solidarity with the people of Kashmir in ending the occupation and supporting their right to self-determination.”

The organization believes “any proposed resolutions must foreground Kashmiri aspirations. We condemn the use of Islamophobia to undermine Kashmiri aspirations for freedom.” It also calls the presence of the Indian military in Kashmir an ‘occupation’. There are indications as well that the organization may have Pakistani backing.

SWK recently tweeted about the death of Riyaz Naikoo in an encounter and did not bother to mention that he was, in fact, a senior commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. SWK also calls Asiya Andrabi a ‘sociopolitical activist’ despite her known links to terrorists. In fact, they have a long history of supporting terrorists, including Yasin Malik who is linked with the LeT, an Islamic terrorist outfit banned under US law as well.

Another appointment that might raise a few eyebrows for those in India, and is a matter of far more concern, is Biden’s pick for CIA Director. William J Burns, the president of the Carnegie Endowment, has been picked to head the CIA. His views on Narendra Modi and Kashmir are worth taking into consideration.

As recently as February 2020, Burns wrote in an article for The Atlantic, “After a resounding reelection last spring, Modi has struggled with India’s most severe economic slowdown in three decades. Lacking a compelling strategy for the economy, he has doubled down on the one set of issues for which the BJP has a very clear and unified vision: Hindu majoritarianism. With coercive force and scant regard for constitutional limits, Modi’s government has put its Hindu chauvinism on full display.”

He continued, “His government has pushed a new citizenship law that discriminates against Muslims seeking refuge in India, and has fed tensions over disputed religious sites. Pressures against critical journalists and academics have increased. The BJP has run into political difficulties in state and local elections, but its national opposition, the Congress Party, is a shell of its former self, and the courts and civil society are on the defensive.”

Burns went so far as to say that a “battle for the idea of India is under way” between the “tolerant constitutional convictions of its founders and the harsher Hindu majoritarianism that has lurked beneath the surface.” Earlier in November 2019, he had said that India must ‘pay attention’ to concerns in Washington regarding Jammu & Kashmir.

All you need to know about Navdeep Bains, minister who resigned from Trudeau govt: Corruption, Khalistan, immigration scam and lobbying for China

OpIndia Staff
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All you need to know about Navdeep Bains, minister who resigned from Trudeau govt: Corruption, Khalistan, immigration scam and lobbying for China

Earlier this week, High-profile Indian-origin Canadian Sikh minister Navdeep Bains resigned from his post and quit politics on ‘personal grounds’ surprising many in Canada.

According to the reports, Navdeep Bains, who is considered to be a strong supporter of the Khalistan movement, stepped down as Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry claiming that he wanted to ‘spend more time with his family’.

However, in reality, Navdeep Bains, who played a key role in Justin Trudeau’s first term since 2013, was forced to resign from the cabinet after he was exposed to a massive corruption scandal in Canada. The resignation of Bains is being seen as an attempt by the ruling Liberal Party to save itself from frequent embarrassments on corruption charges.

In November 2018, a Canada-based media outlet had exposed the news of corruption involving Navdeep Bains. According to the report, an irregularity had occurred land deal concerning a piece of land measuring 20-acre between Navdeep Bains and another liberal MP Raj Grewal. The expose had shocked Canada after a brazen corruption scandal involving lawmakers surfaced. Subsequently, the local authorities had ordered a third-party investigation into the matter and sent its details to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The case of corruption in the land deal is itself an interesting one highlighting how two liberal MPs had indulged in act of corruption without any fingers pointing at them. The pro-Khalistan Navdeep Bains and another Liberal MP had purchased that specific piece of land from the Ontario Province and then sold it to the Brampton City at a much higher price than what the City was planning to offer initially.

The land the city was planning to purchase for an amount of $3.3 million, eventually was sold to them by Bains $4.4 million – an extra $1.1 Million on accounts of the public exchequer. Interestingly, the company involved in the land deal was Goreway Heaven and one of its directors, Bhagwan Grewal, accompanied Prime Minister Trudeau to his infamous trip to India in 2018. Besides, about half of its directors have been making handsome donations to the Liberal Party.

Reportedly Grewal is a former MP, was a history-sheeter in corruption and has been practising it on a blanket basis at various levels.

Navdeep Bains, a pro-Khalistan sympathiser and member of World Sikh Organisation

Reportedly, Navdeep Bains is considered to be one of the aggressive Khalistani sympathizers within the Canadian government. Bains has been groomed by the pro-Khalistani radical outfit World Sikh Organisation (WSO), which is accused of radicalizing the Sikh community and making efforts to divide it.

Canada-based World Sikh Organization (WSO), a body of Sikhs formed in July 1984 post-Operation Bluestar, has been openly raising the demand for Khalistan. In fact, the Sikh diaspora in Canada has themselves labeled WSO an extremist organization.

Not just in Canada alone, but across North America and Europe, radical Sikh elements belonging to WSO have used the political climate in their respective countries to build up a political support base for their ideology. Along with another pro-Khalistan terror group Sikh for Justice (SFJ) the World Sikh Organisation and Sikhs for Justice has been funding the Khalistan movement and also does social media propaganda to revive the Khalistan cause.

Incidentally, Navdeep Bains’s father is also a prominent leader of the WSO and is also associated with the Dixie gurdwara — an epicenter of anti-India activities. Bains also has direct connections with Khalistan terrorists as his father-in-law Darshan Singh Saini was listed by the Canadian authorities as a witness for investigating the 1985 Air India bombing case.

In fact, during a debate on anti-terrorism legislation in the House of Commons in February 2007, the then Canadian PM Stephen Harper highlighted the connection of Bains’ father-in-law with the Air India bombing in which 329 people were killed including Canadian, British, and Indian citizens.

The then PM Harper had said that the opposition of the anti-terrorism legislation by Bains was a tactic to protect his father-in-law from appearing in before the RCMP as the Conservatives argued about using the law to use it for investigating the Air India 1985 bombing case. Earlier, the Vancouver Sun had reported that Bains’ father-in-law was on the list of potential witnesses in the bombing case.

Bains was also targeted by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for what he termed as their “well known for their leanings towards the Khalistani movement”. Apart from Canadian defense minister Harjit Singh Sajjan and Former Sikh MP Raj Grewal, the Punjab CM had also referred to Navdeep Bains as a Khalistani sympathizer in 2018.

Bains involved in illegal immigration from India

Apart from sponsoring the Khalistani terror network, Bains is involved in several other alleged corrupt deals. Navdeep Bains’s name emerged in the infamous Fort Erie gurdwara scam last year as well. The gurdwara has sponsored three religious preachers from India and got them special visas from the Ottawa administration.

Later, it was revealed that the gurdwara was not operational at all and was used as a cover by Bains and his associates to sneak in immigrants illegally from India to Canada. Since then, the Canadian authorities have not able to find the traces of three Indian priests sponsored by Navdeep Bains as they have now disappeared after landing in Canada.

According to locals, Bains had forged details of a gurdwara on papers to bring in immigrants illegally under the cover of religious activities, which in turn, make huge financial profits. The gurdwara is controlled by Bains through his father Balwinder Bains and is seemingly a money-making machine for the family. An investigative report had suggested that Fort Erie gurdwara was nothing but a long-abandoned motel surrounded by scrubland overgrown with weeds.

The Liberal leader has also been using other institutional structures of the Sikh community to his advantage. Father of Bains, who enjoys a stronghold over the administration of gurdwaras, had appointed men close to him as the directors of Fort Erie gurdwara, a prominent Mississauga gurdwara that is in the constituency represented by Bains. 

Most importantly, the Bains family has been allegedly making massive amounts of money through corruption in Sikh institutions in Canada for ages now. It is alleged that Bains is making a lot of money by not sparing even the Gurdwaras. Locals highlight that Bains and his father run an immigration nexus consisting of IELTS coaching centres in India and colleges and gurdwaras in Canada.

The father-son duo used to facilitate illegal immigration by offering seats to students in these institutions, most of which only exist on paper.

Telecom lobbying and favoured Chinese companies in Canada

Bains is also accused by Canadian civil society groups of favouring certain telecom groups while serving as a minister. He is facing allegations of favouring the telecom companies to hike internet prices. Bains is also accused of siding with the big telecom companies on their appeal to the lowered wholesale rates. 

During his tenure as a minister in Trudeau’s government, Navdeep Bains had given the green signal to multiple Chinese companies with a dark track record and connections to the CCP, without proper national security review. Bains is also believed to be providing back support before allowing Chinese telecom giant Hytera to enter Canada without a proper national security review as well. 

Furthermore, the Canadian leader has also been allegedly involved in corruption in the procurement of public goods. Bains is accused in a public procurement irregularity worth $200 million. Bains is facing charges of providing the tender to a company that did not have a manufacturing facility at all.

Shockingly, the pro-Khalistani Canada leader Navdeep Bains had also expressed his solidarity with the protestors in India, who have now camped on the streets of Delhi to oppose farm reforms initiated by the Modi government. It is a known fact today that the so-called ‘farmer’ protestors have been hijacked by the Khalistani elements, who are trying to incite the protestors to fight against the Indian government.

‘Dawai bhi, Kadaai bhi’ is the new mantra, says PM Modi while flagging off world’s largest vaccination program against Covid-19

OpIndia Staff
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‘Dawai bhi, Kadaai bhi’ is the new mantra, says PM Modi while flagging off world’s largest vaccination program against Covid-19

India is all set to fight the Wuhan coronavirus pathogen which has left 1,52,000 people in India and more than 2 million people worldwide dead. An emotional PM Modi Saturday flagged-off the first phase of the pan-India rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, the world’s largest inoculation exercise against the novel coronavirus on January 16 at 10.30 a.m.

In the first phase of the vaccination drive, around 3 crore frontline workers including doctors, healthcare workers, Safai Karamcharis etc will be given the vaccine. After that, people above 50 years of age, and people below 50 with co-morbidities, estimated around 27 crore, will be selected for vaccination. Therefore, around 30 crore people will be vaccinated in this round.

On this historic day, PM Modi, while virtually launching the vaccination drive said that for so many months everyone has been asking when the vaccine will come and now it is here. Minutes from now, the world’s largest vaccination drive will begin. Congratulating everyone, especially the scientists who are involved in the process, the Prime Minister said: “They have worked relentlessly. The process of developing a vaccine takes years, but in such a short time we have been given two Made-in-India vaccines.”

The world has immense faith in India’s scientists and capacity of vaccine production. We have got two vaccines in such a short time, this was proof of India’s scientific ability and talent, he said.

“India’s vaccination programme is based on humane protocol since the most vulnerable are getting the vaccination first. Our doctors, nurses, paramedic and cleaning staff have the first claim to this vaccine”, said PM Modi, adding that in the next phase, people involved in essential services like police, fire personnel etc., will be vaccinated and the Govt would bear the complete cost.

“Our corona warriors remained away from homes for days, in the call of duty. By reserving the first vaccines for these people, the society is expressing its gratefulness”.

He stressed upon the importance of taking both doses of the vaccine. “I would like to remind you again that it is very important to have two doses of corona vaccine. Between the first and second doses, a gap of about one month will be kept. Only 2 weeks after the second dose, your body will develop the necessary strength against the virus,” reiterated the PM.

The Prime Minister proudly said that a vaccination campaign as large as this one has never before been run in history. There are more than 100 countries in the world whose population is less than 30 million. And India is vaccinating 30 million people in its first phase of vaccination.

He urged people not to fall prey to rumours and myths regarding the vaccines. “The DGCI gave approval after they were satisfied with the data of the two vaccines. India goes through strict scientific processes. So stay away from rumours. Our vaccine developers have global credibility. Life-saving vaccines given to 60% of children globally are made in India,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the vaccines approved by the government were much cheaper than alternatives being used in the west, referring to the shots developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. He said those vaccines would cost around Rs 5,000 to vaccinate a person and would need to be stored at temperatures around -70 degree Celsius, making the logistics tougher.

India’s vaccine is built on technology that is tried and tested in India. These vaccines adapt to Indian conditions and conditions from storage to transportation. This vaccine will give India a decisive victory in the fight against Corona, furthered the PM.

Showing immense confidence in the nation PM Modi said that mo matter how big the crisis is, the people of the country never lost confidence. When the Wuhan Coronavirus reached India, there was only one lab of Corona testing in the country, we believed in our strength and today we have more than 2,300 networks, said the proud Prime Minister which virtually addressing the nation on this historic day.

On January 30, the first case of corona was found in India, but less than two weeks before that India had formed a high level committee. India kept vigil 24X7 hours, watching every event, and taking the right decisions at the right time. January 17, 2020 was the date when India released its first advisory. India was among the first countries in the world to start screening passengers at its airports. The Janata curfew was also a test of the restraint and discipline of our society against the Corona outbreak, in which every countryman succeeded. The Janata curfew prepared the country psychologically for lockdown.

At a time when some countries had mercilessly left their citizens in midst of rising cases of COVID-19 in China, India brought back every Indian trapped in China. And not only people of India, we also brought back citizens of many other countries stuck there. Today the whole world has not ony accepted but also lauded the way India has dealt with this epidemic. India also put forward the example of how central and state governments, local bodies, every government institution, social institutions can work in unison.

India has shown how everyone from DRDO, ISRO and the military to farmers and laborers can work together with firm resolution.

This vaccination campaign will go on for a long time and we have got a chance to contribute in saving the lives of the people, worldwide.

PM Modi warned that people should not become complacent during and after the vaccination. He reiterated the mantra- “Do Gaj Doori, Mask hai Jaruri’, stressing it is very important to wear masks and maintain the distance of two-yards that promotes social distancing, which is a powerful tool in the fight against COVID-19. Along with this, PM Modi, today requested the citizens to take another pledge- ‘Dawai bhi, Kadaai bhi’ and wished best of health to all the citizens in the televised address before the vaccine rollout.

Billed as the world’s largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase. A total of 3006 session sites across all states and union territories have been virtually connected during the launch today.

The drive will be held daily from 9 am to 5 pm, except on the days earmarked for routine immunisation programmes.

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