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Popular Pakistani troll reveals how he makes sure PM Modi doesn’t win any Twitter polls, how anti-India propaganda is organised and furthered

Dibakar Dutta
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Popular Pakistani troll reveals how he makes sure PM Modi doesn’t win any Twitter polls, how anti-India propaganda is organised and furthered

In a 25-minute-long documentary titled, “War, Lies, and hashtags: Pakistan’s Twitter Battles”, Al Jazeera documents the life of a Pakistani man, Farhan Virk, who has earned a name for himself in the Twitter community. Despite being a doctor, he identifies himself as a ‘Twitter influencer’ who peddles anti-India propaganda on the platform. Farhan holds the potential to make any hashtag trending on Twitter.

Even though he claims to have received no patronage from the propaganda machinery of the Pakistani government, many suspect otherwise. Unlike others, he takes pride in calling himself a ‘troll’. Farhan runs a group, named, Team Imran Khan, and boasts of a whopping 1000 followers. They work in tandem to make anti-India hashtags viral on Twitter. He calls himself ‘alt-right’ and seeks inspiration from the likes of Alex Jones and Steve Bannon, far-right political personalities in the US.

Despite being abused by Indians for his anti-India rhetoric, Farhan is firm in his resolve. Amidst escalated tensions between the two countries, the propaganda machinery of Farhan comes handy. In one instance, when he was about to lose a Twitter poll, Farhan received a call from the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He spent 10,000 PKR to change the Twitter poll results in his favour by hiring bots from foreign firms.

Pakistani media reports ‘sarcasm’ as truth

His wife, Iram, runs a group called “Team Green” and has about 100-150 active volunteers. They hatch plans to infiltrate Indian Twitter trends so that their tweets stay at the top of the trend. “If someone calls me a troll of the army, then, it is a matter of pride,” the wife of Farhan conceded. Following the Balakot airstrike that destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camps and neutralised 300 terrorists, a desperate Pakistan claimed that only a few trees fell during the aerial bombardment. As such, Farhan, in line with the State narrative, ran the hashtag #IndiaAgainstTreePlantation. And interestingly, the Pakistani news media picked up the trends and reported as if it was actual news.

Falsehood and Propaganda

The Al Jazeera documentary also highlights how Twitter warriors can create the mirage of a war, far-fetched from the reality on the ground. Even though there were no ceasefire violations at the Sialkot border, as testified by people living close to the border, netizens from both the countries talked about happy firing along the Line of Control (LoC). “Apparently, Pakistan has occupied 25 Indian check posts,” Farhan was quoted as saying.

Following the Balakot strike, Farhan got slammed by fellow Pakistanis after he tried to downplay the befitting reply of India through surgical strike 2.0. “My ideology is of national interest. To protect your national interest, even if you say something that’s not true, but it influences the people in a positive way, then, I do not consider it propaganda,” the Twitter influencer conceded. During the dogfight that ensued between the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and Indian Air Force (IAF), Farhan and his Team Imran Khan participated in a Twitter trend, #PakistanStrikesBack, and was able to rank it as high as number two in global trends.

The propaganda material loosely revolves around altered images of politicians, doctored videos, and unverified and even defamatory news items. Reportedly, who has run over 4,500 propaganda hashtags through Team Imran Khan and is an asset for the current political dispensation in Pakistan to ward off political rivals or change narratives as per convenience, in case of international conflicts. He is a ‘thought leader’ to his followers but remains a ‘proud troll’ in the eyes of many.

Is propaganda sustainable?

While tweets cannot be monetised, Farhan has pinned his hopes on his youtube earnings. In one scene, he and his wife could be seen in a cafe and celebrating over a meagre earnings of $24. “This is my hard-earned money. Hard work is the key to success,” Farhan emphasised. Despite having a medical degree, he has chosen the profession of an ‘unpaid’ propagandist as he is under the impression that the work of twisting narratives on social media is more important than being a doctor.

“This is the age of social media warfare. Nowadays, the army needs to play a significant role on social media,” Farhan highlighted. He revealed how the party leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) come to him seeking for solutions to their problems but forget when the issues are resolved. Six months from the surgical strike, Iram’s account was suspended along with that of the volunteers of Team Green over their contentious tweets on Kashmir. With surmounting bills, Iram has moved on to mainstream media and remains hopeful to appeal to a wide range of audiences and become a successful news anchor.

As for Farhan whose life centered around social media, his Twitter account was eventually banned, for multiple violations, in December 2019. He now hopes to restart his medical career, earn money, and fight for elections. Despite his pro-government tweets, the IT cell of PTI has distanced itself from him. Farhan is a true representation of how the Pakistani government uses ambitious individuals, brainwashed by pseudo nationalism, into devoting their life for a cause that will remain unfulfilled forever.

Has social service become a way of Conversion for the Missionary mafia?

Prabhas Shakya
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Has social service become a way of Conversion for the Missionary mafia?

Social service or helping a helpless person is an act that has no connection with any particular religion or community. Whoever wants to serve the society in a selfless spirit whatever their religion may be, can do it. But in the last few years, it is seen that social service is also becoming a tactic to convert people. Specifically, the Christian missionaries are front runners in this practice.

They use this method in two ways. The first method is to project their religion as the saviour of poor and helpless in order to convince them for conversion and secondly they provide financial help to the needy. They use social service as a cover to hide their fraudulent immoral converting practices. It’s not a sudden thing that Christian missionaries go to an area and start providing service and help. This is a very well planned practice.

First, a region is selected where most of the people are backward and poor, where majority belongs to SCs and STs, as it is easy for them to incite these people against their own religion. Then these “Jesus Salesmen” start to sell their religion. Providing financial assistance is not a bad thing at all but when it is done to convert people, it becomes wrong. It becomes a false allurement given to them to get them converted. This is immoral.

Religious conversion is one’s personal matter but only if one’s decision to get converted is only due to his attraction towards the religion or it’s a religious philosophy. If his decision is shaped by his poor financial condition or he aims to achieve a better living standard by conversion, It becomes barter through religion rather than ‘freedom to choose religion’ or ‘Social Service’. We have hundreds of examples in which missionaries and organizations tried to take advantage of the helplessness of the people and to convert them by preying them into the false trap of social service.

Pandita Ramabai, a Brahman converted to Christianity after being widowed at an early age, started an organisation ‘Shanti Sadan’ in Mumbai in 1889. It was a school for widows. It was found that she carried out proselytisation in that school. She is called Social Reformer by the feminists. During the 1896 famine in Maharashtra, she housed a few thousand orphan girls and widows. They were later baptized(preached Christianity) and converted to Christianity. Proselytising during the time of natural calamity is well-known missionary activity. Ramabai was probably the first missionary in India to apply this tactic successfully.

Christian Missionaries blackmail vulnerable people to choose between being able to follow their traditions and being able to feed their family. In desperate times, many people convert. During any deep problem in life, people become more religious. At this time vulnerable are preached about Jesus. They are given financial aid also, as the evangelical army has multi-billion dollar resources.

During the Kerala floods in 2018, a Christian preacher Lazarus Mohan blamed Hindu rituals (mainly Moorthipooja) responsible for the floods in Kerala. Attacking the traditions of others and praising Jesus as a sole saviour is a well-nourished tool, used by missionaries to convert people when they are in deep distress and hoping for any divine help.

Pointing out the helplessness of other religions, Christian missionaries stress on Jesus and Christianity. Missionaries were busy in selling Jesus during Nepal Earthquakes in 2015 too.

In December 2004, a deadly Tsunami broke out in the Indian Ocean, near Sumatra. Over 2,30,000 people lost lives in it across 14 countries. In India more than 18,000 people lost lives, above 8000 lives were lost in TamilNadu. Christian missionaries use the immense human tragedy for their advantage. This Tsunami also brought an opportunity for them. In Indonesia, western Christian groups reached for proselytization. Local Muslims opposed it. American evangelist Mark Kosinski said, “These people need food but they also need Jesus. God is trying to awaken people and help them realize salvation is in Christ.” Missionary group tried to fly hundreds of children to a Christian orphanage, where they baptized (preached Christianity) them.

In TamilNadu also, this Tsunami was used as an opportunity for conversion. Lazarus Mohan, a powerful Christian preacher, called Idolatory (Moorthipooja) a Sin that brought curses and disasters to the nation. He said, instead of worshipping Jesus, people worship demons and evil spirits (he was pointing to Hindu Gods clearly). The legends of St. Thomas’s miracles were unleashed and a story was circulated titled ‘How Tsunami waves did not touch santhome cathedral’. This fraud was circulated by Jesus Salesmen in order to prey people for conversion. 

In the coastal village Akkaraipettai, an evangelical group ‘Gospel for Asia’ and their associates ‘Believers Church’ had set up an orphanage illegally. CD Suriyakala, a professor at Sathyabama University (Chennai) discovered that 108 children, mainly Hindus, had been taken to the orphanage and compelled to recite Christian prayers six times a day. KP Yohannan, the founder president of GFA, proudly admitted that 14,500 missionaries had distributed Bibles and pamphlets to Tsunami victims.

Yazidi people in Iraq lived in the mountains near the border with Turkey. ISIS forced them to flee, that made missionary work much easier. From the reports which came from Iraq in 2015, we find that the tactic of social service was used there also to convert the Yazidi people. Vian Dakhil, the only Yazidi member of Iraqi Parliament told the reporters of a news agency that –“Attached with humanitarian aids they distributed Bible and pamphlets containing information about Christianity.” Christian groups inside the Yazidi camps were working to persuade Yazidis to convert to Christianity. This incident is not just about religious conversions, it’s a clear attack on a culture.

During the 2004 Tsunami, In Moraketiya (Sri Lanka) many evangelists tried to convert people in a relief camp. They gave gifts to children to grab both the attention and affection of the residents of the relief camp. They tried to convince the people to convert to Christianity by showing them drama related to Jesus’s life. This seems like an ordinary attempt to convert as these groups usually do in every place they visit. But here in Sri Lanka, it can have very serious consequences. Because Sri Lanka is an orthodox Buddhist country and these incidents can change the perspective of Buddhists towards Christians and it will affect the lives of Sri Lankan Christians who are 7 percent of Sri Lanka’s total population.

‘Religion and social service’ or ‘Social service by religious institutions and organizations’ has a very long history. In Indian culture, social service was never done for conversion. It is always done for a good cause. In India, Temples are providing food daily for the needy. The caste of Men, Women, Children benefited by this does not matter to them. There is never a sense of conversion in the social service provided by the Temples. Social service has a very wide meaning. Limiting it to just as a way to convert is not fair at all. During the time of Kerala floods, during the cyclone disaster in Odisha recently, RSS swayamsevaks served people selflessly and tirelessly. They didn’t ask the religion of the victim of calamity nor they tried to proselytize anyone.

As the whole world is affected by Covid-19, this brings the golden opportunity for Christian missionaries to convert people. Many people lost their jobs, their earnings, their savings. They are out of money and hope as well. Missionaries are expert in utilizing such opportunities. There would be a massive conversion work going on all over India, by providing financial aid and moral help.

As we have seen, many countries around the world are hit by these missionary activities. Providing help and service in the time of distress is always welcome. Temples and Gurudwaras provide food and shelter to needy without asking their religion or trying to convert them. Why can’t churches do so? Why do missionaries need to convert people for providing help and service? Can social service not be done without conversion?

Definitely it can be done. Temples, Gurudwaras and organizations like RSS are doing it without proselytizing, then why missionaries don’t do it that way? This question needs to be answered.

(The authors of this article are Prabhas Sakya and Shivansh. They are Under Graduate students of History (Honors) at KiroriMal College, Delhi University)

Pakistan: District magistrate allows Muslim man to keep Hindu girl as wife, girl’s parents say she was kidnapped and forcefully converted to Islam

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: District magistrate allows Muslim man to keep Hindu girl as wife, girl’s parents say she was kidnapped and forcefully converted to Islam

Hindus in Pakistan, especially girls, are leading a particularly vulnerable life in the country where forced conversion of Hindus into Islam has become a common norm. In Pakistan’s Balochistan province, another Hindu girl, who was missing since June 17, is now found to have married a Muslim man. The girl’s parents have alleged that the man kidnapped their daughter, forcibly converted her to Islam against her wishes and then married her. Legitimising their marriage, the judicial magistrate has allowed the man and the girl to live together.

The Hindu girl named Reshma was missing since June 17. She hails from Garhi Sabhyo area of ​​Sindh province. Her family had been frantically searching her since her disappearance. They suspected that a man named Dil Murad Chandio abducted their daughter and forced her to convert to Islam before marrying her.

While Reshma, who belongs to the Bagri community, appeared in court in Dera Allahyar with her husband this week, claiming that she is over 20 years of age and has married Chandio as per her wish, without any coercion.

She further added that her name has been changed to Basheeran after converting to Islam. The judicial magistrate took cognisance of her testimony and allowed her to stay with her husband. However, her parents have filed a complaint at Sadar police station in Jacobabad.

Leaders of Hindu organisations have consistently protested against communities of their girl being forcibly abducted before being converted to Islam. They have alleged that Sindh has turned into a hotbed of such crimes where Hindu girls have been picked up against their wish, brazenly converted to Islam under duress and then forcibly married off to their captors.

Rampant conversions in Sindh, Pakistan

Recently, even as the pandemic was sweeping through Pakistan, a Hindu family in Karachi was attacked amidst coronavirus lockdown in Pakistan on April 12, 2020, for refusing to embrace Islam. The case is from PIA township in Karachi where a Maulvi named Usman teamed up with the Hindu family’s neighbour named Shahid to assault the minorities for their denial to accept Islam.

Before that, radical Islamists and clerics in Pakistan demanded the beheading of a Hindu minor girl named Mehak Kumari, who was abducted, converted to Islam and forcibly married to a Muslim man, for leaving Islam. Mehak was abducted from the Jacobabad district of Sindh province in Pakistan on January 15. In a video going viral on Twitter, few radical Islamists and clerics of Pakistan are heard blaming 14-year-old Mehak of murtad, or an act of Apostasy, and are demanding death punishment, accusing her of insulting Islam.

‘Masjid tere baap ka hai kya’: Mumbai girl heckled for requesting to lower volume of Azaan blaring from mosque’s loudspeaker

OpIndia Staff
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‘Masjid tere baap ka hai kya’: Mumbai girl heckled for requesting to lower volume of Azaan blaring from mosque’s loudspeaker

A girl in the Mankhurd region of Mumbai was bullied by Muslim residents for raising her voice against the blaring of azaan in high volume from a neighbourhood mosque in her area.

The victim, Karishma Bhosale, living in Mankhurd, had visited a nearby mosque to convince the authorities to lower the volume of the azaan that blared through a loudspeaker installed right in front of her window. However, when she reached the mosque with her plea, a raft of belligerent Muslims accosted her and intimidated her for requesting to reduce the volume of azaan.

In a series of tweets, Ms Karishma expressed the ordeal she had to go through at the mosque on Twitter. She alleged that within minutes of visiting the mosque for asking them to lower the volume of the loudspeaker, scores of people gathered in the mosque, including men and women and entered into an altercation with her.

As can be seen in the above video, a Muslim woman gets in a war of words with Ms Karishma, presumably to intimidate her for registering her disapproval against the high volume of azaan roaring through the loudspeakers.

In the subsequent tweets, Ms Karishma shared videos from the mosque where patrons of the mosque were seen shouting slogans against her in presence of the police officials who were trying to pacify the situation.

In the ensuing commotion, it can be seen that the police officials walk her out of the mosque premises even as people keep shouting and intimidating her. One of the voices in the background ominously shouts, “Masjid tere baap ki hai kya?” which roughly translates to “Is the mosque owned by your father”. The crowd gathered at the mosque went berserk and even police officials who were at the spot to placate the emotions had to bear the brunt of the fury of Muslims in the mosque.

Mankhurd MLA Abu Azmi reportedly asks the victim to leave her residence

Furthermore, the girl has also shared a Whatsapp message in which Mankhurd MLA Abu Azmi has reportedly asked the victim to leave her residence if she has a problem with the sound of azaan. Azmi reputedly accused the victim of inciting riots by raising her voice against azaan.

“When questions were raised on azaan in Mankhurd, Muslim men and women reached the police station to register their protest. My dear friends, this is the way, traitors in the country try to stoke riots between Hindus, Muslims and people from other castes,” a Whatsapp message attributed to MLA Abu Azmi read.

ED questions Ahmad Patel at his residence in connection with the Sterling Biotech-Sandesara scam

OpIndia Staff
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ED questions Ahmad Patel at his residence in connection with the Sterling Biotech-Sandesara scam

A team of Enforcement Directorate reached the residence of Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ahmad Patel for questioning in the Sandesara brothers money laundering case on Saturday.

As per reports, the three-member team visited Patel’s home at 23, Mother Teresa Crescent in central Delhi and recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Enforcement Directorate had summoned the Congress leader twice but Ahmad Patel cited the coronavirus pandemic and his age as a reason to stay inside and avoided the interrogation in the case.

The agency later agreed on his request and informed him that the officers will be sent at his residence for interrogation.

Ahmad Patel made health issues an excuse to evade interrogation

Making excuses like this to evade summons has emerged as a regular pattern with the Congress leader. Prior to this when Ahmed Patel was summoned for questioning by the Income Tax Department in connection with the investigation into the case of hawala and cash transactions worth Rs 400 crore reaching the Congress party office, the senior Congress leader did not appear for questioning claiming that he was unwell. He had then complained about breathing distress and got himself admitted to the Metro Hospital in Faridabad, Haryana.

As per reports, Patel was summoned as the treasurer of the All India Congress Committee.

However, Ahmed Patel’s son – Faisel Patel and his son-in-law – Irfan Siddiqui who have been interrogated by the agency earlier have confessed that they knew Chetan Sandesara – younger brother of the Sterling Biotech Ltd Director – Nitin Sandesara.

Sterling Biotech-Sandesara scam

Sterling Biotech is under investigation as it had taken a loan worth Rs. 5,000 crores from a consortium of banks including Andhra Bank, but the loan has turned into a non-performing asset.

As per the charge sheet filed in the case, owners of Sterling Group, Nitin Sandesara and Chetan Sandesara, had floated close to 300 shell companies to fraudulently move and layer the loan money abroad.

During the probe, the ED found the group’s links with Ahmed Patel. Several persons questioned by ED in relation to the case had revealed the involvement of Ahmed Patel, his son, Faisal Patel, and his son-in-law, Irfan Siddiqui in the scam.

Sunil Yadav, an employee of the Sandesara group, had said that he had handed over cash to Faisal Patel’s chauffeur and that the cash was to be delivered to Ahmed Patel’s son on behalf of Chetan Sandesara.

The CBI had booked Sterling Biotech, its directors and senior officials, and some unidentified persons in connection with the alleged bank fraud case. The FIR alleged that the total pending dues of the group companies were Rs 5,383 crore as on December 31, 2016.

‘Congress leadership is incompetent, loyalty matters to them and not genuine feedback’: Elder brother writes open letter to Sanjay Jha

OpIndia Staff
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‘Congress leadership is incompetent, loyalty matters to them and not genuine feedback’: Elder brother writes open letter to Sanjay Jha

Former Congress national spokesperson Sanjay Jha, who is currently ostracized from the Congress party for his damning indictment of the party’s leadership and accusations against the lack of internal democracy in the party, has surprisingly received a piece of advice from his own brother Vibuthi Jha.

Vibuthi Jha, the elder brother of the Congress leader Sanjay Jha has written an open letter, not only advising the former Congress spokesperson on his further political coarse but also asking him to wake up.

In his advise to his younger brother, Vibuthi Jha pointed out how foolish and dangerous it was for Sanjay Jha to “permanently wed” to any ideology.

“While we can argue the merits of Gandhian philosophy and Nehru’s ideological utopian outlook, we all see their impact, (good, bad or ugly) in shaping the India we know today. Nehru despite all his contraptions of charisma and a built up personality is a clear definition of a failed leader,” said the elder Jha.

Better late than never to grasp the reality

Hailing Sanjay Jha for voicing his dissent against the Congress party, Vibuthi Jha said it was better late than never for Sanjay Jha for finally grasping the reality after six years. Vibuthi Jha said that the Congress party has proved its incompetence once again by letting Sanjay go, proving his point that for the party loyalty alone matters and not honest feedback.

“As the official spokesperson of Congress Party, you were the commentator for your party in the verbal duels with your mighty opposition, a job you did well enough to be applauded by your party people and suffered the scorn or hatred of those who didn’t approve of Congress party and it’s 60 years of Family Rule!”

“And that’s why precisely the Congress Party must dissolve itself into nothingness!” noted Vibuthi Jha.

Congress party has no leadership: Vibuthi Jha

Sharing his past interactions with his younger brother after the 2014 election debacle, Vibuthi Jha remembered how he had told Sanjay Jha then that the Congress party needed to look within itself to understand what went wrong.  

“You remarked that, living 7000 miles away in New York, I was not on the playing field to understand dynamics at play. I’ll repeat here what i said then: standing on the sidelines enables a coach to see patterns that players often cannot. And as a coach, I reiterate that losing a match is only a failure if you don’t learn from it,” Vibuthi Jha recalled.

Further noting about the lack of leadership within the Congress party, the senior Jha said, “You have drawn parallels between corporate governance and responsibility of a CEO and your party leadership in your new manifesto for your party. I agree that without any introspection and accountability from within, it seems like the Congress lacks any platform for internal debate meaning it also lacks the  internal democracy and meritocracy that is the need of the hour.”

The result is, according to Vibuthi Jha, that the Congress party never evolved into a well run corporation and was always meant to be a classic Family Limited Partnership where loyalty alone matters.

“Perhaps it’s time for the Congress to heed that example. Better still, Let the party die and come back in a new reincarnation! I will not be surprised if the loyalists, despite clandestinely seeking change, eventually end up doing same old return to the old pony trick,” said Vibuthi Jha in his open letter to Sanjay Jha.

Continuing to advise his younger brother, Vibuthi Jha said, he as an unabashed supporter of PM Modi and the current regime, he was personally very happy with Congress party’s current discombobulated state of affairs. 

“Every hero needs a villain and the challenges to overcome, and thus the Congress party might rise to the role instead of becoming a pantomime. This is where I offer another bit of advice. To be “permanently wed” to any ideology is foolish at best, and downright dangerous at worst,” said the senior Jha in his open letter.

Last week, Sanjay Jha was removed as Congress National Spokesperson after he wrote an article critical of the Congress’ current state of inertia. It is being speculated that Sanjay Jha’s recent comments against the party leadership might have gone against him.

PTI is doing itself no good by going rogue and it can lose crores of rupees it gets each year from Prasar Bharati

OpIndia Staff
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PTI is doing itself no good by going rogue and it can lose crores of rupees it gets each year from Prasar Bharati

The Prasar Bharati is deeply anguished by news agency PTI coverage in recent times and is considering withdrawing financial support to the latter over their recent coverage. OpIndia has learnt from reliable sources that Prasar Bharati is greatly displeased with what has been described as ‘anti-national’ reporting.

PTI has been receiving huge fees from the public broadcaster, the fees are said to be in crores and it has been going on since decades. Reportedly, Prasar Bharati pays PTI over RS. 9 crores annually, which is in addition to the amount paid by PIB. Now, sources tell us that PTI’s ‘anti-national’ reporting makes Prasar Bharati believe that it does not make it feasible to carry forward the said relationship.

It is interesting to note that PTI gets crores from the Prasar Bharati ever since its inception. Currently, Prasar Bharati pays PTI approximately 9.15 crores, OpIndia has leant.

Further, sources from Prasar Bharati have confirmed to OpIndia that since 2016-2017, Prasar Bharati is trying to rationalise the amount paid to PTI as it does not think that the service provided by PTI is worth more than Rs. 2.5 crores.

In 2017-18, Prasar Bharati had rationalised the amount paid to PTI and unilaterally reduced the amount paid to PTI by about 25%. However, sources confirm that it is just the tip of the iceberg and there is a long way to go before the fees are rationalised to Rs. 2.5 crores.

Another aspect that came to the fore was that despite paying crores to PTI by Prasad Bharati, the latter does not even have a seat at the board. Largely, PTI runs from public money, however, a look at their Board of Directors reveals how it mostly runs as a private news agency.

Following are the boards members of PTI:

Board members of PTI

For PTI to run largely on public money and have no representative of Prasar Bharati does seem out of sync with how such institutions should run and this has been a bone of contention between Prasar Bharati and PTI for long.

The Rs. 9.15 crore figure was arrived at in 2013-14, in the last year of UPA 2 government. Before that, PTI was being paid Rs. 8.44 crores by Prasar Bharati. In fact, just two years before, in 2010-2011, the amount paid to PTI was 7.04 crores. The feed paid to PTI has been an incremental increase and it is now the first time that Prasad Bharati has been trying to rationalise the amount since 2016-17.

The PTI, however, by going rogue is doing itself no favours. PTI had come under great criticism recently after an interview with Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong. During the interview, the Chinese ambassador blamed India for the clash between the two countries at Galwan Valley. Journalists of other agencies were outraged by the fact that the PTI did not bother to counter-question the Chinese ambassador on his dubious claims. People have also pointed out that the ‘interview’ came across as a press released by the Chinese Communist Party rather than a genuine interview.

By peddling the Chinese propaganda and going rogue as far as its content is concerned, PTI stands to lose the crores that it earns from the public broadcaster.

Prasar Bharati is India’s largest public broadcasting agency. It is a statutory autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament and comprises the Doordarshan Television Network and All India Radio, which were earlier media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

With Prasar Bharati being a public broadcaster, it is obvious that such blatant anti-India propaganda which goes against the government of India and its stand in sensitive issues like the China conflict will not sit well.

Entire Chandigarh can feed on langar, my sense of hunger comes from New York: Watch how casual racism of BBC was exposed by chef Vikas Khanna

OpIndia Staff
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Entire Chandigarh can feed on langar, my sense of hunger comes from New York: Watch how casual racism of BBC was exposed by chef Vikas Khanna

In an interview with the BBC, Michelin star chef Vikas Khanna sharply corrected the anchor who conjectured that the chef’s generosity of feeding homeless and destitute in India amidst coronavirus lockdown was triggered by his own sense of hunger while he grew up in India.

“You have been famous now. You have cooked for Obamas, you have been on Gordon Ramsay’s show. But, you were not always like this. You are not from a rich family so I dare say you understand how precarious it can be in India,” the BBC anchor said imperiously.

However, Khanna, with his cool demeanour, tersely dispelled the unfounded notions held by the BBC anchor. “My sense of hunger did not come from India so much because I was raised in Amritsar and we have a huge community kitchen where everyone gets fed. The entire city can be fed from the community kitchen,” Khanna said while referring to the pervasive langars in the city that provide food to people.

He further added that his sense of hunger came from the sprawling American city of New York during his struggling days. “My sense of hunger came from New York, when I was struggling and really at the bottom. It was difficult for a brown kid to rise through, someone who had a dream of winning the Michelin star,” he said.

“Therefore my sense of hunger came from New York when I was living in Grand Central and sleeping around. It came from the United States, not from India,” Khanna emphatically added.

Vikas Khanna helps migrant labourers and poor with cooked meals

The stark images of migrant labourers trudging on their foot empty stomach to their native places across the breadth of India moved the celebrity chef into launching an initiative for those who had been adversely affected by the coronavirus induced lockdown in the country.

Khanna wanted to express his solidarity with those who were going hungry during the lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. So he put out an appeal on social media for those who were in the need of food during the pandemic and within no time, he received a flurry of responses on social media requesting food for the needy.

As of June 3, Khanna had supported the distribution of sanitary napkins in Diamond Harbour, West Bengal and bankrolled 57 food stations within petrol pumps in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to offer cooked meals to migrant workers hoofing it towards their respective villages. Till June 3, he had approximately distributed 9 million meals in more than 125 cities with the assistance of the National Disaster Relief Force and several other collaborators.

Supreme Court stays investigation and coercive action against journalist Amish Devgan on multiple FIRs for his ‘Lootera Chisti’ remark

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court stays investigation and coercive action against journalist Amish Devgan on multiple FIRs for his ‘Lootera Chisti’ remark

In a relief to News 18 India journalist and anchor Amish Devgan, the Supreme court has stayed investigation and coercive action against the journalist till the next hearing on the multiple FIRs filed over his remarks on Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.

The vacation bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari, and Sanjeev Khanna ruled this on a writ petition seeking to quash of the FIRs and implead all the complainants. The matter will be heard after July 8.

Devgan’s counsel Siddharth Luthra claimed that the anchor had made an “inadvertent error” during the show for which he issued an apology later. He submitted that filing an FIR against a journalist for a “slip of the tongue” is unjust and amounts to undue harassment.

Luthra said, “If this starts happening, where people are dealt with for slip of the tongue, what will happen? Errors people make. He has also profusely apologized.”

He said that multiple FIRs have been lodged against the journalist in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Telangana and it would cause grave prejudice to him if he is asked to appear in different places across the country in connection with the FIRs. Luthra said that Devgan’s family members are also being threatened and harassed.

The counsel appearing for the complainants for Maharashtra said that Amish Devgan used the term “lootera Chishti” more than once during the show.

Amish Devgan while hosting a debate on 15 June on PILs regarding the Places of Worship Special Provision Act on his show ‘Aar Paar’ he had allegedly made objectionable remarks against Sufi saint of Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Moinuddin Chishti, who is popularly known as Khwaja Ghareeb Nawaz.

In the news debate, Devgan was seen referring to Chishti as an invader who had tortured and forcefully converted the Hindus of India. However, Devgan later apologized saying that he had mistakenly named Chishti in place of Allauddin Khilji.

Devgan had taken to Twitter to issue an apology. He wrote, “In one of my debates, I inadvertently referred to ‘Khilji’ as Chishti. I sincerely apologize for this grave error and the anguish it may have caused to followers of the Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti, whom I revere. I have in the past sought blessings at his dargah. I regret this error.”

After this, mulitiple FIRs were registered against Amish Devgan in multiple places. Controversial Islamic organisation Raza Academy, which is known for its involvement in the Azad Maidan riots, has also filed a complaint against Amish Devgan under section 295A, 153A, 34,120B,505(2) and Disaster management act for making insulting remarks against Moinuddin Chisti

Prasar Bharti writes to PTI, to review relationship after the news agency provides a platform for China to run its propaganda

OpIndia Staff
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Prasar Bharti writes to PTI, to review relationship after the news agency provides a platform for China to run its propaganda

The Prasar Bharti is deeply anguished by news agency PTI’s coverage in recent times and is considering withdrawing financial support to the latter over their recent coverage. OpIndia has learnt from reliable sources that Prasar Bharti is greatly displeased with what has been described as ‘anti-national’ reporting.

PTI has apparently been receiving huge fees from the public broadcaster, the fees are said to be in crores and it has been going on since decades. Reportedly, Prasar Bharti pays PTI over RS. 9 crores annually, which is in addition to the amount paid by PIB. Now, sources tell us that PTI’s ‘anti-national’ reporting makes Prasar Bharti believe that it does not make it feasible to carry forward the said relationship.

Sources also tell us that PTI has been averse towards a review of the same since 2016-17. But in light of PTI’s recent coverage, Prasar Bharti has initiated a review of the relationship between the two. We are told that PTI will be informed of the decision soon.

PTI had come under great criticism recently after an interview with Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong. During the interview, the Chinese ambassador blamed India for the clash between the two countries at Galwan Valley. Journalists of other agencies were outraged by the fact that the PTI did not bother to counter-question the Chinese ambassador on his dubious claims. People have also pointed out that the ‘interview’ came across as a press release by the Chinese Communist Party rather than a genuine interview.

The India-China tensions at LAC

Twenty Indian soldiers were martyred during a clash at the Line of Actual Control between India and China. China is believed to have lost significantly more men. The clash was a consequence of aggressive behaviour by China at the LAC, which is consistent with how it has behaved with other countries since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, since then, China has been blaming India for the clash and insists that the clash occurred as a consequence of Indian aggression. It has also claimed through its mouthpieces that US influence on India is to be blamed for it. However, in the interview with the Chinese ambassador, PTI allowed him to propagate his version of events without making an effort to highlight the actual reality of the events that transpired.

Past Incidents of Fake News by PTI

There have been numerous occasions in the past when the PTI has peddled fake news, on certain occasions, even on communally charged matters. Earlier in April, PTI had claimed that one Mehboob Ali was lynched on suspicions of being infected with the coronavirus. However, later it turned out that he was alive.

The PTI has spread fake news on matters of politics as well. Prior to the Delhi Elections in February, PTI had claimed that only 25% of AAP candidates had serious criminal cases against them. But in reality, the number was upwards of 50%.

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