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Akshay Kumar announces the launch date of indigenously developed online multiplayer action game FAU-G

OpIndia Staff
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Akshay Kumar announces the launch date of indigenously developed online multiplayer action game FAU-G

On Sunday, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar announced the launch date of upcoming action game FAU-G (Fearless and United Guards). FAU-G is an online multiplayer action game developed by Bengaluru based nCore Games.

While taking to Twitter, he wrote, “Whether it’s a problem within the country or at the border…these Bharat Ke Veer always stand tall. They are our Fearless And United Guards, our FAU-G! Witness the anthem.” Akshay Kumar also released the anthem for the game and stated that the game will be launched on the Republic Day (January 26). The actor had also shared a link for enthusiastic gamers to pre-register for the game.

It is important to mention that FAU-G was initially scheduled to be launched by December 2020 but has now been postponed to January 26. Akshay Kumar had also shared the same teaser on his Instagram profile. Interestingly, the earlier teasers of the game only showcased close combat but now Indian soldiers could be seen with assault weapons in the new anthem.

In December last year, FAU-G made a record of 1 million + pre-registrations in just 24 hours. Following the ban on PUBG, Akshay Kumar, the ambassador of the game, had announced its launch, amidst demand for homegrown apps. However, contrary to PUBG’s royal battle mode, FAU-G will have episodes and missions. While speaking to Indian Express, nCore Games co-founder Vishal Gondal informed that the game had been in the pipeline and that one should not compare it with PUBG.

20% revenues from FAU-G to be donated to Bharat ke Veer Trust

In September last year, the actor announced that through Fearless And United-Guards (FAU-G), gamers would learn more about the sacrifices of Indian soldiers. 20 per cent of the net revenue would be donated to the Bharat Ke Veer Trust, established for the welfare of Indian soldiers.

FAU-G has been developed by nCore Games, a mobile games and interactive entertainment company based out of Bengaluru. The company states, “We primarily develop multi-player games with immersive storylines that have a strong connect with Indian ethos. We also bring to India and publish games from top global studios for the Indian market.”

How Arvind Kejriwal went from promising Rs 1 crore to COVID warriors who die in line of duty to rejecting claims of 12 cops

OpIndia Staff
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How Arvind Kejriwal went from promising Rs 1 crore to COVID warriors who die in line of duty to rejecting claims of 12 cops

The first case of Chinese coronavirus was reported in national capital on 2nd March 2020. Days later, nationwide lockdown was announced in a bid to curb the spread of pandemic. Amidst all this, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that Delhi government will give Rs 1 crore ex-gratia to families of those COVID warriors who lose their lives in line of duty.

Delhi Chief Minister had claimed that his government will pay Rs 1 crore to anyone who loses their life while serving any coronavirus patient. “Be it sanitation workers, doctors or nurses or any other staff, temporary or permanent, from private or government sector”, he had promised.

However, in December 2020, Delhi government rejected claims filed by 12 out of 15 families of police personnel who died of coronavirus while on duty. A report in Hindustan Times says that Delhi government rejected these claims while claiming that these officers were not on COVID duty when they were infected by the virus.

As per the report as many as 31 police officers in Delhi have lost their lives due to coronavirus. Of these, 15 were on coronavirus duty when they were on duty. Of these 15, 12 claims are rejected while 3 are pending with Delhi government.

As per Delhi Police, over and above the data sent by Delhi police, some promises were made by AAP leaders, government and chief ministers after reading media reports as well. “The people who died were on field duty and travelling across the city. Informing their families that the compensation has been rejected is difficult,” A Delhi Police officer was quoted by HT.

In May last year, Delhi Police constable Amit Kumar lost his life while he was infected with coronavirus while being on duty in NorthWest Delhi. His wife was pregnant with their second child. Kejriwal promised Rs 1 crore compensation to him.

She also lost her job as a teacher in North MCD school but lost her job. She got to know of her second pregnancy when she was admitted to quarantine centre after her husband succumbed to the Chinese virus. No compensation was given to his family.

The HT report further talks about how Delhi Police constable Yogendra Prasad Yadav lost his life while on COVID duty. He was posted at the Paschim Vihar police station in outer Delhi and succumbed to the virus on July 7, 2020. He was sent across to ensure that the residents of Delhi follow lockdown norms.

The rejection letter by Delhi government reads, “the deceased was performing his routine duty assigned to him and was not deployed for Covid-19 duty, which is a mandatory condition to become eligible for grant of ex gratia of Rs 1 crore.” Yadav’s father, questioning Delhi Government on definition of ‘COVID duty’ requested the Delhi Chief Minister to keep his promise.

Over 7,000 Delhi Police personnel have tested positive for coronavirus till now, of which over 500 are still fighting the disease.

‘Liberals’, opposition leaders indulge in fearmongering to discredit indigenously developed Coronavirus vaccine COVAXIN just a day after its approval

OpIndia Staff
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‘Liberals’, opposition leaders indulge in fearmongering to discredit indigenously developed Coronavirus vaccine COVAXIN just a day after its approval

Even as the country is gearing up for inoculation of indigenously produced coronavirus vaccine to citizens to limit the spread of the Chinese pandemic, the opposition parties and its media ecosystem have resorted to not only politicising the issue of vaccination drive but also trying to discredit the two vaccines – ‘Covidshield’ developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and made by Serum Institute of India, and ingeniously developed and produced Bharat Biotech’s ‘Covaxin’.

After the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines Bharat Biotech’s vaccine Covaxin and SII’s ‘Covishield’, propaganda has been initiated targeting the government over the efficacy of the vaccine and resorting to fearmongering ahead of the release of the cure for the pandemic.

The left-liberals, opposition party members, self-proclaimed science experts on Sunday targeted the Bharat Bharat-ICMR developed Covaxin hours after it was granted with emergency use authorization (EUA). According to these ‘experts’, the Covaxin has not been fully tested, short on trails and there was no efficacy data to prove that the vaccine is a successful one.

Sandhya Ramesh, ironically who claims to be a Science reporter for Shekhar Gupta’s The Print, took to social media to claim that Covaxin, approved by the CDSCO was not tested enough on people, insinuating that the vaccine was not that effective at all.

The usual suspects like the champion of neutral journalism – Rajdeep Sardesai too wore his hate of an ‘vaccine expert’ on Sunday to question the government for granting the emergency use to the Covaxin vaccine. He claimed that the phase three vaccines were still on and argued that there was no data on the trails resulting while creating panic in the society against the vaccine.

The Congress party was not far behind to discredit the vaccine. Shashi Tharoor, arguably one of the few Congress leaders who looks ‘educated’, too resorted to fear-mongering by claiming that the Covaxin is not yet had phase three trials. However, it is a blatant lie. Bharat Biotech and ICMR have successfully carried out the third phase trials of the vaccine.

Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the pandemic, the Thiruvananthapuram MP is not only discrediting the scientists and other experts who have put all their efforts to develop the vaccine but also pushing the innocent people away from the cure.

In another bizarre claim, senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi said that just like BJP and PM Modi were using agencies including CBI, Income Tax Department and ED against opposition leaders, they might use the vaccine to target the opposition leaders.

He said that the vaccine will be misused by the BJP against political adversaries and justified the calls for the boycott of vaccination drive. He supported Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s claim that these are BJP’s vaccines.

Saket Gokhale, the fanboy of Rahul Gandhi, who seems to have no idea about anything related to science, found illogical ways to discredit the ingeniously produced vaccine. Attributing false statements to DCGI VG Somani, Gokhale displayed his lack of understanding about the vaccine and its trial results.

It is shocking that the fearmongering continues despite the fact that Bharat Biotech has announced successful recruitment of 23,000 volunteers amidst it continued progress towards achieving the goal of 26,000 participants for Phase-3 clinical trial of COVAXIN across multiple sites in India.

It is also pertinent to note that the authorisation to the two vaccines granted by DCGI is under the emergency use category only and under the general licensing rules. Most importantly, the inoculation of the vaccine is a voluntary exercise and the Modi government is not forcing anybody to forcefully inject one of the two vaccines.

If the opposition parties and their cheerleaders fear about the vaccine, it is advisable to stay away from the vaccine rather than create fear against the vaccine in the country at a time when people are hopeful of a cure against the Chinese pandemic. The hatred against the indigenously developed ‘Covaxin’ and SII’s ingeniously produced ‘Covidshield’ is also a case of dirty games played by certain section of the media to discredit the country’s vaccine and cheer for vaccines developed by foreign and private companies.

Pakistan helping Turkey to achieve nuclear weapons through clandestine network: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan helping Turkey to achieve nuclear weapons through clandestine network: Read details

The rapid development and production of nuclear and missile technologies by Turkey has now caused a major security threat not just in the region but also across the globe and has ignited a major concern over the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world now.

The nuclear weapon ambitions and the black-marketeering of nuclear technology by rogue nuclear nations like Pakistan and Iran has now threatened the peace and tranquillity of countries from the North Atlantic to the Middle East. A series of recent developments have grabbed the world’s attention after Turkish dictator Tayyip Erdogan expressed his intent to develop nuclear and missile technologies to fulfil his geopolitical aspirations.

Recently, according to a report, Pakistan’s Defence Secretary Lt. General (Retd.) Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain led a Pakistani delegation met the Deputy Chief of Turkish Army General Selcuk Bayraktaroglu led the Turkish delegation during the 15th Turkey-Pakistan High-Level Military Dialogue Group (HLMDG) on 22-23 December 2020, which is the biggest institutional setup between both the countries on defence cooperation.

A series of several meetings between top-level representatives of armies of both the nations were reportedly carried out to monitor the progress made in previous meetings between defence representatives.

Meetings held to discuss transfer of nuclear technology

The insiders believe that the meeting and the deliberations discussed were just the tip of the iceberg as it is part of a larger screenplay of sharing nuclear and missile technologies between the two countries. It is believed that Erdogan has personally requested Pakistani Army Chief General Bajwa to help with nuclear weapon technology which Pakistan has reportedly agreed to. The meeting was organised to discuss procedural aspects of the technology transfer that could take place and covering the process at the same time.

Reportedly, the Pakistani defence delegation visited Turkish defence companies including Bakyar (UAV OEM), TAI, HAVELSAN and ASELSAN. They also met top Turkish Army generals and bureaucrats dealing with the production of missiles and other aerial technologies and also held meetings with the head of Presidency of Turkish Defence Industries Prof. Ismail Demir and CEO of Turkish Aerospace Limited (TAI) Dr. Temil Kotil.

Pakistan and China are believed to be the countries that are responsible for the black marketing of nuclear technology and helping rogue countries like North Korea, Iran to build their nuclear capabilities.

Pakistan is now aiding Turkey by transferring the missile technologies and Pakistani scientists are helping Turkey build its capacity in the production of missiles. The top-level Pakistani scientists are currently working with Turkey to enhance its ballistic and nuclear capabilities. By indulging in illegal transfers of missile technologies to Turkey, Pakistan has violated the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and non-proliferation rules.

Turkey is seeking to acquire nuclear weapon technology since the 1960s. However, it is a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Erdogan has not made it secret that he does not accept any constraints imposed on Turkey by nuclear powers.

Turkey’s nuclear ambitions

In 2019, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had said it was unacceptable for nuclear-armed states to forbid Ankara from obtaining its own nuclear weapons but did not say whether Turkey had plans to obtain them.

“Some countries have missiles with nuclear warheads, not one or two. But (they tell us) we can’t have them. This, I cannot accept,” Erdogan has said his ruling AK Party members. According to Erdogan, Turkey needs the same protection as Israel. “We have Israel nearby, as almost neighbours. They scare (other nations) by possessing these. No one can touch them,” he had said.

In this regard, Pakistan has now become an important partner for Turkey to succeed in getting a nuclear weapon. Pakistan is the only known Muslim country with nuclear weapons state in the world, which is touted to be the protector of the Islamic nations. Pakistan also has the worst track record of nuclear proliferation and Turkey was once a hub for rogue Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Pakistan has been a kingpin of the ‘nuclear black market and it is not an unknown fact to know how Turkey contributed to Pakistan’s nuclear business. The nuclear black market of Pakistan led by Abdul Qadeer Khan helped numerous countries in sharing missile technologies, especially in the production of centrifuges.

According to the International Institute of Strategic Strategic Studies, Turkish companies helped the AQ Khan to carry out business of nuclear technologies and also covertly import materials from Europe and export the finished products to players like Libya, Iran and North Korea. It is also alleged that Turkey might already be possessing a considerable number of centrifuges made by Pakistan.

Pakistan intends to transfer nuclear weapons tech to Turkey through black markets

Interestingly, the next meeting of HLMDG between the two Islamic countries is scheduled in 2021 and sources have revealed that both the countries will be deciding on fast-tracking of missile technology transfer, capacity building of Turkey in producing centrifuges, purchase of small armed Turkish drones by Pakistan, acquisition on high-range Turkish mini drones by Pakistani Army.

Amidst this, Pakistan is also working on behalf of Turkey to find new buyers for Turkish defence equipment to counter the CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) sanctions imposed by the US. Turkey is afraid of losing its defence market after these impositions and has sought Pakistan’s assistance.

The geopolitical experts believe that Erdogan sees Pakistani nuclear and missile capabilities as an important weapon in achieving his caliphate aspirations. However, the silver lining is that most of the Arab countries are now irked by rogue powers like Turkey and Pakistan and are now dissociating themselves from Pakistan.

If Munawar Faruqui were ‘Charlie Hebdo’, he’d have been beheaded, not arrested, so cut the crap

K Bhattacharjee
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If Munawar Faruqui were ‘Charlie Hebdo’, he’d have been beheaded, not arrested, so cut the crap

Munawar Faruqui was arrested for insulting Hindu Gods in Madhya Pradesh following one of his new year performances. In their efforts to defend the comedian, liberals have now turned themselves into a joke. They are now dragging Charlie Hebdo and France in order to defend Faruqui, which does not appear to make any sense.

A senior Youth Congress leader, who only a few days ago was celebrating the Jio tower vandals in Punjab and inciting such vandalism across the country, claimed that ‘Bhakts’ are bigots who change stands to suit themselves. He clearly doesn’t see the irony here.

A co-founder of AltNews too jumped in to accused people of hypocrisy over the matter.

First of all, comparisons to Charlie Hebdo is absurd. Munawar Faruqui is no revolutionary who has committed himself to promoting freedom of expression. We will start taking him seriously on that front, and his supporters, when they draw a few cartoons on the prophet of Islam and share it with others.

Furthermore, Faruqui has only been arrested as per the law of the land. He has not been killed for speech, like Kamlesh Tiwari was, or Charlie Hebdo which suffered a terrorist attack for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Munawar Faruqui is well and alive and only legal procedures have been initiated against him for violating the law of the land. Equating supporters of Indian laws to violent Islamic terrorists is absurd and outrageous. But surely, the comedian’s defenders are well aware of it. That they are still indulging in such false equivalences anyway only reveals their sinister agenda.

The larger objective here is to trivialize the brutal murder of Kamlesh Tiwari, Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and Samuel Paty in recent times. The objective is to whitewash the severity of Islamic fundamentalism and the grave threat that radical Islam poses to world stability. By equating such incidents to the Faruqui incident only reveals that such people are not bothered by freedom of expression at all, their only concern is whitewashing the threat of Islamic extremism.

It also needs to be remembered that none of these elements came forward to defend Kamlesh Tiwari for his controversial speech. When he was killed by Islamic extremists, liberals were more concerned about the mythical backlash that ordinary Muslims might have to face.

In the aftermath of Tiwari’s murder, such people were busy trending ‘prophet of compassion‘ on social media and ranting against supposed Hindutva intolerance. Some of them were also urging Muslims to organize themselves and not for peaceful purposes. And this was right after Tiwari was murdered.

Now the same brand of people are busy claiming that ‘Bhakts’ are apparently intolerant. It is important to note here that they were more than comfortable with the arrest of Kamlesh Tiwari for his speech. In fact, they are always comfortable when someone is arrested for some speech against Islam. It’s only when people are arrested for insulting Hindu Gods that their allegiance towards freedom of expression surfaces.

A Congress leader is defending Munawar Faruqui in the Court as it so happens. But then again, it is no surprise considering the fact that leaders of the same party slaughtered a calf in Kerala on the street and cooked it and ate it to insult Hindu sentiments.

The core matter, however, is the fact that legal action against an individual for violating the law of the land cannot be equated with the killing of people for insulting the prophet of Islam. Those who do make such false equivalences do so with the explicit objective of whitewashing the threat posed by Islamic extremism and not because they have any love in their heart for freedom of expression.

After refusing to take ‘BJP vaccine’ for coronavirus, Akhilesh Yadav does a u-turn

OpIndia Staff
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After refusing to take ‘BJP vaccine’ for coronavirus, Akhilesh Yadav does a u-turn

A day after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav announced that he will not get inoculated, claiming the vaccine to be BJP’s, he now seems to be having second thoughts.

In a tweet on Sunday, he said, “Vaccination against coronavirus is a sensitive process. As such, the BJP must refrain from making it a show-off event and conduct the programme only after necessary arrangements for the same are done. This will affect the lives of people. So, we cannot risk their lives by making improvements to the vaccine later. The government must also declare a fixed date for the immunisation of poor people.”

U-turn of Akhilesh Yadav

While Akhilesh Yadav has not made any comment about his earlier decision to snub the vaccination programme, his tweet on Sunday marked a departure from his earlier comments. Yesterday, he tried to create panic in the society by stating that he would get vaccinated when his government will be formed after the next election and claimed that he would give free vaccines to all.

“I am not going to get vaccinated for now. How can I trust BJP’s vaccine, when our government will be formed everyone will get free vaccine. We cannot take BJP’s vaccine,” Akhilesh Yadav said on Saturday. However, on Sunday, he appealed to the same BJP government to go ahead with the vaccination programme but also requested to launch a fixed date for vaccinating the poor.

At at time when the political parties needs to be united and dispel rumours about the misinformation about vaccines ahead of the drive, it is rather shocking that Samajwadi Party chief has indulged in low-level politics by discrediting a vaccine that has been duly developed and tested enough.

DCGI approves Bharat Biotech vaccine, PM Modi expresses gratitude

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the manufacture of Coronavirus vaccine by Serum Institute of India(SII) and Indian company Bharat Biotech on Sunday. PM Modi tweeted that the new move would accelerate the ‘road to a healthier and Covid-19 free nation’. “A decisive turning point to strengthen a spirited fight,” he emphasised.

While thanking the scientific community, PM Modi further informed, “It would make every Indian proud that the two vaccines that have been given emergency use approval are made in India! This shows the eagerness of our scientific community to fulfil the dream of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, at the root of which is care and compassion.”

Flashback: When Pakistani cricket fans invaded the pitch and beat up a steward because they thought Pakistan won

Dibakar Dutta
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Flashback: When Pakistani cricket fans invaded the pitch and beat up a steward because they thought Pakistan won

Cricket, which was once limited to British aristocrats and the elites, has evolved to become one of the most popular game in the Indian subcontinent. It is a common sight to see cricket fans in Southeast Asia to remain glued to their TV for hours in anticipation of what is to come.

While it is not unusual for ‘passionate’ and over-enthusiastic cricket lovers to get into heated arguments over a game or engage in unruly behaviour in the stands, it is seldom that we witness fanatic mobs go berserk, disrupt a match and rough up authorities. One such disgraceful event took place on June 17, 2001, during the NatWest series between Pakistan and England.

The match was being played at Headingley in Leeds. England’s batting line-up was ripped apart by the legendary Pakistani bowler Waqar Younis, who managed to get 7 wickets while conceding just 36 runs in 10 overs. A superlative bowling attack by the Pakistani side ensured that England was wrapped up at a paltry score of 156 in 45.2 overs. With 157 runs to win the game, the Pakistani cricket team was all set to clinch the match.

Screengrab of the scorecard (Photo Credits: ESPN Cricinfo)

With a stellar batting performance of all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, the match was in Pakistani’s court. The team has managed to put 153 runs on the scoreboard in just 39.5 overs. Azhar Mahmood and Younis Khan were on the crease and set to score the winning runs.

Pakistani cricket fans invade the pitch

And then something unexpected happened. Hordes of unruly Pakistanis jumped over the fence, shoved the ground staff on the way and invaded the pitch, prompting the English cricketers to run to safety. While they weren’t satisfied with disrupting the match, the mob roughed up a ground steward (whose responsibility is to ensure that fans abide by the rules) and inflicted grave injuries during the stampede. And the next thing that the Pakistanis did was fight amongst themselves for the possession of stumps.

“A massive pitch invasion as Azhar flicks one down to long leg for 4 or 6 not sure what was called Pakistan still need runs to win this game…one of the stewards has been injured in the celebratory invasion…,” a commentator noted. The actions of the Pakistani cricket fans, reminiscent of ignorance, was thus out for the world to see.

(Video Courtesy: Youtube/robelinda2)

How the authorities can let this happen?… They are all over the pitch. They are all over the square. This is absurd… This is complete nonsense. It can (compromise) safety of players and spectators,” he added. Hinting at their poor comprehension skills, the commentator remarked, “It’s 2 to win. That’s all. Surely these people (Pakistanis) can read scoreboards.”

Aftermath of the pitch invasion

Since the England captain Alec Stewart decided to not return to the pitch, keeping in mind the safety of the players, the match was conceded to the Pakistani team. An article by sports writer Ralph Dellor, detailing the events of the day, read, “Such was the scale of the pitch invasion, and with a steward lying near the wicket with internal and head injuries, the game had to be regarded as finished.”

He further added, “Rather than going out again when the pitch was eventually cleared, Stewart decided that England would accept the inevitable and so the unique entry in the record books: England conceded the match.” Alec Stewart had demanded strict measures from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ensure that such events are not repeated in future.

“The warnings must be heeded before an unfortunate incident becomes a major tragedy. That is not a question of “if” but “when”. The effects that would have on cricket and the social structure of the country do not bear thinking about,” Dellor concluded.

Pakistan draws up smokescreen again, ‘arrests’ LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi ahead of FATF meeting

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan draws up smokescreen again, ‘arrests’ LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi ahead of FATF meeting

Ahead of meetings of the global watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in January and February, the terror-state of Pakistan has arrested Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi on charges of using terror funds.

According to the reports, nearly five years after he was released on bail in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Pakistan has picked up Lashkar terrorist and commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi on charges for orchestrating terrorist acts.

“Following an intelligence-based operation conducted by the CTD Punjab, proscribed organisation LeT leader Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was arrested on charges of terrorism financing,” said the Counter-Terrorism Department police adding that the 61-year-old terrorist was arrested in a case of terrorism financing registered in a police station of CTD Lahore.

“Lakhvi is accused of running a dispensary, using funds collected for terrorism financing. He and others also collected funds from this dispensary and used these funds for further terrorism financing. He also used these funds for personal expenses,” the CTD said.

The CTD said that in addition to belonging to proscribed organisation LeT, Lakhvi is also an UN-designated individual. His trial will be held before the Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore, the CTD added.

Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was designated a terrorist on December 10, 2008, by the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee for directing the LeT operations in Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and south-east Asia. After the Mumbai attacks on November 2008, the Pakistani authorities had arrested Lakhvi for training and directing 10 terrorists to carry out attacks in Mumbai that left 166 people dead. However, he was granted bail by the Lahore High Court in April 2015.

Meanwhile, it is understood that the so-called arrest of the Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Lakhvi is just another eyewash by the Pakistani government to dodge global terror watchdog Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF’s) Blacklisting rather than to bring to justice the LeT commander for the 2008 attacks that left 166 dead.

Arrests of terrorists ahead of FATF session is just an eyewash by Pakistan

It had now become a routine exercise for Pakistan to orchestrating such arrests of key terrorists just before FATF meetings.

In July 2019, three months before the FATF plenary session in which Pakistan almost feared of getting downgraded to the ‘blacklist’, had arrested LeT founder Hafiz Saeed as to show that they are acting on terror. The FATF session had, however, retained Pakistan in the greylist despite failing to complete a 27-point action plan to curb terrorism financing and money laundering.

It had also registered fake FIRs against the terror groups that they have been safeguarding for all this while to mislead the global community ahead of the global meeting.

In October again, the ‘top four leaders’ of the banned LeT/JuD were arrested on charges of terrorism financing ahead of the Financial Action Task Force’s crucial plenary meeting scheduled to be held in Paris that year.

In addition to that, it was revealed that Pakistan had also silently removed the names of almost 4,000 terrorists from its terror watchlist. The terror-state had removed names of LeT leader and Mumbai attack mastermind Zakir ur Rehman Lakhvi and many others to evade the international scrutiny over funding terror.

Again this year in August, ahead of the FATA plenary session, Pakistan had tried the same tactic by imposing tough financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, by ordering the seizure of all of their properties and freezing of bank accounts.

In its previous plenary session in October 2020, the 39-member FATF had decided to give Pakistan three months more to complete the action plan even after the terror-state has failed to comply 6 out of 27 points in FATF’s action plan. Pakistan will be kept in the grey list for FATF till February 2021.

Pakistan, over the years, has managed to keep itself out of the FATF blacklist with the diplomatic support of countries like China, Turkey, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and few other Middle East countries. However, because it has not managed to garner enough support, it has not been able to get out of the grey list.

How what happened to Satpal Nischal is not doing of Pakistan, but Indian secularism and political Islam

K Bhattacharjee
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How what happened to Satpal Nischal is not doing of Pakistan, but Indian secularism and political Islam

Satpal Nischal was shot dead by terrorists in Kashmir merely weeks after he received a domicile certificate that granted him the right to purchase immovable property and other such crucial rights. The 70-year old had been living in Kashmir for the past forty years and on Thursday, he became the first person to be killed for having received the domicile certificate.

The Resistance Front (TRF), a terrorist outfit, claimed responsibility for the murder and called those who had receive domicile certificates “RSS agents”. They also had a warning: “We know your names, we know where you live and we know what you do and we are coming for you.”

Unfortunate as it is, Satpal Nischal is only the most recent person who has lost his life over the Civilizational War that is underway in Kashmir. He has not been murdered because he is not a Kashmiri or he posed any legitimate threat to Kashmiris, he was murdered because he was not a follower of Islam.

Rohingyas from Myanmar have managed to reach the state and are living under no threat whatsoever. But Kashmiri Pandits were forced out of their homes and they have not been able to return even after three decades. Why is that?

Some people suffer under the delusion that the terrorism in Kashmir is related to Kashmiri self-determination and Islam has very little to do with it. Propagandists in the media work double hard to peddle that narrative as well. But the fact that an illegal Rohingya Muslim immigrant can find refuge there but Kashmiri Pandits are chased away and Hindus from other regions of India are called “RSS agents” only reveals that it is not about Kashmiri at all, it is about Islamic terrorism.

Unfortunately, the name of Satpal Nischal will be forgotten in a few days. And the cycle of violence that has been underway in Kashmir for decades will continue for decades more. And even after all this time, authorities will console themselves saying that Pakistan backed terrorists are responsible for the murder.

Maybe the terrorists are backed by Pakistan but Pakistan itself is only a manifestation of the problem. Does anyone seriously believe that the condition of Hindus in Kashmir would be any different from Pakistani Hindus if there were no Indian soldiers on the ground? And yet, we are force-fed a diet of Kashmiriyat propaganda to gloss over the very real problem of Islamic radicalism.

To be fair, there is no easy solution to any of this. Ultimately, blood is the price that one must pay for Civilizational wars. And history is evidence to the fact that a lot of blood has already been sacrificed for it and a lot more will continue to be spilt.

The enemy that the Indian State and Indian citizens is facing in Kashmir is political Islam, there’s no sugarcoating it. The Indian brand of secularism, on the other hand, works overtime to prevent ideological clarity on the matter so that the threat can be effectively countered.

Liberals are often wrong but there is something they claim to have great commitment towards that is very true for Kashmir. Multiculturalism is our strength when it comes to Kashmir. The only way to neutralize the threat of political Islam in Kashmir is the region’s cultural enrichment.

If “Diversity is indeed our strength”, then Kashmir is the most fertile place in India to test it. But when such suggestions are made, secular-liberals in our country start screaming fascism. It is important to recognize that Satpal Nischal was murdered because he is representative of the diversity that Islamic terrorists in the valley fear the most.

Satpal Nischal was murdered because Islamic terrorists in Kashmir cannot permit cultural enrichment of the region. But be that as it may, the Indian government cannot shy away from the path it has chosen to tread after the tragedy. Instead, it must bring fire and fury to the monsters who robbed the 70-year-old of his life.

That is the only path forward. Secular-liberals are more than willing to ally with ethnic-supremacist Islamic terrorists to undermine Indian interests but even on the face of enormous pressure, the feet cannot be taken off the peddle. If the feet is taken off, then all the progress that Kashmir has made since the abrogation of Article 370 will be lost.

Munger Firing Case: Bihar Government appoints IPS officer Lipi Singh as Saharsa SP

OpIndia Staff
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Munger Firing Case: Bihar Government appoints IPS officer Lipi Singh as Saharsa SP

Months after the Election Commission removed the then Munger Superintendent of Police Lipi Singh after the police brutality on Durga idol visarjan procession that had left one dead and several injured, the Bihar government has appointed the controversial IPS officer as the Saharsa SP.

Several IAS/IPS officers transferred

About two days ago, the Bihar government ordered a large scale transfer of IAS and IPS officers. Twelve districts magistrates (DM) along with 13 superintendents of police (SP) have been changed in a late-night notification. However, the transfer of Singh, accused of unleashing violence Durga devotees in Munger, has raised several eyebrows.

It is pertinent to note that transfers of officers are a common phenomenon. State governments routinely transfer their personnel for better management and effective resource utilisation. However, what is being here is the Bihar government’s decision of entrusting significant responsibilities to an officer accused of unleashing brutality on the citizens.

Singh’s father is close aide of CM Nitish Kumar

Interestingly, Lipi Singh is the daughter of JDU MP RCP Singh. RCP Singh is the national president of JDU and considered to be close to Nitish Kumar. The home department is also with the JDU, which the Legislative Councillor Sanjay Paswan had demanded to be handed over to the BJP, citing law and order in the state.

Death of Anurag Poddar

Singh had earned the title ‘General Dyer’ after the Munger firing. People associated with the Durga Puja Committee claimed at Singh oversaw the beatings meted out to the devotees involved in immersion. The idol of Durga Mata was lying deserted on the road that night.

A young man named Anurag Poddar was killed in the firing that night after police crackdown against the devotees. An FIR was filed in this case against the policemen based on the statement given by Anurag Poddar’s father. In his complaint, Anurag’s father blamed the police firing as the reason for his son’s death.

Ahead of the assembly state elections in the state, Bihar was shaken with a horrifying episode of violence when the police personnel mercilessly attacked Durga Procession devotees in the Munger district. The devotees were charged with batons and shots were fired at them, claiming the life of one 18-year-old Hindu boy.

First shot was fired by the police, says CISF report

The CISF report was issued a day after the incident confirmed that the first round of fire was shot by police. It said at the request of Munger Kotwali police station, a detachment of CISF troops was sent to the district school for the protection of the Durga immersion procession ceremony. The report mentions that the troops sent by CISF that contained 20 personnel were divided into two groups of 10 each. One group was posted along with SSB and Bihar Police personnel at Deendayal Upadhyay Chowk, Munger.

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