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After ball tampering, Steve Smith shadow-bats at the crease to remove Rishabh Pant’s guard marks. Watch

OpIndia Staff
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After ball tampering, Steve Smith shadow-bats at the crease to remove Rishabh Pant’s guard marks. Watch

Australian cricketer Steve Smith has been accused of shadow-batting at the crease and scuffle out the guard marks made by Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant, forcing him to retake the same.

The snippet of the video was shared on Twitter by cricket fan @cricket_badger. The incident happened after the drinks break when the stump camera caught Smith doing the unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Pant had to mark his guard all over again.

Cricket fans were upset over Steve Smith’s action. They slammed the Australian cricketer who was earlier found tampering ball and subsequently banned from all forms of domestic and international cricket for a year in 2018.

People were upset at the lack of sportsman spirit showed by Smith.

The incident comes close on heels of the racist abuse hurled towards Indian players Mohammad Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah by the drunk Australian fans in the stadium.

India is chasing a target of 407 against Australia on day 5 of the third test match in the series.

TRP case exclusive: Even before Republic TV was born, BARC’s internal emails point towards an IPL link

OpIndia Staff
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TRP case exclusive: Even before Republic TV was born, BARC’s internal emails point towards an IPL link

It was only recently that the Mumbai Police held a second press conference and alleged that they had ample evidence against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami in the fake TRP case. In the statement, which was widely covered by the media, they also alluded to a ‘forensic report’ on the basis of which, they claimed to have ‘found evidence’.

According to reports, the Mumbai Police had said that a recent forensic audit conducted by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has brought out a lot of incriminating material, and revealed how data was manipulated to bring Republic TV at the number one position among English news channels. The Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police reportedly said that the Forensic auditors appointed by BARC analysed the data of 44 weeks in their audit and that it appears from the audit that the ratings were pre-decided and accordingly manipulated.

After the revelation by Mumbai Police, OpIndia received parts of the Forensic Report that was conducted by BARC and revelations have been made in the said report, that potentially implicates several other channels. The Digital Forensic analysis was conducted in 2020 itself.

Cover page of the forensic report

In the report, a clinching piece of the puzzle seems to have come to light. Channel Sony Six, it appears, was rampantly trying to ensure that their name features in the list of top channels. Incidentally, the report includes an email exchange as evidence between the top management of BARC and the BARC researcher, where the latter was refusing to include the name of Sony Six and the top management was insistent.

One of the first emails that are included in this exchange, is by a senior official of BARC who writes to the researcher and insists that Sony Six needs to be included in the Alpha club report. The ‘Alpha Club Report’ was launched as an offering to its subscribers by BARC in 2015. It was meant to “give BARC subscribers gain further insights into “What India Watches””.

Email exchange within BARC

What was interesting was the response to this email. The BARC researcher categorically says that he cannot compromise the integrity of the research and thus, Sony Six cannot be included in the Alpha Report.

Email exchange within BARC

Essentially, the BARC researcher clearly pointed out including Sony Six in the Alpha Report would compromise the ‘Research Sanctity’ and he would not be comfortable doing that just because it was a “critical channel”. He further says that each channel is “equally critical” and he will not include Sony Six.

In a subsequent email, the head of validation and analytics also says that the research team has “alerted all concerned of this deviation”.

The subsequent response from the officials of BARC was a surprise.

The email read that Sony Six has to be included since it is telecasting the IPL (Indian Premier League).

Email exchange within BARC

This email that said that Sony Six had to be included in this report since it was telecasting the IPS was sent on the 26th of May 2016.

It is pertinent to note that the IPL season in 2016 began on 9 April 2016, and concluded on 29 May 2016. According to the BARC press release in 2015, the Alpha Report service would be provided exclusively to BARC India’s subscribers, one working day after 4th week’s data is released. Therefore, it is important to understand the inclusion of Sony Six would mean that to the subscribers, it would mean that IPL was being widely watched when it probably was not (we are presuming this since the researcher specifically said that including the channel would mean that the research integrity would be compromised).

The readers need to understand that inclusion in a BARC report as one of the top watched channel is not just a matter of prestige per se, but for the channels, it also translates to better revenue in terms of advertising slots and the money that slot would fetch.

TRP case: Does the problem lie with BARC itself?

According to the Sony website, Mr NP Singh is the CEO and MD of Sony Pictures. He has been involved with the company since 1999 and became the CEO of Sony in 2014. Therefore, in 2016, when these emails were exchanged within BARC, Mr Singh was the CEO of Sony.

Interestingly, Mr NP Singh is also on the board of directors of BARC, as per their own website. Further, NP Singh is not only a Director in BARC, but is also a Director in IBF (Indian Broadcasting Federation) that has 60% stake in BARC itself.

It is thus interesting to note that while the emails were being exchanged to ensure that Sony Six gets included in the Alpha report, Mr NP Singh was not only the CEO and MD of Multiscreen Media (Sony) but was also on the Board of Directors of BARC as well as IBF that holds a 60% stake in BARC.

This information could point towards the conflict of interest and also raise questions about Sony Six being given undue favours. Therefore, in the TRP scandal, Sony Six seems to be smack in the middle of it.

The question that we need to ask here is that whether IPL needs ‘fake data’ and that internally, BARC was helping it achieve that, what really is the reality of what channels are being watched the most and which channels are. Moreover, the spotlight being shone on Republic TV does make it appear as though the issue lies with the channels and not BARC itself, however, these email exchanges clearly point towards how BARC is internally a system that does not seem to work to present an accurate picture of TRP in the first place and is deeply open to data being rigged and results being flawed.

Interestingly, while Republic TV has been in the fray and is being widely investigated for the fake TRP scam, no official from Sony Six has been summoned for questioning yet by any of the three agencies that are now involved in the investigation into the case. It is pertinent to note that while the original Hansa Research Report and the subsequent FIR based on the report named India Today, the investigation then focussed on Republic TV, whose name was interestingly not mentioned by Hansa or BARC in the TRP scam.

With these revelations, it is clear that the fake TRP scam seems to be more of a case of BARC shenanigans than those of Republic TV and Sony Six, that broadcasts IPL is smack in the middle of it since 2016, pertinently, when Republic TV had not even launched. While these email exchanges of including Sony Six in the Alpha report took place in 2016, Republic TV was only launched in 2017.

The TRP scam seems to be far deeper than anyone had fathomed. While news channels are being spoken about widely by investigative agencies, genres that get extremely high revenue for their advertising slots are often those in the entertainment and sports category and this email exchange could point towards how BARC might not be particularly forthcoming in the information they are providing to investigative agencies to ensure that their internal management stays away from the investigation. It is evident that for the truth to emerge, officials of all channels involved need to be questioned, especially, those from BARC.

Note: OpIndia tried to reach out to Mr NP Singh for his comments on the development. This story will be updated with his response when we receive one.

Social Media: Big Tech censorship and the three things that can happen from here

Abhishek Banerjee
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Social Media: Big Tech censorship and the three things that can happen from here

A lot has happened on social media in the last few days, but two incidents are particularly significant. First, Facebook and Twitter decided to remove the President of the United States from their platforms. Second, Twitter decided to remove a post from Iran’s supreme leader for pushing a conspiracy theory about Covid vaccines. Two people who sat at two different extremes. One was the elected leader of the free world. Another was the supreme leader of one of the most autocratic regimes in the world. Both are taking orders from Big Tech.

We finally live in a truly unipolar world. Who won the race for the future? Neither democracy nor dictatorship. The Caesar is Big Tech.

So where do we go now? For this, we must first understand what is happening.

Big Tech is using wokeness to buy out the left

The general right-wing discourse around the world points fingers at Big Tech and accuses them of being in bed with the left. Nothing could be farther from the truth. No sector today is as far from accommodating traditional left-wing concerns as Big Tech. They face minimal regulation, disrupt local economies and global supply chains at will, and operate with a general wild west mentality. First, the gig economy deunionized the entire low skill workforce. It ended the system of employee benefits, health insurance, retirement plans and compensation for workplace-related injuries. In less than a decade, they have wiped out one hundred years of change in working conditions that the left argued for.

In New York, for instance, a taxi license (known as a medallion) used to go for over a million dollars. Thousands of low skill workers, most of them immigrants and people of color, worked their entire lives to get one. It was supposed to be their nest egg; they borrowed large sums of money against it. Then the ride-sharing companies came in, gobbled up their business and turned these people out on the street.

Restaurants used to be another arena full of small businesses. The food delivery apps came in and took over. They now squeeze margins of restaurant owners and engage in rent-seeking behaviour. If you don’t give them what they want, they can kick you off their platform and then you would have no business whatsoever. Food delivery apps are now getting ready to set up “dark kitchens.” These have no brick and mortar interfaces, meaning they can do away with most rental and labor costs associated with running a restaurant. A local restaurant simply cannot compete with their prices. For local restaurants, for taxi drivers, it is already over.

The same with everyone who works in brick and mortar retail. For everyone in the hotel business too, because Big Tech is helping everyone in a city turn their private home into a hotel. Tourists can pay more on a daily basis, so landlords are turning away city inhabitants who need a place to stay long term. Big Tech comes into a neighborhood, with its highly paid workers in tow. As a result, rents rise across the board and low-income residents can no longer afford to stay. They mop the floors and tend the gardens of Big Tech campus by day and sleep on the sidewalk by night.

So why is the left not speaking out against this? Because Big Tech has learned from the mistakes of robber barons of the past. They have resolved not to fight the left, but to buy it out. For this, they have this thing called wokeness. If you give the left all the things they want in the so-called culture wars, they won’t challenge you on issues that matter. Big Tech wants to grab everyone’s data, which is the big new gold rush. So you get all the media, intelligentsia and academia on your side by deplatforming a president they hate. He had only ten days left in his term, by the way.

You don’t want the elites to start talking about how many choices we have in online retail. So you give them a hundred different pronouns to choose from. Right now, Big Tech is involved big time in the trendy new conversation around transgender bathroom choice. Very well. While they were at it, desperate people returned to open defecation on the streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Wokeness is cheap. Big Tech bought out the entire left for almost nothing at all.

Why Big Tech is different from usual private enterprise

Follow the money and I will show you how. Suppose you set up a business making shirts and selling them. It goes well and you turn a small profit of say twenty thousand dollars. How much is your business worth? Generally speaking, about 1-3 times the yearly profit. If you lose money, your business is worth nothing at all.

These rules do not apply to Big Tech. They lose money in spades, often billions of dollars a year. To value a tech company, they do not even look at profits, if there are any at all. They look at total revenue before expenses. And it is not unusual to value a tech company at 10-15 times total revenue. If you valued your shirt business like a tech company and your total revenue was $120,000 against expenses of $100,000, your business that made just $20,000 in profit could easily be worth $1.2 million!

Why so absurd? Well, Big Tech is not stupid. They understand that their business is different from usual free enterprise. The difference lies in the ability to scale. To double the size of your shirt business, it would take huge amounts of time and capital investment. You can’t just double the size of your factory like that. But a tech company? If it does well, it could go from 10 users to 10 million users in a few months. Hence, the valuation.

This is what makes Big Tech censorship so frightening. The ability to scale. Traditional censorship, even under an oppressive regime such as Iran, suffers from an inability to scale. How many dissenters could Iran possibly throw into jail? But with a few tweaks to its algorithm, Big Tech could profile millions of people who have a particular political ideology. It could shut down their accounts instantly. It could share this data with other companies, with banks, phone operators and employers. You would lose your job, your bank account, even your cellphone connection. Literally hundreds of millions of dissenters could be silenced in a single day. And nobody would know of their fate because the news could be filtered out too. This kind of suppression has never been possible in history.

That’s why you can no longer apply the usual way of thinking about regulation and private enterprise to Big Tech. The scale of Big Tech beats anything that could have been imagined when we laid down those principles. It is similar to the second amendment debate they have in the US. The US Constitution gives people the right to bear arms. But which arms? Would it allow a private citizen to own a nuclear bomb? Those who framed the US Constitution in the 1700s could never have visualized such weapons. They were probably just thinking about guns and rather primitive ones at that. That’s why you can’t apply the second amendment to today’s inter-continental ballistic missiles.

Three scenarios for the future

What happens next? At least three things are possible.

One, we could really be headed for a dictatorship of Big Tech. They would tell you what to think and when. All other thought would be rendered impossible, even subconsciously. In Nineteen Eighty Four, Orwell visualized Big Brother’s agents watching everyone’s faces through the telescreen. Anyone who was guilty of face crime, a flicker of doubt against Big Brother, a lack of enthusiasm towards him, would be vaporized. Therein you see the essential gap in Orwell’s dystopian vision. Big Brother could never have found enough agents to watch everyone and then keep all those agents vigilant and loyal to him.

That gap can now be filled. Algorithms can analyze the expressions of seven billion people at the same time. And algorithms never get sleepy or lazy or disloyal.

The right wing worldwide fears that Big Tech would install a politician from the opposing camp as President or Prime Minister. In truth, that is the least of our problems. The worry is not that someone from a left wing party will become Prime Minister. The real worry is that it would not matter at all who is Prime Minister. Because Big Tech would run everything on a global scale.

Second, Big Tech could sell us all out to China. Big Tech has a big problem too. To start building their power, they need a democratic society to begin with. China would never allow Big Tech to build itself up to a position from where they could challenge government authority. They would send the tech giants into “enforced supervision” long before that.

But Big Tech also needs China and its huge market. They could solve the problem by making a deal with China. Big Tech (negotiating on behalf of the formerly free world) could form a cartel with the Chinese government. Who is the Indian government to ban Chinese apps? Big Tech would ban the Indian government and make Chinese apps compulsory.

Third, social media could split along ideological lines, like mainstream media. Once upon a time, everyone, whether left or right, lived in the same media space and watched the same news. In the US, Walter Cronkite read out the nightly news on CBS. That was the 60s. In India, even after the monopoly of Doordarshan ended, we still got the same news for a few years. A certain worldview clearly dominated, but because of the universal nature of the news, they had to at least maintain a semblance of neutrality. But then, the left began to pull harder and harder at the drawstrings. The media space turned into an ideological cage.

And then it split wide open. In the US, Fox News burst on the scene, wearing its right wing political affiliation on its sleeve. In post-2014 India, we have seen a similar explosion on cable news. Now, the left gets left wing content on TV and the right gets right wing content on TV. Everyone is openly partisan, whether on this side or the other.

What happened to mainstream media decades ago could be happening to social media now. Social media used to be a shared space for people of both ideologies. But as with mainstream media, the left is now pulling the noose too hard. Will openly right wing social media spring up so that the two sides no longer have to talk to each other? We will see.

I must point out here that the “right” suffers from a structural disadvantage in this sphere. The internet is global, while the “right” in each country is local. While we can imagine an international left wing social media network, the right wing in each country might need its own network. Will that happen? Or will the “right” recognize the problem and start building some kind of international solidarity of their own? Such international right wing solidarity has seen some takers in Europe, probably because the individual countries in Europe are ultimately very similar. Could it work with India and the United States? Only time can tell.

In conclusion, the right should not make the same mistake with Big Tech that the left made with the knowledge economy. The way the left frames issues has remained frozen in the times of the industrial revolution. Asking for things like fixed workdays and fixed work hours in return for fixed compensation makes sense if your work is shoveling coal into a locomotive engine. When the economy became full of knowledge workers, the demands of the left stopped making sense. How would you tell a computer programmer to have ideas only between 9 AM and 5 PM five days a week, with a 1 hour break for lunch? The left began to lose relevance on economic issues, because all their ideas were so outdated.

At the moment, the same could be happening to the right. The right is still stuck in time, framing issues in terms of rights of free enterprise. Those issues don’t make sense in a world dominated by Big Tech. It is time for the right to rethink everything it stands for.

West Bengal: Nandigram office of Suvendu Adhikari vandalised, BJP blames TMC workers

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Nandigram office of Suvendu Adhikari vandalised, BJP blames TMC workers

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers vandalised BJP Leader Suvendu Adhikari’s Nandigram office. The incident took place on Saturday night. BJP has demanded that the persons behind the incidents should be arrested. Suvendu Adhikari had joined BJP in December 2020 after leaving Trinamool Congress.

Kanisha Panda, BJP said that TMC is using muscle power. He said, “We protest against an incident caused by TMC Harmad cadres at Nandigram. We want to say them what they are doing these things by using muscle power. Today’s administration is with you that’s why you are doing so.” He further added that the party workers have told the administration will be held responsible for the future incidents if they do not take action and arrest the accused. “I am giving the challenge that our fight against this fight will be continued,” he added.

TMC blamed old BJP workers for the incident

Trinamool Congress has counter-blamed BJP for the incident. The ruling party said that ‘old’ BJP workers have allegedly vandalised the Nandigram office. SK Sufian, Vice President, TMC East Midnapore district said, “They [BJP] always lie, and they make a habit of lying, they tore TMC flag and Mamata Banerjee’s picture was burnt. Suvendu Adhikari’s Sahayak Kendra vandalised by old BJP workers who were present in the meeting and made allegations against TMC.” He further added that BJP should control their own workers rather than blaming TMC.

The Machh Massacre: Massive protests end in Balochistan over murder of Hazara coal miners by terrorists, Imran Khan makes insensitive remark

OpIndia Staff
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The Machh Massacre: Massive protests end in Balochistan over murder of Hazara coal miners by terrorists, Imran Khan makes insensitive remark

Protests erupted in Pakistan after the abduction and murder of 10 coal miners from the Hazara community in Quetta, Balochistan by Islamic State terrorists. The families of the victims refused to bury the dead until Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Kha himself paid a visit to mourn the deaths and much of their demands were accepted by the government. The massacre of Hazaras occurred at Machh in Balochistan’s Bolan district.

According to reports, some of the deceased Hazaras were shot dead while others were beheaded. Hundreds and thousands attended the funeral on Friday after negotiations between the government and protesters who had staged a sit-in. Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and other leaders from the Hazara community were present at the cemetery. The attack occurred on Sunday, 3rd January.

The funeral was attended by National Assembly Qasim Suri Deputy Speaker and Special Assistant to the PM Zulfi Bukhari, Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau, provincial minister Mir Arif Jan Mohammad and other government officials.

Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi, speaking to the protesters, said that such “incidents of violence must now come to an end.” “No such written accord has ever been struck before with any other government in power,” he said citing the signing of the agreement with the Shuhda Action Committee.

Zaidi also claimed that “foreign elements wish to create sectarian division in Pakistan” and announced scholarships for the children of deceased. The Chief Minister of Balochistan said that recent events ought to serve as “learning lesson for the rulers of the country,” adding that the demands “should have been met without this sit-in.”

The armed terrorists had entered the residential compound of the Machh coalfield and abducted the sleeping miners from there before murdering them in cold blood. Protests broke out in Karachi and other cities as well demanding protection for the Shia minority community. “This is systematic ethnic cleansing of Hazaras in Balochistan and our security forces are behaving like lame ducks, doing nothing,” an activist said.

Daud Agha, a Shia leader, told reporters, “We want a decisive action and the arrest of all those who killed our people. We are sitting with the bodies of our dear ones here and we will bury them only when Imran Khan comes.” Several flights had to be cancelled in light of the protests.

Imran Khan makes an insensitive comment

Imran Khan had courted a controversy by calling the protesters ‘blackmailers’. “We have accepted all of their demands. [But] one of their demands is that the dead will be buried when the premier visits. I have sent them a message that when all of your demands have been accepted […] you don’t blackmail the prime minister of any country like this,” he had said.

The comment attracted severe criticism from his critics. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) vice president Sherry Rehman said, “He has proved that he is not only incompetent but also ruthless… This fascist prime minister has no empathy for the people… The only brother of six sisters is dead; they have no man left in their family… Does the prime minister still think that their demand is unjust?”

“It saddens me greatly that we have a prime minister like this who is not willing to listen to the voice of a mother, a sister or an aged father,” the mother of an 18-year old victim had said. “We will continue to sit here until he comes. That insensitive man has no feelings for us, but we have no problem with sitting with our loved ones in the cold. We have the determination to sit here for weeks.” Ultimately, he was forced to pay a visit and the dead were buried afterwards.

Who are the Hazaras?

The Hazaras are a Shia ethnic minority community in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Pakistan, they have to suffer persecution because of their ethnicity as well as their Shia faith. Over the years, Hazaras have suffered greatly due to their identity in Pakistan. Data suggests that so far, at least 3000 Hazaras have lost their lives to bombings, car bombings and suicide attacks so far.

There are 4-5 million Hazaras in Afghanistan and nearly a million in Pakistan, many of whom are refugees from the neighbouring country. Hazaras are believed to be descendants of Genghis Khans and other Mongol soldiers who marched through the region in the 13th century.

Hazaras have been a historically persecuted community. As recent as the 19th century, they were sold as slaves. “Hazaras have been systematically discriminated against by Pashtuns and others during the Afghan pre-war periods,” Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said.

“Even open-minded non-Hazaras with a high degree of education have admitted to me that they feel a certain discomfort when they encounter Hazaras in certain positions of authority in Afghanistan,” said another expert. “They feel they should still be servants and labourers.”

In Afghanistan as well, they are persecuted by the Taliban and Islamic terrorists.

NIA charge-sheet says Akhil Gogoi was planning to stoke violence by inciting Assamese people against Bengali population in Assam: Report

OpIndia Staff
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NIA charge-sheet says Akhil Gogoi was planning to stoke violence by inciting Assamese people against Bengali population in Assam: Report

In the charge-sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against far-left Assam based ‘activist’ Akhil Gogoi, the investigation agency has alleged that Gogoi intended to instigate Assamese people against the Bengali population residing in the state during the anti-CAA protests in Assam.

According to a report by Our Northeast which has accessed the NIA charge sheet, it points out how Gogoi has plotted a conspiracy to stoke violence between two sections of society in Assam. The charge-sheet mentions a witness who confessed that Akhil Gogoi, on December 9, 2019, had called him to plan about the protests and asked the witness to do something fiery.

Following this conversation between the Akhil Gogoi and the witness, the duo left to Chabua on the same day. The NIA said that the Akhil Gogoi and the witness addressed a massive crowd of over 6,000 people. Gogoi, during his speech, provoked the crowd that later turned violent and started pelting stones at the police force. During the stone-pelting, a police officer Chabua, who was on duty, got severely injured and permanently lost his teeth.

Deep-rooted conspiracy to create enmity between communities, says charge-sheet

The charge-sheet revealed a deep-rooted conspiracy to create enmity between the Assamese and Bengali people in the state. It says that protestors led by Akhil Gogoi were planning to burn down the houses in Amravati area, which is a Bengali inhabited locality in Chabua. However, this sinister plan was thwarted by the administration.

Copy of the chargesheet accessed by Our Northeast

The charge-sheet also states that even when the situation turned violent, Akhil Gogoi did not try to stop the crowd but instigated them. The charge-sheet also says that a policeman was attacked by a violent mob, who sustained severe injuries, however, the crowd went on shouting slogans like- Jai Aai Axom.

According to the charge sheet, the magnitude of violence was so intense that Chabua Railway Station was burnt by the mob led by Akhil Gogoi causing heavy damages to the public property.

Guwahati HC denies bail, says Akhil Gogoi was carried out violence similar to terror activities

Just two days back, the Gauhati High Court turned down the bail plea of far-left protestor Akhil Gogoi, who has been lodged in jail since December 2019 on various charges, including sedition and inciting violence during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act movement.

The High Court upheld the decision by a special NIA court that had rejected Gogoi’s bail plea in one of the 13 cases registered against him. Gogoi had received bail in all the 13 cases, except this one.

The High Court, in its order, made scathing observations while dismissing Gogoi’s bail plea. It said that anti-CAA agitation was not a Satyagraha as portrayed by the partakers but fell into terror activities defined under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The court said that the use of violence in the name of protest can’t be termed as satyagraha.

The division bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Ajit Bathakur said in its order, “by use of violence, the appellant-led mob had brushed aside the noble concept of non-violent protest, which is popularly known as satyagraha and that such conduct of paralyzing the government machinery, causing economic blockade, causing enmity between groups, disruption of public peace and widespread disharmony and dissatisfaction towards the government, are acts which are prejudicial/for national integration and such acts squarely fall within the definition of “terrorist act” as defined in section 15 of the UA(P) Act.”

Akhil Gogoi arrested in December 2019 for inciting violence and protests against CAA

The NIA had registered a case against Akhil Gogoi, the leader of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), for his role in in the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) protests in the state that claimed at last six lives, three in police firing in December 2019.

Gogoi has been charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, sedition, criminal conspiracy, support to terrorist organisations, among others. Gogoi was subsequently handed over to the NIA and a court sent him to 10 days custody of the agency on December 17.

Poet Munawwar Rana incites mob to take down the Parliament, set crop godowns on fire

OpIndia Staff
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Poet Munawwar Rana incites mob to take down the Parliament, set crop godowns on fire

Poet Munawwar Rana on Sunday took to social media to poetically incite a mob to violence. In a now deleted tweet, Rana gave a call to demolish the Parliament building and set the godowns for grains storage on fire.

Munawwar Rana’s now deleted tweet (image courtesy: @befittingfacts on Twitter)

“At least some people of this country will get food, bring down the Parliament and turn it into a farm. Now only this way the fate of farmers will change, burn all the godowns built by the rich people. I tell the truth in court of lies, behead me or set me on fire,” he said. Rana seems to have a strange fixation for beheading as he was earlier found supporting the beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty who was killed by a terrorist for showing Charlie Hebdo caricature of Prophet Muhammad.

One may argue that as a poet Rana would talk in metaphors and just as he may not really mean that he should be set on fire, the Parliament should not be razed down. However, creative liberty of using metaphors has been tossed out of the window earlier. Another poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar in 2013 had demanded a lady police officer be sacked for writing a poem on Azad Maidan riots.

Azad Maidan riots

On 11 August 2012, the Muslim organisations led by Raza academy had staged a morcha at Azad Maidan ground to protest against the alleged atrocities on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar. The protest was staged by Muslims organisations in Azad Maidan to condemn the Rakhine riots and Assam riots, which later turned into a riot.

To condemn the Assam and Rakhine riots, Raza Academy had organized a protest rally. However, the protest turned violent after one of the notorious group attacked the policemen leading to police firing in which two persons were killed and 63 persons including 58 policemen were injured.

Sujata Patil, a police officer, who was present at the riots, wrote a poem on what she had witnessed.

Article on Sujata Patil’s poem

Akhtar, however, was extremely upset and called her poem ‘communal’.

Sujata Patil did manage to save her job but only after tendering a grovelling apology.

And since what is good for the goose should be good for the gander, Rana should also be made accountable for his so-called creative freedom.

Haryana: Anti-farm law ‘protestors’ resort to vandalism, disrupt the meeting of CM Manohar Lal Khattar

OpIndia Staff
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Haryana: Anti-farm law ‘protestors’ resort to vandalism, disrupt the meeting of CM Manohar Lal Khattar

On Sunday, anti-farm law protestors ambushed the Kisan Mahapanchayat programme in Karnal, where Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar was supposed to address a large gathering of 2000 farmers.

As per reports, a total of 1500 police and security personnel were deployed for the event and 7 checkpoints were put in place to stop the incoming protestors. The police had blocked all roads leading to the Kaimla village using trucks laden with construction material but the plan failed. The protestors first gathered near Bastara toll plaza in Karnal on the Delhi-Chandigarh Highway before making their way to the village.

Protestors destroy helipad meant for CM’s landing

It is important to mention that the police were outnumbered by the anti-farm law protestors. They were successful in breaching 6 checkpoints and reaching the helipad in Kamila village where the CM was supposed to land. The mob was seen digging up the interlocking tiles and vandalising the helipad, thereby forcing authorities to find an alternate site for the CM’s landing.

Protestors breach security to vandalise the venue

Meanwhile, the police had to fire tear gas shells, water cannons and resort to lathi-charge to disrupt the unruly mob. However, the protestors soon broke through the police ranks to reach the venue where the Kisan Mahapanchayat programme was scheduled to be held. In a bid to oppose the newly enacted farm laws, they vandalised the venue, tore down banners and flung the chairs. The anti-farm law protestors tore down the tents, forcing Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar to cancel the event.

Besides damaging the venue, they also got into a scuffle with the organisers of the event. The farmers, who were waiting in anticipation of the Chief Minister, tried to stop the protestors but failed. The Kisan Mahapanchayat programme was meant to generate support for the farm laws and mitigate the genuine fears amongst a section of farmers. However, the protestors have accused the BJP leadership in the State of dividing the farmers by organising such meetings.

‘Farmers’ who had sent legal notices to Kangana Ranaut, BJP MPs, turn out to be AAP leaders

OpIndia Staff
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‘Farmers’ who had sent legal notices to Kangana Ranaut, BJP MPs, turn out to be AAP leaders

Some of the ‘farmers’ who had sent legal notices for defamation to actress Kangana Ranaut, Union Minister Raosaheb Danve and BJP MPs Ravi Kishan, Manoj Tiwari and Ramesh Bidhuri have turned out to be AAP workers.

According to the reports, five “aggrieved farmers” had sent defamation notices to five individuals yesterday for allegedly defaming protestors agitating against the three farm laws in and around Delhi. It has been now revealed that some of those alleged farmers are nothing but AAP workers.

Earlier, AAP had announced they would despatch of legal notices on behalf of those five farmers against the five reputed individuals for calling out the protestors who have been camping at the Delhi border.

However, it has now been exposed that the disguised farmers are workers of Punjab unit of AAP. One such ‘farmer’ who sent notice is Narinder Singh Shergill, who is an AAP member and has contested Assembly elections from Mohali and the parliamentary polls from Ropar constituency. Another person who has sent the legal notice to Kangana Ranaut is Jeevan Jyot Kaur, who is also associated with the Mahila wing of AAP.

Similarly, the third ‘farmer’ claimed to have helped to send a legal notice is Gurinder Singh Birring, who has been associated with AAP and was part of its war room for 2017 Assembly polls. A fourth ‘farmer’, Sukhwinder Paul Sukhi, who has sent legal notice to BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, is also learnt to be associated with AAP in Mansa.

Reportedly, four out of five so-called farmers whom the AAP claims to have helped send legal notices for defamation, are actively associated with the party.

AAP leader defends the farmer-turned-AAP workers, says they are farmers too

After the embarrassment, AAP leader Raghav Chadha defended his party workers, who had sent notices disguised as farmers. Raghav Chadha claimed that one or two of them may be associated with the party and added that they are farmers too.

Deviating the issue, Raghav Chadha instead blamed the central government saying, “It is because of the sacrifices made by a farmer and his family that food reaches our homes, our plates, and we are able to eat to our heart’s content. If someone abuses an honest farmer, it is similar to abusing Mother India,” he added.

Chadha claimed that the BJP leaders have described farmers terrorists, anti-nationals, goondas, dalaals, agents of Pakistan and China. “Does our farmer look like a terrorist? I would like to tell the BJP that our farmers have had enough. They are done with being maligned and abused. They now want to knock at the doors of justice, and we truly believe that victory would be theirs,” he said.

“It is evident that the entire BJP is categorically and strategically working to destroy and discredit the farmers’ movement with their relentless abuse,” he added.

The AAP leader also claimed that the false and frivolous propaganda against the farmers was unbecoming on the part of those behind the propaganda. Chadha said that the AAP vows to stand with the farmers of this country in their fight and will provide them assistance till the BJP leaders are punished.

He also mentioned that actress Kangana Ranaut was served a notice for her derogatory remarks by Jeevan Jyot Kaur. Kangana through her tweet had allegedly called the aged mother of a farmer as a woman available for Rs 100.

Sita would have ended like Hathras victim if she was abducted by Ram’s followers instead of Ravana: TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee

OpIndia Staff
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Sita would have ended like Hathras victim if she was abducted by Ram’s followers instead of Ravana: TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee

The Trinamool Congress party (TMC) has often resorted to minority appeasement in a bid to maintain its stronghold over the Muslim vote bank. However, ahead of the upcoming West Bengal elections, the party has now upped his ante with anti-Hindu propaganda.

While addressing a rally, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee made derogatory remarks about Goddess Sita and Ram Bhakts. “Sita told Ram that I am thankful that Ravana had abducted me. If your followers chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and brandishing saffron headgear had kidnapped me, I would have ended up like the Hathras victim from Uttar Pradesh,” the TMC leader said while addressing a rally.

In his politically-motivated statement, Banerjee tried to glorify the demon king Ravana while simultaneously defaming the Ram Bhakts of committing a heinous crime against Goddess Sita. Lambasting him for his remarks, former Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy inquired, “Are you a Hindu? If yes, then, open your ears and listen to this speech of an Islamist disguised as a Hindu. If you don’t spew venom against Hinduism, then, you cannot become a true Islamist.”

BJP has strongly reacted to the comments of Kalyan Banerjee. party’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya asked, “Is trampling on Hindu sentiment Pishi’s idea of appeasement?”

Slamming Kalyan Banerjee, BJP’s poll in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya said that TMC is rattled due to the popularity of BJP. He said, “All these are rubbish and foolish remarks. I would not even react to it because this kind of rubbish is said by rubbish people. I would just want to advise that they should go to a psychiatrist.”

Kalyan Banerjee compares Nirmala Sitharaman to ‘Kaali Naagin’

The Trinamool Congress MP is not new to making contentious remarks. In a bid to mock Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the government’s economic policies, Trinamool Congress (TMC) politician Kalyan Banerjee made disparaging comments about her at a rally in Bankura in West Bengal in July last year.

He said, “Kaala naginir chubal khaya jamon manush mara jai, temni Nirmala Sitharaman er chubal khaya Bharatvarshar er manush ektu ektu morche (Just like a black venomous snake, Nirmala Sitharaman is killing people every day in India).” Kalyan Banerjee further added, “Don’t you have any shame for razing Indian economy to the ground? You must resign and go back to Andhra Pradesh. She is the most useless Finance Minister of the world.”

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