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‘Band of liars’: Isha Foundation calls for a clean social media space, asks Twitter to take action against deliberate lies and slander

OpIndia Staff
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‘Band of liars’: Isha Foundation calls for a clean social media space, asks Twitter to take action against deliberate lies and slander

Despite the foundation putting up documents and records in public space, the accusations, vitriol against JV Sadhguru, the founder of the NGO has refused to cease. Taking to Twitter, the foundation wrote that since Twitter has become an indispensable and an important public forum in our society, it is important to keep it clean of abuse, slander and vitriol.

Slamming a band of motivated “liars” who have been making allegations against the organisation by spreading falsehood, Isha Foundation Tweeted that it was about “time that the Nation reclaims public forums from vested interests who will stoop to any level to spread false narratives and lies”.

It said that “public platforms like @TwitterIndia should assume responsibility for the manner in which they are (ab)used”.

Sharing screenshots of the abuse and hate it has been getting on Twitter, the foundation questioned Twitter India as to take why it does not take a stand against being a platform to peddle lies. “A new set of lies created by the same old band of liars. They periodically come up with fresh twists to a stale plot. But without a shred of truth or sense. Time to debunk these vested interests”, wrote Isha Foundation.

The Foundation shared the hashtag #EmptyTwitterTrash which gathered traction on Twitter after the Foundation’s tweet was retweeted by notable personalities like Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the Chairperson of Biocon and former Infosys director Mohandas Pai, among others.

The Isha Foundation welcomes the detractors to check available records and verify facts

The organisation also shared a video by Sadhguru JV, where he was seen stating that the foundation will welcome anyone who wants to check documents, land records and google map records of the land they had purchased to make their Ashram. Sadhguru, in a conversation with Telugu superstar Vijay Devarakonda in 2018, had explained the issues and had debunked the lies peddled against the Isha Foundation. The interview is available here.

Sadhguru had said that the land was barren before the Isha Foundation bought it and there was no elephant corridor or rainforests. However, after the foundation bought the land, plantations, forestations have occurred on a massive scale and the allegations of destroying forest cover made by the detractors are completely false.

It is pertinent to note here that Isha Foundation, had two years ago, in a publicly available document called “slander sans substance” put up their answers to all such allegations – from land grabbing accusations to the encroachment of forests to illegal constructions at the ashram or being present in an elephant corridor. Despite this, the left-wing liberal industry has not left a single opportunity to defame Sadhguru JV and the Isha Foundation by levelling a litany of ignominious allegations against him.

Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who threatened to break Kangana’s mouth, raided by Enforcement Directorate in money laundering case

OpIndia Staff
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Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who threatened to break Kangana’s mouth, raided by Enforcement Directorate in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday morning raided the residences and official premises of the Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik. The search is being conducted at 10 places across Mumbai and Thane with the links to the aforementioned Shiv Sena leader.

The raids were carried out reportedly in connection with a money laundering case involving Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik. However, the ED is yet to officially confirm that the raids are related to a money laundering case. 

Sarnaik, an MLA from the Ovala-Majiwada constituency in Thane, had recently demanded that actor Kangana Ranaut be booked under sedition charges for likening Mumbai to Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir. 

Sarnaik had threatened to break Kangana Ranaut’s mouth

“MP Sanjay Raut issued a mild warning to Kangana. If she dares to come here(Mumbai), our brave warriors will break her mouth. I will demand Kangana to be booked for sedition for comparing Mumbai, the city which creates industrialists and film stars, to PoK,” Sarnaik had tweeted in Marathi.

Sarnaik’s tweet came after Kangana alleged that Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had threatened her. With the Azadi graffiti defiling the streets of Mumbai, Kangana had posted a tweet, comparing the city to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir which invited the wrath of Shiv Sena leaders. 

After his comments, NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma had demanded the arrest of the Shiv Sena MLA for allegedly threatening Kangana Ranaut.

Pratap Sarnaik, a vocal critic of Opposition parties and a staunch defender of Shiv Sena

Besides, Firebrand politician Sarnaik has also been vocal against the opposition in Maharashtra. He had vigorously defended the allegations made against Maharashtra Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray and also asked for a drug probe against Kangana Ranaut for her earlier comment on rampancy of drug consumption in Bollywood. Sarnaik also brought in privilege motions against Kangana Ranaut and Arnab Goswami in the previous session of the Assembly.

Sarnaik is also known for holding considerable clout in the Thane region and for his long rivalry with NCP’s Jitendra Awhad, who is the currently a cabinet minister in the Thackeray government. However, after Shiv Sena and NCP joined hands to form Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, Sarnaik and Awhad had come together and were recently seen in a joint press conference over a housing scheme launched by the NCP leader.

Teenager threatens to ‘blow up’ UP CM Yogi Adityanath in message to state’s emergency service, arrested: Here is what happened

OpIndia Staff
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Teenager threatens to ‘blow up’ UP CM Yogi Adityanath in message to state’s emergency service, arrested: Here is what happened

On Monday, the Lucknow police apprehended a minor boy in Agra for issuing death threats to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath via social media.

As per reports, the 15-year-old accused had sent a message to the Whatsapp number (112) of the emergency service of the Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday. He had threatened to ‘blow up the Uttar Pradesh CM’. The police were able to trace the threat message to Agra with the help of Surveillance and cyber team. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Gosaiganj) Archana Singh had confirmed the development in the case.

Following his threats, the Lucknow police got into action. A case was registered at the Sushant Golf City police station under several charges against the accused, including criminal intimidation. He was brought to Lucknow from Agra and was interrogated for issuing death threats to the CM. Station House Officer (SHO) Sachin Kumar Singh stated, “The boy was brought from Agra to Lucknow and later produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, which sent him to a juvenile home.”

Teenager miffed with closed schools, inability to play outdoors

During the interrogation, it was revealed that the teenager was angry at the government after schools were shut down, in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic. He was miffed that the police would not allow him to play outdoors, following which he issued bomb threats to the Uttar Pradesh CM.

Reportedly, his father is a teacher at a primary teacher at the government school. The police had seized the accused’s mobile phone, which was used to send threatening messages. The cops are also trying to recover the threatening message deleted bu the minor boy. The police are now probing whether other minors are involved in the incident.

Yogi Adityanath had received bomb threats in the past

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh police had received a threat message against CM Yogi Adityanath. In a Whatsapp message sent to the social media cell of UP Police’s integrated emergency response centre UP112, a person threatened to kill Cheif Minister Yogi Adityanath “with a bomb”. He has also warned of bomb blasts at 50 different places in Uttar Pradesh. In the written message on Whatsapp, an unidentified person had said that “we will blow up the entire state and the Uttar Pradesh government will keep watching.” The message was sent to the WhatsApp number of UP112.

Fraud fact-checking: AltNews co-founder Pratik Sinha spreads fake news while attempting to ‘fact-check’ old picture of a Hindu Sadhu

OpIndia Staff
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Fraud fact-checking: AltNews co-founder Pratik Sinha spreads fake news while attempting to ‘fact-check’ old picture of a Hindu Sadhu

Pratik Sinha, the founder of the leftist portal AltNews, has been caught lying again on his social media account. On November 23, Sinha posted a tweet alleging that an image posted by popular Twitter user ‘TrueIndology’ on his Instagram account was fake. It appears from the tweet that Sinha reverse-searched the image and found the source as Getty Images, a stock image platform.

Without confirming first where Getty Images got hold of the picture, he made the allegation that True Indology is a fraud.

A 116-year old image

OpIndia dug into the source of the image and found some interesting facts about it. True Indology posted the caption as “The wonder that WAS Kashmir: A Hindu Sanyasi sitting on the banks of Dal Lake, Srinagar in 1904. He is almost naked in extreme snow. The climate does not seem to bother him. Sanyasis and pandits along the banks of Dal was once a common sight in Kashmir The emphatic word is “WAS”.”

According to Pratik Sinha, the image source, which, according to him, was Getty Images, did not mention ‘snow’ anywhere in the post. However, the image was first used in a book titled “Kashmir: It’s New Silk Industry” by Sir Thomas Wardle, and it was published in 1904. In the book, on page 376, the title of the image reads, “Fakir or Holy Man on Lunka Island, Dal lake, sitting in the snow in winter.” The photograph was clicked by Geoffrey William Millais.

The archive of the book is freely available on Indian Culture, a government of India website. A clearer version of the book is available on Google Books.

Rebuttal by True Indology

TrueIndology rebutted Sinha’s claims in a long post on Facebook. While providing the source of the image and the caption, True Indology wrote, “The fact is that Pratik Sinha has not read the book and does not know anything about history or climate of Kashmir. The fact that the Sadhu was sitting in extreme snow was attested by the original photographer who took the picture which was published 116 years ago in a book!”

Netizen’s reaction on Sinha’s fake post

Netizens were amazed by how Pratik Sinha, a self-proclaimed ‘fact-checker’, did not try to find more information about the image. Sinha had probably done just done a reverse-image search on Google and when he found the Getty Images file, had hurried to brand True Indology as a fake-news peddler.

However, several Twitter users did a better fact check than the self-proclaimed ‘fact-checker’ that is Pratik Sinha. They not only provided the links of the book and original image’s screenshots from the book but also replied with videos of Sadhus meditating in the snow without any woollen clothes.

The Hulton Archive

The image of a Sadhu sitting at the Lunka Island in Dal Lake in snow, clicked by Geoffrey William Millais over a century ago, was a part of Hulton Archive that was purchased by Getty Images in 1996. The Archive (Picture Post) is considered to be an important historical documentary source. It has over 30 million images within 1500 individual collections. The process of digitizing the images started in 2000. In 2003, Getty Images started migrating Hulton Archive in its parent website.

Self-proclaimed ‘fact-checker’ Sinha had based his fact-check on just a reverse-image search online, without bothering to check the original source of the image.

AltNews’s long history of fake news

This is not the first time AltNews, its founders and employees have been caught spreading blatant fake news while claiming to be ‘fact-checkers’. In September, Union Minister Piyush Goyal rebutted the claims made by AltNews that migrant workers died on Shramik Trains. Activist Ankur Singh had posted a series of tweets showcasing how AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair tried to spread fake news on social media platforms. In June, AltNews tried to save a Muslim accused while ‘fact-checking’ the death of the pregnant elephant story. After they were exposed, the article was quietly changed.

Off late, the self-proclaimed ‘fact-checkers’ have extended their whitewashing services to Chinese clients too.

Congress under lens for receiving unaccounted Rs. 106 crore cash at party headquarters, much of it before 2019 general elections: Details

OpIndia Staff
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Congress under lens for receiving unaccounted Rs. 106 crore cash at party headquarters, much of it before 2019 general elections: Details

The Congress party, which has been under the watch of central investigative agencies over charges of receiving kickbacks in the Agusta Westland case, is now shrouded in yet another controversy. The Income Tax Department has revealed that the cashier at the old Congress headquarters on Akbar Road in New Delhi had received tranches of unaccounted cash between 2016 and 2019, reported Times Now.

As per reports, the IT Department has now launched an investigation to ascertain the source of the cash. Times Now has accessed the 408-page dossier of the IT Department that revealed that the cash payment was made in instalments. Between February 13 and October 4 last year, the Congress Headquarters had received a whopping ₹74.62 crores. Moreover, another payment of ₹26.50 crores was made between August 2016 and September 2016. The third tranche was a payment of ₹5.22 crores that was made between April 2017 and September 2019.

Times Now reported that several payments of unaccounted cash were made to the erstwhile Congress Headquarters, prior to the 2019 General Elections. It was revealed that an amount of ₹5.4 crores was received on February 27 last year while ₹3.75 crores were received on the next day. On April 20 2019, the Congress party had received ₹6.40 crore while another tranche of ₹ 5.45 crore was received on April 24, 2019.

Political war of words breaks out between the BJP and Congress

The massive development has put the Congress party on the backfoot with the BJP demanding accountability of party leadership. BJP IT Cell Head, Amit Malviya stated that Sonia Gandhi must explain the documents and the IT trail. “In 2016, demonetisation was undertaken and the Congress party has been constantly criticising it. Congress has to answer for this money that has been traced back to their HQ. This points to the greed and hunger that Gandhis have for money. The documents and the IT trail needs explaining and none other than Sonia Gandhi should explain this as she is the party head right now,” Amit Malviya emphasised.

Dismissing the charges against the grand old party, Congress leader Rashid Alvi has claimed that the IT Department probe is being facilitated by the Prime Minister. While counter-questioning the BJP, he inquired, “The BJP has built a seven-star office in Delhi, may I ask him to tell the IT to investigate that as well.”

The AgustaWestland Scam

India had signed a deal in 2010 under the UPA regime to buy 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters for the service of the Prime Minister, the President and other VVIPs. It is alleged that some politicians and public servants had abused their official positions to reduce the service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6000 metres to 4500 metres to make AgustaWestland eligible for the contract and had awarded the contract for an amount of Euro 556.262 million in 2010. The deal was cancelled in 2013 after the scam was revealed.

One of the prime accused turned approver in the AgustaWestland scam, Rajiv Saxena, has named key Congress leaders and their relatives over alleged involvement in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper scam. In his interrogation in connection with the scam, Saxena named senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, Kamal Nath’s son Bakul Nath and Sonia Gandhi’s close aide Ahmed Patel. Saxena, who was picked up by UAE government security agencies in Dubai and later extradited to India on January 30, 2019, and who later turned approver, was interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate, which attached his assets worth Rs 385 crore.

Delhi: Burkha-clad woman Nusrat fires gunshots to threaten a shop owner, arrested later

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi: Burkha-clad woman Nusrat fires gunshots to threaten a shop owner, arrested later

The Delhi police have arrested a woman named Nusrat for firing multiple shots at a shop after a quarrel with its owner, reported Times of India. The incident took place on November 18 at Chauhan Bangar area in North-East Delhi.

As per reports, the Jaffrabad police was alerted about the woman last week after she had fired shots at a closed grocery store in Lane No.4. The police officials had informed that the shop belonged to a man named Fahim and that the accused had fired four shots at it. In a video shared by Times of India journalist Raj Shekhar Jha, the woman could be heard shouting the choicest of expletives, before firing the shots. While hurling abuses, she claimed to be the sister of gangster Nasir. The woman was then taken away by her accomplice on a bike. The video has since then gone viral on social media.

The quarrel was over a mortgaged mobile phone

The accused has been identified as one Nusrat. After her arrest, she conceded that the gun was bought from a man named Maksood. The police informed that she had a quarrel ensued between with Fahim and Nusrat for not returning the mortgaged cell phone of another man named Shahrukh. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ved Prakash Surya, said, “She said they had an altercation as Fahim was not returning the mortgaged mobile phone of Shahrukh, a man known to her.”

‘Mamata Banerjee most secular leader in India, has championed Muslim cause’: Former AIMIM leader as he joins TMC with several others

OpIndia Staff
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‘Mamata Banerjee most secular leader in India, has championed Muslim cause’: Former AIMIM leader as he joins TMC with several others

The West Bengal elections that are all set to be held in 2021 is likely to see a bitter battle between TMC and BJP as the latter emerges as a strong contestant in the state, for the very first time. However, one party that is fighting with TMC to bag a chunk of the Muslim vote, is AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi. In a jolt to AIMIM on Monday, 20 of its leaders joined Mamata Banerjee led TMC ahead of the polls and hailed her as the most secular leader in the country.

Speaking to the media, former AIMIM leader Anwar Hasan Pasha, who led the 20 leaders joining TMC said, “Mamata Banerjee is the most secular leader in India. She has championed the Muslim cause (and) has been criticised for it. She is the only leader in the country who was on the road to opposed NRC (national register of citizens)”.

The leader said that Owaisi ended up polarising the votes in Bihar, and that he should not attempt to do the same in West Bengal. “If Mr Owaisi comes to Bengal, we will stand up against him. What we saw in Bihar will not be allowed in Bengal. The politics of divide and rule, and polarisation. Mr Asaduddin Owaisi polarised the voters in Bihar. My advice to Mr Owaisi is… don’t come to Bengal”, said Anwar Hasan Pasha while hailing Mamata Banerjee for championing Muslim cause.

TMC leader Bratya Bose claimed that the former AIMIM leaders led by Pasha (who had hailed Mamata Banerjee for championing the Muslim cause) were tired of the “communal politics” played by AIMIM and had been inspired by Mamata Banerjee to join TMC. He also claimed that Pasha was AIMIM’s key leader in Bengal, thereby predicting doom for the party.

AIMIM, however, did not see this as a massive loss for their party ahead of the West Bengal elections. Reacting to what Bose said, AIMIM’s Bengal observer Syed Asim Waqar said that Pasha was ‘just another leader’ of the party and had, in fact, been inactive for the past 1 year. Further, he alleged that Mamata Banerjee had been “planting moles” in AIMIM for a long time and now, the “moles” had been exposed.

Congress, which often sings a completely odd and different tune has alleged that TMC is trying to weaken opposition parties, hinting that she might be trying to help the BJP.

The Owaisi conundrum for Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal

In July 2019, it was reported that the AIMIM had announced their decision to contest the Assembly Elections in the state scheduled to be held in 2021. “It is true that we are fewer in number, but do not dare touch us. We are atom bombs. Didi, we welcome your friendship and enmity as well. You have to decide whether you consider us friends or foes,” AIMIM national spokesperson and Bengal observer, Asim Waqar, had stated sometime back.

The AIMIM had also organized a meeting at Dharmatala in Kolkata where the former MLA from Maharashtra Waris Pathan was also present. Consequently, in November, the Chief Minister of Bengal had warned the citizenry about the radicalism of the Owaisis. She did not name them but it was quite obvious who her comments were directed at. “I am watching that there are some extremists among minorities,” she told her party workers in Coochbehar, “They have their base in Hyderabad. Don’t listen to them.”

On the 8th of December, AIMIM leader Zameerul Hasan accused the Mamata Government of targeting his party. “Across the state, police officers are abusing our leaders, threatening them not to take up political programmes. This has happened after the Chief Minister indicated to the police to ensure that we don’t hold meetings and processions,” he told IANS. Hasan also announced that the party will organize a mega rally in Kolkata where Asaduddin Owaisi will be the main speaker.

Thus, things are not looking very good for Mamata Banerjee. She has spent too much of her political capital on her Muslim vote bank to be able to win without complete Muslim consolidation in her favour. In the course of the said appeasement, she has alienated significant sections of the Hindu community which have then consolidated in favour of the BJP. This is what we saw happen in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections where the saffron party massively increased its seat tally.

Mamata Banerjee faces a situation where Asaduddin Owaisi is threatening to capture her Muslim vote bank while the Hindus have consolidated behind the BJP due to her continuous Muslim appeasement.

How this switch by AIMIM leaders to TMC might work out for Mamata Banerjee

Interestingly, the strategy to accept AIMIM leaders into TMC at this point with them calling Mamata Banerjee a ‘champion of the Muslim cause’ might not work out very well for Banerjee in West Bengal.

Hindus have already, large consolidated behind the BJP, especially the faction that sees Mamata Banerjee as a leader who is beholden to her Muslim vote bank. The consolidation of Hindus was evident during the Lok Sabha election where defying pundits, BJP managed to bag a massive 18 seats in West Bengal.

With former AIMIM leaders now joining TMC, the people of the state could see this as a signal of their already set perception of Mamata Banerjee, hinting that TMC is focussed on its Muslim vote bank.

Therefore, while TMC might hail this move as one that might benefit the party, in the long run up to the elections, this may as well prove to be a handicap.

Uttar Pradesh: Golu and Guddu kill driver Mushtaq with an axe for harassing their sister, surrender to police

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Golu and Guddu kill driver Mushtaq with an axe for harassing their sister, surrender to police

Two brothers of a young woman killed a 32-year-old driver Mohammed Mushtaq with an axe in Lucknow. As per reports, Mushtaq has been harassing the woman for some days. After the incident, both brothers reached the police station and surrendered. They told the police officers that Mushtaq Ali had been harassing their sister for several days, so they killed him. Both of them have been arrested by the police. The police also booked the woman’s mother and sister.

Mushtaq harassed Golu’s sister on several occasions

Golu lives with his family near Durga Mata temple in Mohanlalganj, Lucknow. Mushtaq, who lived in the neighbourhood, allegedly used to harass his sister. On 22 November, Mushtaq was driving his container to Kolkata. Upon reaching Bhawani Kheda, Mushtaq and Golu’s sister got into a dispute. There was a lot of argument between the two, and the people present at the spot intervened to pacify the matter. The woman informed about the whole incident to her family after reaching home.

After learning about the incident, her brothers Golu and Guddu we to Mushtaq’s house in the evening. They dragged Mushtaq out of his house and beat him fiercely. Then they inflicted several blows on Mushtaq with an axe. Seeing his condition deteriorating, they thought he was dead and left him.

Golu and Guddu surrendered to police

Mushtaq’s family learned about the incident and rushed him to the local hospital. The doctors at the local hospital referred him to the trauma centre as he was in critical condition. Mushtaq was declared dead at the trauma centre.

Inspector GD Shukla provided detailed information about the incident. He said that Golu and Guddu came to the police station with an axe stained with the blood. They surrendered after informing the officers present at the police station that they have killed Mushtaq.

Mushtaq’s brother filed FIR against four members of the family

The police reached the hospital and gathered information related to the case. Imtiaz, Mushtaq’s brother, has lodged FIR against Golu, Guddu, Renu (sister), father (Bhailal) and Vimala (mother). The police have booked them and questioned the mother. The sister was not present at home, and the police are looking for her whereabouts.

Israeli PM Netanyahu flies to Saudi Arabia to meet crown prince MBS and US Secretary of State Pompeo, Israeli sources claim

OpIndia Staff
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Israeli PM Netanyahu flies to Saudi Arabia to meet crown prince MBS and US Secretary of State Pompeo, Israeli sources claim

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen reportedly flew to Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, and the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

According to the Israeli sources privy to the developments, Netanyahu used a private jet belonging to businessman Udi Angel, to fly to Neom, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday. Netanyahu has used Angel’s private plane for making past diplomatic trips as well. The plane left Israel after 5 PM on Sunday evening and returned some time after midnight. 

A report published in the Wall Street Journal cited a Saudi source to claim Israeli and Saudi sides discussed the normalisation of ties between the two countries and the threat they face from Iran. One of the sources quoted by the WSJ said that the meeting between the leaders of the two countries lasted for several ties during which the establishment of diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Jerusalem was discussed. However, the meeting did not yield any concrete agreements.

However, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan rubbished the reports of a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister and Saudi crown Prince. He posted on Twitter that only Saudi and American officials were present.

But the Education Minister of Israel, Yoav Gallant, appeared to confirm the meeting and hailed it as an “amazing achievement” and “a matter of great importance” in an interview with Army Radio. 

The trip was kept under tight wraps and even key Israeli leaders such as Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi were not informed about the meeting before it took place. 

The US Secretary of the State Mike Pompeo also met Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi crown prince MBS, in Neom, a city in northern Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea. Earlier on Monday, Pompeo said that he held a constructive meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince the night before. However, he made no reference to the presence of the Israeli leader. Even Netanyahu’s office did not confirm the meeting and neither did the Saudi press made any mention of the talks.

Meeting between Saudi and Israeli leader an attempt to normalise ties between the erstwhile foes

Traditionally, Saudi Arabi and Israel have been foes. However, the recent meeting between the leaders of the two countries should be viewed in the context of the United States’ attempts to normalise ties between Israel and the Arab countries, who had been in a bitter dispute for decades over the vexed issued of Palestine. Since the last few months, Pompeo and the Trump administration have been encouraging Arab countries to normalise their ties with Israel. 

Earlier, America had mediated to normalise ties between Israel and three Arab countries—the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan. The recent meeting between Netanyahu and his Saudi counterpart, MBS, is viewed by many as a parting gift of the Trump administration in America’s Middle-East policy before President-elect Joe Biden officially assumes charge. 

Harassment over selling firecrackers: Haryana Police beats up people, security men of BJP leaders, protesting suicide of BJP Councillor

OpIndia Staff
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Harassment over selling firecrackers: Haryana Police beats up people, security men of BJP leaders, protesting suicide of BJP Councillor

A BJP Councillor in Haryana, Harish Sharma, committed suicide recently after he was booked for allegedly selling firecrackers during Diwali and misbehaving police officials. Reportedly, he was under mental duress after a case was registered against him and his daughter Anjali Sharma. His family alleged that the Police was pressing for his arrested.

The atrocious conduct of the Police in the matter, however, was far from an end. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team on Sunday recovered the body of Harish Sharma from Delhi Parallel canal near Khubru jhal in Sonepat district. The body was subsequently sent to a general hospital at Sonepat district for a post-mortem examination.

Hundreds of people gathered at NH-44 on Panipat-Delhi lane and refused to cremate Harish Sharma until their demands were met. A criminal case was demanded against Panipat SP Manisha Chaudhary, then police post in charge; SI Baljeet Singh, ASI Mahavir Singh and others and their arrest was demanded as well. As per reports, Panipat Superintendent of Police, the then police post in-charge and ASI Mahavir Singh have now been booked under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 of the IPC.

BJP MP from Rohtak, Dr. Arvind Sharma, former Minister Krishna Lal Pawar and MLA Pramod Vij had reached the spot to hold a meeting with the family members of the deceased and assure them that justice will be done. However, at the same time, the Police started a lathi-charge against those who had gathered.

The glasses of an office near where the BJP leaders were having a discussion with the family of Harish Sharma was also damaged. Not just the people, but the security men of the BJP leaders were also beaten and so were members of the press. Pawar said that his security men and those of the MLA were beaten up in front of him.

The Chief Minister and the Home Minister were subsequently informed of the conduct of the Police and an SIT will be formed to investigate the matter. Karyakartas of the BJP alleged that under the current government, police officials have gone out of control. Neither do they listen to their leaders, nor their government. Numerous people have been injured during the course of the lathi-charge.

Meanwhile, the leaders assured Anjali Sharma that her family will receive justice. She has alleged that police officials are forcing her to leave the city. It is also reported that as per the SIT that has been constituted, the police-in-charge of Tehsil Camp intentionally registered a case against Sharma. Despite being advised against it by Home Minister Anil Vij, he went near the house of the Councillor with a police force.

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