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Pakistan: Christian man in Lahore sentenced to death under blasphemy laws for ‘anti-Islam’ text messages

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Christian man in Lahore sentenced to death under blasphemy laws for ‘anti-Islam’ text messages

On Tuesday, a Pakistani court in Lahore convicted a Christian man to death under the controversial ‘blasphemy’ law.

According to the reports, the Lahore Session Court sentenced 37-year-old Asif Pervaiz Masih for insulting Islam and sending ‘blasphemous’ texts to a former supervisor at work. Masih was arrested in 2013 for alleged blasphemy.

Asif’s lawyer Saif-ul-Malook said that the complainant in the case filed against Asif Masih was working as a supervisor in a hosiery factory and Asif was working under him. Denying the allegations against Masih, Malook said that the supervisor was trying to get Asif to convert to Islam.

Asif, who is accused of insulting Islam, said he was confronted by his boss after he quit the factory job.

However, the lawyers representing the supervisor rejected the charges and said other Christians too worked at the factory and no one has accused him of any forceful conversion Islam.

Additional Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmed Qureshi convicted Pervaiz and sentenced him to death. The court order said Asif would be ‘hanged by his neck till his death’ after serving the jail time. 

Asif Pervaiz Masih is a resident of a Christian colony in Lahore, Youhana Abad. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him and also sentenced him three-year imprisonment.

Pakistan has notorious anti-Islamic laws that carry a death penalty for people who insult the Prophet Muhammad, Islam, the Quran, or certain holy people.

There are at least 80 people currently languishing in Pakistan jails under the charges of blasphemy. Half of them are facing life sentences or the death penalty, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has said.

Blasphemy accused shot dead in Pakistan

Recently, in a brutal incident, an elderly man belonging to the minority Islamic sect of Ahmadiyyas, who was facing a trial for ‘blasphemy’, was shot dead in front of the judge in a local court situated in a high-security zone in Pakistan’s Peshawar city.

Tahir Ahmad Naseem, who was arrested on the charges of blasphemy two years ago, died on the spot in the court of Additional Session Judge Shaukatullah Khan after being shot at. The man on trial was facing charges for ‘insulting’ the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.

After the incident, shockingly, the Islamists in Pakistan had turned Khalid Khan—the man who shot dead Tahir Ahmed Naseem into a ‘hero’ as people took to social media to hail him as the ‘Lion of Islam’ for killing the ‘blasphemer’.

In a similar case, Aasia Bibi, a 48-year-old mother of four was convicted in 2010 for insulting Islam. She maintained her innocence but spent eight years in solitary confinement. Later she was acquitted by the Pakistan Supreme Court and had to escape to Canada. Salman Taseer, who was the former Punjab governor was also killed by his own guard in 2011 after he sought mercy for Asia Bibi. 

We will stand by you to ‘smash the patriarchy’, only if u hate Modi: Bollywood ‘liberals’ and their glaring hypocrisy

Nirwa Mehta
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We will stand by you to ‘smash the patriarchy’, only if u hate Modi: Bollywood ‘liberals’ and their glaring hypocrisy

When Rhea Chakraborty reached Narcotics Control Bureau office on Tuesday for interrogation, she was wearing a t-shirt which made some noise on social media.

Rhea Chakraborty’s t-shirt message goes viral

The t-shirt message read, “Roses are red, violets are blue, let’s smash the patriarchy, me and you”. After she was arrested and taken into custody for further interrogation and investigation in the drugs probe, Bollywood entertainers, most of who have been vocal against their dislike for Prime Minister Modi and the BJP, extended their support to Rhea. Everyone demanded ‘justice’ for Rhea.

From who’s who to who’s that of Bollywood, all rallied behind Rhea.

Those not in Twitter, took to Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

#JusticeForRhea ☀️

A post shared by Vidya Balan (@balanvidya) on

View this post on Instagram

#justiceforrhea

A post shared by Radhika (@radhikaofficial) on

View this post on Instagram

#JusticeForRhea

A post shared by Kubbra Sait (@kubbrasait) on

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#justiceforrhea

A post shared by Tanishaa Mukerji (@tanishaamukerji) on

As you can see, even those who have limited to zero recall value amongst the audience also came out to support Rhea.

Again a reminder: Rhea is an accused of being an active member in a drug syndicate. Some how, the allegations are overlooked because some people associated with the ruling party or supporters of Prime Minister Modi cast aspersions over Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in June this year. Sushant’s family hails from Bihar where state assembly elections are scheduled for later this year. Yes, ruling party there has BJP alliance. Yes, Sushant’s family cast aspersions on Mumbai Police, where non-BJP party is in power, on the way investigation was being conducted. So clearly, the ‘liberals’ knew they’re not to side with them.

So Rhea wants to smash patriarchy. The ‘hounding’ by media and ‘trial by media’ is being done only because ‘she is a woman’ and society is afraid of ‘independent women’. But Bollywood decides to stand by her and ‘smash the patriarchy’ even though she is accused of having drugs links. Which is true. Because an individual is innocent until proven guilty and for all we know, she may just be innocent. One can only wait and see what the stand of Bollywood is if at all she is found guilty and convicted. Or maybe then the NCB will be accused of being a ruling party apparatus for going after a woman.

But we are going too ahead of ourselves. While the Bollywood has stood by Rhea they have maintained a deafening silence on Shiv Sena and NCP leaders threatening another one of their colleagues, Kangana Ranaut. None of them wanted to ‘smash the patriarchy’ when Kangana was called ‘haramkhor ladki‘ by Shiv Sena’s now chief spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut. No one called him out when he coined a new definition of ‘haramkhor’ as ‘naughty’.

To borrow the words of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, the ruling party of Maharashtra and entire Bollywood brigade is quite naughty to put it mildly.

It so happens that Kangana supports Prime Minister Modi and quite vocally. She criticised the current Maharashtra government and the state machinery and called out Mumbai Police for ‘liking’ a tweet abusing her. Suddenly those who like to call themselves ‘brave’ for ‘speaking truth to power’ are silent. You see, ‘speaking truth to power’ is a valid argument to abuse the government only if the party in power is BJP.

Shiv Sena was a rogue party till it was with the BJP in alliance. The moment it joined hands with Congress and NCP, it got a clean slate and Uddhav Thackeray won the heart of same Bollywood who hailed him as best ever chief minister. This when even today Maharashtra contributes highest ever daily coronavirus cases. Pune is the worst affected district in entire India with highest coronavirus positive cases – which surpassed even Delhi. But somehow, no one likes to speak truth to this power.

And one woman who did and got abused in return, no ‘smash the patriarchy’ for you.

And this is just Bollywood. One can’t even recall the number of times Union Minister Smriti Irani has had to face abuse from people including politicians from opposition parties. Or when Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan recited a sexist ‘poetry’ in the Lok Sabha to BJP MP Rama Devi. Or when troll abused Phogat sisters. No ‘smash the patriarchy’ for them either.

And these are celebrities. Women from the non-Left face abuses all the time. Remember when Congress and Islamists teamed up with PETA to attack columnist Shefali Vaidya? Nope. Shefali doesn’t get the support from ‘liberals’.

And it is okay if you are critical of the ruling party, at least be honest about it. That your ‘solidarity’ and your ‘feminism’ comes with terms and conditions and has riders attached. Don’t pretend to be a liberal when you are just as hypocrite as the ones you accuse others of being.

Congress peddles lies against India using video of tourists vacationing on the Chinese side of Pangong Tso lake

OpIndia Staff
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Congress peddles lies against India using video of tourists vacationing on the Chinese side of Pangong Tso lake

As the situation between India and China is heating up along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), constant efforts are being made to push the Chinese narrative from some suspected quarters. Last month, reports has emerged that the Indian forces had occupied some strategically important positions at the south bank of the Pangong Tso lake.

However, soon after the reports came, a video that claimed to be of some Chinese tourists in the Pangong Tso lake went viral on social media. The video was soon picked by Congress supporters who started questioning the forces on the basis of this video. In no time, the Congress supporters starting attacking PM Modi on the basis of the video, insinuating that if Chinese tourists are seen in Pangong Tso lake, it is under Chinese control. Here are some of the tweets of Congress leaders and supporters who used the video to target the Prime Minister.

Sharing the video, Congress leader Salman Nizami claimed that Chinese tourists were there in the Pangong Tso lake. He referred to PM Modi as “56-inch Chowkidar” and questioned whether Indian needed a visa to visit Pangong Tso.

A similar claim was made by Saral Patel, National Convener of Congress’ Social Media Department.

Jumping on the bandwagon, the National Spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) also supported the claims of Chinese tourits vacationing in the Pangong Tso lake. She said that the PM Modi has been lying that no Indian territory was annexed by China.

Ashok Swain, who is apparently a Professor at Uppsala University, Sweden and is a habitual fake news peddler and riot monger, also jumped in and said that the Indian defence journalists could now report directly from China by travelling through the Pangong Tso lake instead of reporting from Leh or Delhi.

The lie was further peddled by the National Coordinator of the Digital Communications and Social Media Department of Congress, Gaurav Pandhi by comparing the video of the Chinese tourists with a snippet from the movie Three Idiots, insinuating that back in 2009 the lake was part of Indian territory and now it is part of China.

What is the reality?

In peddling these lies about the Pangong Tso river and using them to attack the Prime Minister, the Congress members and supporters exposed their mental bankruptcy as well as their malicious intentions. The Indian government never claimed that the Indian forces had occupied the whole of Pangong Tso lake. In fact, Pangong Tso lake lies partially in India and partially in Tibet which is occupied by China. Around 60 percent of the length of the lake lies in Tibet. The video of the Chinese tourists vacationing in the lake is of the part of the lake that lies in China.

The lake is approximately 83 miles long. Though the exact demarcation of the end of Indian territory and beginning of the Chinese territory has been contested, only the western part of the lake comes under Indian territory.

Pangong Tso map, a large section of the lake lies in Tibet, which is currently under Chinese control, image via Indian Express

Ever since the situation along the LAC escalated, Congress has been soft on China and instead has been attacking the Indian government. This situation became clear only after photos of Rahul Gandhi signing MoU with the Minister of International Department of Central Committee of the CCP were leaked. The news of an agreement between the Congress and the CCP came as a shock to people especially in view of the clash between the forces of the two countries at the Galwan valley. The Chief Justice of India Ashok Bobde also expressed concern over the agreement and said that this was something unheard of legally.

Kangana vs Shiv Sena: Amid threats from ruling party, the bollywood actress to reach Mumbai

OpIndia Staff
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Kangana vs Shiv Sena: Amid threats from ruling party, the bollywood actress to reach Mumbai

Amidst the threats from the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut is all set to land in Mumbai on Wednesday.

In a daring act, the three-time national award-winning actress Kangana Ranaut had decided to land in Mumbai on September 9 even after Shiv Sena leaders, especially the likes of Sanjay Raut had threatened her not to come to Mumbai. Despite receiving threats, Kangana had earlier announced that she will land in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Kangana Ranaut left her residence at Bhanwla village in Mandi District for Chandigarh on Wednesday morning. She will be leaving for Chandigarh from where she will catch a flight to Mumbai at 12.15 pm. As per COVID-19 protocols, she also got herself tested for coronavirus and has tested negative.

Face-off between Kangana Ranaut and Maharashtra govt

The faceoff between the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and Kangana was triggered after the latter had compared Mumbai to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in the wake of Azaadi graffiti seen on the streets of the city, and the subsequent inaction of the Mumbai Police.

Since then, the ‘Queen’ actress has been subjected to threats of violence, and even derogatory words by Shiv Sena leaders. Sanjay Raut had called her ‘haramkhor ladki’ while Pratap Sarnaik had threatened to ‘break her mouth’. Even Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh had joined the Shiv Sena-led government in bullying Kangana Ranaut and he was caught pushing social media users to publicly shame the actress.

In addition to the abusive tirade against Kangana, the Maharashtra government had also decided to launch a probe into the alleged consumption of drugs by actor Kangana Ranaut. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government will investigate Kangana for allegedly taking drugs.

BMC officials raided Kangana’s office premises

Besides ad-hominem attacks, even the state apparatus has been pushed into taking punitive action against the actor for her remarks that were at odds with the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. The distraught actor had shared videos on Twitter, alleging that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials had raided her office premises and threatened to demolish her property.

She further stated that BMC officials have forcefully taken over her office and are measuring up things and harassing her neighbors. “What that madam has done you all will now have to pay for it,” the BMC official told the neighbor, she said. Kangana further informed that the BMC might be demolishing her property tomorrow.

Amid the ongoing confrontation with Shiv Sena leaders, Kangana Ranaut has been given Y category security. VIPs who enjoy Y category security in India have a security detail consisting of 11 personnel, including commandos.

Joe’s Gone Mad: Joe Biden falsely claims Donald Trump, and not Democrat voters, is making calls to defund the Police

OpIndia Staff
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Joe’s Gone Mad: Joe Biden falsely claims Donald Trump, and not Democrat voters, is making calls to defund the Police

Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden false claimed on Tuesday rgar US President Donald Trump is making a call to defund the Police in the United States. It was a blatant lie as left-wing mobs indulging in rioting and looting across the streets of the United States of America have been making the demand to defund the police. And elected representatives of Joe Biden’s own party have been caving in to the demand.

Joe Biden said, “I not only don’t want to defund the policeI’m the one calling for $300 million more for local police, for community policing. I also think we should add social workers and psychologists to help police on 911 calls. The only person calling to defund the police is Donald Trump. Look at his budget. He calls for cutting police funding for local — state and local help by $400 million. Once again, he’s pathological.”

It was a spectacular lie from Joe Biden. One of the most prominent faces of the Democrat Party, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, has called for police to be defunded and in case they are “beyond rare”, she recommended that they ought to be dismantled completely. Not only her, the progressive faction of the Democrat Party has been actively calling for defunding the police.

Following the death of George Floyd and protests in its wake, the Minneapolis City Council voted to disband the police completely. The move has hit a procedural setback but no one could possibly deny that the ones marching in the streets calling for defunding the Police are Democrat voters. Indeed, the top leadership of the Democrat party has been struggling to make it clear that they are not in support of such radical proposals.

But now, Joe Biden appears to have turned the truth on its head and is claiming that Donald Trump is the only person making calls to defund the police. In reality, Donald Trump has decided to make ‘law and order’ the central theme of his campaign as he realises Americans are extremely discontent with the recent spree of riots across the country and the hesitation on the part of Democrats to crack down on their own voters.

‘Unforgivable sin’, after Pakistan, Iran’s supreme leader condemns Charlie Hebdo for deciding to reprint Prophet Mohammad cartoons

OpIndia Staff
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‘Unforgivable sin’, after Pakistan, Iran’s supreme leader condemns Charlie Hebdo for deciding to reprint Prophet Mohammad cartoons

The decision to republish cartoons featuring Prophet Muhammad has opened up a whole new can of worms for French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. After Islamists from several countries like France, Nigeria, Indonesia, Iran, Chechnya, Yemen and especially Pakistan have taken to the streets to agitate against the cartoons that depict Prophet Muhammad, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Tuesday called it an “unforgivable sin”.

Condemning the French Magazine’s decision on Twitter, Khamenei also criticised some French politicians, who he said were using the “excuse of freedom of expression to not criticise the grave crime of insulting the Holy Prophet of Islam”, which he said was “completely unacceptable and demagogic”.

He continued that the anti-Islamic policies of zionists and arrogant powers’ are behind these hostile moves against Islam.

Expressing his anger, Khamenei opined that the Islamic nations – in particular West Asian countries – should never forget the hostilities of western politicians and leaders against Islam and Muslims.

‘Beheading is the punishment for blasphemers,’ Muslims in Pakistan launched a protest 

Following the announcement, that had also prompted the 2015 terror attack in its Paris office, leading to widespread protests across the world, Pakistan had also witnessed protests by thousands of Muslims on September 4 (Friday) led by the hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan party. 

“Death to France” was chanted as protesters called for a boycott of French products. “Decapitation is the punishment of blasphemers,” one placard at the protests read. The protesters demanded that the French ambassador to the country be expelled.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron voiced his support for Charlie Hebdo

Earlier, Charlie Hebdo had announced that it will republish cartoons of prophet Mohammed that had caused Islamic Terrorists to launch a terror attack against them in 2015 as trial against the perpetrators gets underway. “We will never lie down. We will never give up,” its director Laurent “Riss” Sourisseau said in an editorial to be published along with the cartoons in the latest edition.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron had also spoken in support of the French satirical weekly saying that it had not broken any law by republishing the cartoons. “There is… in France freedom to blaspheme that is linked to freedom of conscience. It is my job to protect all these freedoms”, Macron said during a visit to Beirut last week.

Sri Lanka: Parliamentary Group of ruling party approves proposal to ban cow slaughter

OpIndia Staff
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Sri Lanka: Parliamentary Group of ruling party approves proposal to ban cow slaughter

The Parliamentary Group of the ruling party in Sri Lanka has approved a proposal banning cow slaughter in the country. The proposal was put forward by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. In the meeting of the Parliamentary Group of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the ruling front, PM Rajapaksa had expressed the hope of banning cow slaughter.

Reportedly, his proposal was lauded by all the SLPP MPs. The meeting of the Parliamentary Group took place at 11 am at the Parliamentary premises today. Talking about the proposal, the Sri Lankan PM said that the proposal was quite old and existed since the time of Anagarika Dharmpala, a Buddhist revivalist and nationalist leader. “This is a proposal that exists since the time of nationalist leader Anagarika Dharmpala. No government was able to legislate against it,” Rajapaksa said.

The decision was taken by him in his capacity as the Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs. PM Rajapaksa had informed the Parliamentary Group about passing a legislation against cow slaughter yesterday. However, he had clarified that there would be no ban on the import of the beef considering the interests of the meat-eating people in the country.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres links Coronavirus crisis to patriarchy, condemns nationalism and populism

OpIndia Staff
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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres links Coronavirus crisis to patriarchy, condemns nationalism and populism

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres during an address at a Town Hall with young women from ‘civil society organisations’ on the 31st of August has claimed that the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic has exposed the damaging effects of patriarchy. In the same speech, he also condemned nationalism and populism.

While citizens worldwide have come to realise the utter futility of global institutions in combating the pandemic, with the WHO choosing to serve the interests of the Chinese regime instead, the UNSG insisted that the real problem was patriarchy. He said, “The pandemic is only demonstrating what we all know: that millennia of patriarchy have resulted in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture which damages everyone – women, men, girls and boys.”

Antonio Guterres said, “Protecting the rights of women and girls during this time is a top priority for the United Nations. We issued a policy brief in early April, calling on governments to take concrete action to put women and girls – their inclusion, representation, rights, social and economic outcomes and protection – at the centre of all efforts to tackle and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“While statistics indicate that women and girls are at lower risk from the COVID-19 virus itself, they are suffering because of the redirection of health funding and services. It is simply counter-productive, for example, to deprioritize maternal and reproductive health services,” he added. While his concerns regarding current circumstances are legitimate, he appears to see it exclusively from the perspective of gender when, in fact, everyone is suffering the consequences of the chaos unleashed by the virus.

Antonio Guterres also appears intent on using the crisis to implement broad based revolutionary policies to completely restructure human society, with or without the consent of the governed. Despite their monumental failure in addressing the threat posed to the world by the Chinese regime, they appear convinced that the world ought to follow their lead.

The UNSG said, “It is clear that we cannot go back to the failed policies that have resulted in the fragility we see around us – in healthcare systems, in social protection, in access to justice. This is the time to rebuild more equal, inclusive, and resilient societies. Our roadmap is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

There is little doubt that the world will have to accommodate changes in order to make it more resilient in the event of another pandemic, the jargon employed by the the UNSG to convey his message appears to be riddled with leftist dogma. Furthermore, the UN has proven to be an extremely toothless organisation in recent times. Therefore, it is unclear whether it will be able to convince China to make the required changes, such as shutting down its wet markets.

The UNSG also found the time to condemn nationalism and populism. He said, “At a time of growing nationalism and populism, the forces ranged against global solidarity can seem overwhelming.” The UN appears unaffected by the fact that populism has seen a rise in the West because the elites in those countries have failed to improve the lives of the masses.

At a time when the credibility of global institutions such as the UN and WHO is at stake, it appears that the UNSG is doing itself no favours by making bizarre comments. And the recent comments made by Antonio Guterres linking the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic with Patriarchy has earned him great criticism from people on social media.

Hrithik Roshan’s ex-wife’s sister Farah Khan Ali, whose husband was once caught with drugs, extends support to Rhea Chakraborty

OpIndia Staff
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Hrithik Roshan’s ex-wife’s sister Farah Khan Ali, whose husband was once caught with drugs, extends support to Rhea Chakraborty

Rhea Chakraborty’s arrest by the Narcotics Control Bureau has ruffled many feathers in the Indian film industry. One such so-called Bollywood ‘celebrity’ Farah Khan, mostly recognised for being related to actor Hrithik Roshan, has taken to Twitter to empathise with the actress.

Soon after Rhea was arrested for allegedly procuring and consuming drugs, Khan asked Rhea to ‘stay strong in the tough times’. “As long as your conscience is clean u will come out stronger”. Saying so, Khan asked Rhea to “have faith in God & pray every day”, as she opined that “if God put you here just know he will pull u out”.

Despite not knowing her personally, Farah Khan had conveyed her wishes to Rhea Chakraborty and her family.

Farah’s sentiments over Rhea’s arrest were so intense that she also cursed against Times Now journalist Navika Kumar, who had shared the news of Rhea’s arrest saying that she was first who had ‘smelt’ the story. Farah Khan lambasted at the senior journalist by saying: “One day you will be at the receiving end and then there will be people who will be as unkind as you have been to others. Mark my words.”

One wonders if she had never even met Rhea, why was she the first one to jump in support of Rhea Chakraborty. Probably she could feel Rhea’s pain. For the uninitiated, Farah Khan’s husband DJ Aqeel was in 2007 held in Dubai for allegedly possessing drugs. The Indian DJ was, however, let off after some days when authorities failed to find any trace of the drug in tests conducted on him. He was held for possessing Ecstasy.

It’s not surprising that many haven’t heard of Farah Khan, but everyone knows Hrithik Roshan. This little-heard ‘celebrity’ is the sister of Susanne Khan, Hritik Roshan’s ex-wife and the daughter of Sanjay Khan who was known for the role of Tipu Sultan in a popular television series in the early 1990s.

She was one of those Islamists who had gone after actor Tushar Kapoor after he had urged everyone to be little cautious about spreading fake news and false narrative about the anti-Hindu Delhi riots. When the actor had expressed shock over fake one-sided news reportage about India in the international publications, it was her who had insinuated that people are dying due to ‘incitement’ by political parties. She then accused BJP MP Anurag Thakur of instigating riots.

Farah Khan had earlier supported fake propaganda by the Pakistani army, her ‘explanation’ was even more idiotic

Farah Khan, who has vociferously come out in support of Rhea Chakraborty, has once extended her support for Pakistan too. In her desperate attempt to appear secular and insightful, she had retweeted a fake propaganda tweet by the former Pakistani Army spokesperson that had called Kashmir as ‘India Occupied J and K’. When called out for her utter stupidity, she had replied with even more stupidity, claiming that she mistook Asif Ghafoor’s propaganda tweet as something worthy of support because his handle said ‘peace for change’.

Former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar’s husband arrested by ED in PMLA case

OpIndia Staff
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Former ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar’s husband arrested by ED in PMLA case

The Enforcement Directorate has taken into custody Deepak Kochhar, husband of former MD and CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar, till September 19. Deepak Kochhar was produced before the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court earlier in the day. Kochhar was arrested late on Monday.

The ED had sought a 14-day custody of Kochhar which was opposed by his lawyer. “The arrest is illegal as my client has been cooperating in the investigation. The offence is punishable for imprisonment up to 7 years only. So, he cannot be arrested like this when he joined investigation on summons”, his lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said.

A preliminary enquiry was initiated by the CBI against Deepak Kochhar in 2017 after which an FIR was filed by the CBI last year in relation to the ICICI Bank-Videocon case. Based on the case registered by the CBI, the ED had initiated an investigation in the matter. The CBI had initiated an inquiry against the Kochhars after allegations were made that ICICI Bank had sanctioned credit facility worth over Rs 3 thousand crores to various entities against the rules.

Background of the case against Deepak Kochhar

An investigative report by Indian Express had revealed that in December 2008, a joint venture, NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd, was set up by Deepak Kochhar and Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon Ltd. 50% of the shares were held by Dhoot through his family members and the rest of the 50% were held by Kochhar and his family members. In 2010, Dhoot resigned as director of NuPower and transferred his shares to Kochhar. Thereafter, Dhoot issued the company an amount of 64 crores as loan through one of his fully-owned entities. And then he transferred the ownership of the joint venture to a trust headed by Kochhar at Rs 9 lakhs only. This transfer of ownership took place 6 months after a loan of Rs 3,250 crore was issued to the Videocon Group by the ICICI Bank. It was declared NPA in 2017 after almost 86% of the loan remained unpaid.

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