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Congress ecosystem comes together to propagate fake claims that China had 0 casualties and it ‘saved’ 10 injured Indian troops with oxygen therapy

OpIndia Staff
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Congress ecosystem comes together to propagate fake claims that China had 0 casualties and it ‘saved’ 10 injured Indian troops with oxygen therapy

On Saturday, a Twitter account by the name of Eva Zheng claiming to be from China (where Twitter is officially blocked), tweeted a video with claims that in the Galwan Valley standoff between Indian troops and the Chinese PLA, the casualty breakdown of PLA stood at 0 deaths and 5 injured.

The tweet, which now stands deleted, claimed that 10 Indian troops who were injured in the standoff were ‘assisted’ by the PLA and administered hyperbaric oxygen therapy at a PLA post.

The now deleted Chinese propaganda tweet.

This tweet was ‘liked’ by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. It was accompanied by a dubious video where one can see oxygen being supplied to some men in uniform.

Tweet ‘liked’ by Shashi Tharoor

Along with Shashi Tharoor, Congress-friendly ecosystem also came together to propagate this video.

The tweet of ‘Eva Zhang’ was spread as official Chinese casualty breakdown by abusive troll masquerading as a journalist, Swati Chaturvedi. Chaturvedi even retweeted a tweet by fellow employee with Guardian who had also shared the dubious tweet and video.

Swati Chaturvedi’s retweet

‘Professor’ Ashok Swain, too joined in in propagating this news.

Recently, Swain had said that he wants ‘Muslim Lives Matter’ protests in India along the lines of violent protests in the USA following the death of an African American man George Floyd.

However, the information as well as the video of ‘Indian soldiers being administered oxygen by Chinese PLA’ is fake.

Fake video of PLA administering oxygen to Indian soldiers

The video attached with the tweet which claimed that the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers were administering oxygen to injured Indian soldiers is also fake.

Fake video propagated as PLA administering oxygen therapy on injured Indian soldiers

The video was uploaded on a website called bilibili.com which, as per Google Translation, showed video of hyperbaric oxygen chamber in the Golden Army of Tibetan Armed Police. The above video was uploaded on 14th February 2017.

Chinese casualties at Galwan Valley

Chinese state media Global Times in an article published on 18th June had claimed that the Galwan Valley standoff is one of the biggest military confrontation between India and China in four decades which has led to casualties on both the sides. Evidently, since it is one of the biggest confrontation, it is quite obvious that the figure of 5 casualties on Chinese side is grossly understated. Moreover, Indian sources have indicated that the casualties figure on the Chinese side is upward of 40 at least.

Chinese state media on Galwan Valley casualties

And while the Chinese themselves, without disclosing the real figure, have accepted that there has been casualties on their side as well, some Indians are desperate to show that the Chinese are good samaritan helping injured Indian soldiers after inflicting the injury and that they don’t have any damages in the violent standoff.

Muslim ‘blogger’ threatens to murder ex-Muslim’s pet dog and slaughter him and his family live on TV for ‘criticizing Islam’

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim ‘blogger’ threatens to murder ex-Muslim’s pet dog and slaughter him and his family live on TV for ‘criticizing Islam’

An Ex-Muslim atheist has urged people on social media to help authorities trace a Muslim blogger in the United Kingdom after the latter threatened him and his family in one of his blogs. The blogger took offence at Harris Sultan for allegedly criticising Islam. Harris Sultan has authored a book, ‘The Curse of God: Why I left Islam’.

In the video shared by Sultan, the Muslim blogger says, “So, Harris, tell me, you are speaking about women’s rights, basically you want them to run around naked, sure that’s your opinion but when you target Islam, it becomes personal for us and we have to reply to you. Get it?” He continued, “To us, they are our family, they live in our hearts. Anyone who targets my prophet or Allah, I will go after his family.”

The blogger then went on to say that he has stalked Sultan’s family on Instagram and Facebook. He says that he has stalked the Facebook profiles of Sultan’s mother, his sister and his ‘white’ wife. The blogger says that all the information has been downloaded and everything is on file. The blogger further says, “Now I will slaughter them live on TV, in front of everyone.”

The blogger also speaks of killing Sultan’s pet dog. he also said that he had been given Sultan’s address by some Australian boy and it seemed to him that it was accurate. He also speaks of handing over Sultan’s personal details to Melbourne’s Islamic Committee.

The blogger’s primary grudge appears to be Harris Sultan’s criticism of Islam and appears motivated enough to hurt him and his family physically for it. As we have seen with Kamlesh Tiwari and Charlie Hebdo, such threats cannot be taken lightly as Jihadists are known to go out of their way to attack and kill those who criticise Islam.

Police stop ten kids running on the road near Aligarh, kids say they are going to fight against China to avenge death of Indian soldiers

OpIndia Staff
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Police stop ten kids running on the road near Aligarh, kids say they are going to fight against China to avenge death of Indian soldiers

A group of ten children aged between 7 to 10 was stopped by the police of Thana Gabhana of Aligarh who was running on the road. When policemen on duty stopped them and asked where are they the going, the reply by the kids surprised the policemen, as the children innocently said that they were going to China to avenge the death of 20 Indian soldiers.

Policemen posted at Thana Ghabana feared something wrong must have happened when they saw ten children running on the road. When the policeman stopped them and asked the reason, they innocently said, “Chin se badla lene jaa rahe hai, usne hamare jawano ko maar dia hai” (we are going to take revenge on China, they have killed our soldiers). After this, the policeman told them affectionately that they do not need to fight the enemy until they have grown up and eligible for a job. The policeman also told them, ‘as long as we exist you don’t need to fight, you stay at home and concentrate on studies.’

On the night of 15 June, China’s People Liberation Army resorted to attacking the Indian army personnel that took a violent turn which led to casualties on both sides along the LAC at the Galwan valley in Ladakh. While India has confirmed 20 casualties, the Chinese authorities have not given official figures. However, it is believed that the casualties of Chinese troops would be above 40.

It was reported that the Chinese troops had attacked unarmed Indian soldiers with barbed wire, stones, and batons studded with nails. Many of the soldiers had succumbed to the harsh environment following injuries and after falling down into the river during the bloody skirmish.

Sacked ‘deserter’ army officer nabbed in Ahmednagar for roaming around in army uniforms and using fake army Identity cards and car plates

OpIndia Staff
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Sacked ‘deserter’ army officer nabbed in Ahmednagar for roaming around in army uniforms and using fake army Identity cards and car plates

A former army officer has been arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir military intelligence and Ahmednagar crime branch for moving around in army uniform carrying fake army identity cards. The agencies claimed that the accused used to enter several military stations on the basis of fake identity cards and documents.

He had been declared as ‘deserter’ earlier, and was subsequently sacked from service on disciplinary grounds. As per reports, Jammu and Kashmir’s military intelligence in a joint operation with the Ahmednagar crime branch held the fake army officer.

Reportedly, the deserter has been identified as Prashant Patil alias Parasram Patil who was earlier posted in Assam Rifles 46 Regiment. Even during his posting in the army, he had an image of criminal type and was a regular violator of norms. In 2014, he went on leave but never returned to join duty. He was issued a show-cause notice, and subsequently, he was declared a deserter. Later on, Patil was finally sacked from the Army. He is a resident of Khanapur in Belgaum district of Karnataka.

The agencies alleged that the accused Patil had forged several army identity cards and made a dependent card in the name of his mother and wife and on the basis of these fake identity cards he entered many defence facilities. He was nabbed from Hoshing MIDC area in Ahmednagar.

The accused was nabbed by the agencies on Saturday and two Army Officer uniforms, fake identity cards, CSD cards, five phones including Indian Army stamp and five SIM cards were recovered from him. A Bolero car with fake registration number but fitted with “On Army Duty” board was also seized from him.

Following his arrest, his house was also raided, where an insignia with “Office of Commandant of 9, Para Regt (SF)”‘ written on it, a nameplate, pension cards, ATM cards of five banks, cheque books of seven banks and 14 bank passbooks in his and wife’s names were recovered.

The accused is being interrogated and cases of fraud have been registered against him in Pune’s Bundgarden and Wakad police stations.

China has blocked the official website of Narendra Modi using the Great Firewall, but has allowed Rahul Gandhi’s website

OpIndia Staff
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China has blocked the official website of Narendra Modi using the Great Firewall, but has allowed Rahul Gandhi’s website

China appears to have blocked the official website of Prime Minister Narendra Modi even though it allows the official website of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to be accessed in all its major provinces.

China is known to heavily regulate and censor domestic internet usage and actively blocks any websites or links that are seen as going against the narrative of the communist party or perceived interest of the nation. The combination of all such regulatory or technological censorship is often termed The Great Firewall of China.

It is one of the most successful internet censorship programs in the world, which restricts the access to internet sites in the People’s Republic of China. A large number of foreign websites, predominantly media and social media portals, and search engines, are blocked in China using various tools and protocols used by the censorship program run by the Communist Party government.

There are publicly available tools on the internet that tells if a particular website or URL is blocked in China or not. They are popularly known as the great Chinese firewall tests. Amid the increased tension between India and China following the aggression by China at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, we conducted this test on the official websites of Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, and found that while Rahul Gandhi’s website was ‘passed’ by the Great Firewall of China, Narendra Modi’s website was shown blocked.

This can be confirmed by the website chinafirewalltest, a tool that informs whether a website is blocked by China or not. While testing the narendramodi.in site, it informs that “No servers were able to reach your site. This means that your site is most likely NOT accessible from within mainland China.”

China firewall test for Narendra Modi’s website

But when the URL for Rahul Gandhi’s website, rahulgandhi.in is entered into the field to test, it is shown as accessible from all servers in China. It may be noted that both websites have .in as top level domains.

China firewall test for Rahul Gandhi’s website

Another online tool used to check Chinese censorship on internet sites also returns the same result. The Chinese Firewall Test tool available on the viewdns.info website shows that the narendramodi.in can’t be accessed from China. “This could indicate DNS poisoning by the Great Firewall of China”, the tool informs. DNS poisoning a common method used by the Chinese government to block access to websites.

Test results in the firewall check took on viewdns

When the same test is repeated for Rahul Gandhi’s website, this tool also informs that all servers were able to reach the site, and this means that the site should be accessible from within mainland China.

These two popular tools confirm that while the personal website of Indian PM Narendra Modi has been blocked by China using its censorship tool, no such action has been taken against the site of Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi.

The Great Firewall of China targets not only foreign websites, but also Chinese sites and platforms that are allowed to operate in the country. Contents and keywords considered unacceptable by the govt are routinely blocked from websites and social media platforms. For example, all references to the Tiananmen Square massacre are effectively blocked and removed by the censorship tools.

And these tools have now seemed to have blocked India’s versions on the LAC conflict too. According to reports, Indian embassy officials in Beijing have informed that PM Modi’s speech to chief ministers on June 18, and the comments by the spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry have been deleted from accounts of the Embassy on Chinese social media platforms, including Weibo. Weibo is a microblogging platform in China similar to Twitter, which is banned in the country. The content was removed from the embassy’s account on WeChat also.

It is noteworthy that the Congress party maintains a close association with the ruling Communist Party in China. In in 2008, the Congress party and the Communist Party of China (CPC) had signed a deal in Beijing for exchanging high-level information and co-operation between them. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) also provided the two parties with the “opportunity to consult each other on important bilateral, regional and international developments”.

Interestingly, the MoU was signed by the then Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and on the Chinese side, it was signed by none other than Xi Jinping himself, who was then the Chinese vice-president and standing committee member of the CPC’s politburo. The MoU was signed in the presence of his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi.

Moreover, during the Indo-China standoff on the Doklam issue, Rahul Gandhi had met Chinese officials multiple times. His meeting with Chinese officials during his Kailash Mansarovar visit in 2018 was kept secret, but later he had revealed it accidentally during a speech in 2019.

Government of Nepal urges India and China to resolve border disputes through ‘peaceful means’

OpIndia Staff
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Government of Nepal urges India and China to resolve border disputes through ‘peaceful means’

Amidst the border standoff and escalated tension between India and China, the Foreign Ministry of Nepal had issued a statement on Saturday, urging both the countries to resolve disputes bilaterally through peaceful means. The landlocked country had reiterated that it stood firmly for regional and world peace. Referring to both India and China as ‘friendly neighbours,’ Nepal expressed confidence that the dispute would be resolved in the spirit of good neighbourliness.

The statement by the Foreign Ministry also emphasised on the need to mitigate mutual differences between the two nuclear power nations via peaceful means for the sake of bilateral, regional, and world peace and stability. Earlier, Nepal had amended the country’s map to include Indian areas of Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani in the constitution of the country, thus leading to a conflict between the two countries

India-China Standoff

The current stand-off between India and China began on May 5-6 over China’s incursions into the India side at Pangong Tso in Ladakh. The movement of troops and heavy machinery along and across the LAC has been objected to by India. As per the ANI report, Indian forces have also been airlifted from other high altitude areas to the Eastern Ladakh sector. On Monday night, 20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel were killed when Chinese troops had attacked with stones, batons, and barbed wires. In fierce combat that took place on extremely hostile terrain, 20 Indian soldiers had lost their lives to injuries and exposure. China is believed to have suffered 43 casualties but the communist state, as usual, has been obscure about information.

China’s claims over LAC untenable and unacceptable, contradicts earlier stand, says MEA. Read full statement

OpIndia Staff
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China’s claims over LAC untenable and unacceptable, contradicts earlier stand, says MEA. Read full statement

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) today reiterated that the attempts made by the Chinese side to now advance are exaggerated and untenable claims with regard to LAC there aren’t acceptable.

In a press briefing, the MEA said that the Indian troops are familiar with the alignment of LAC in all sectors of the border areas of India and China including the Galwan valley in Ladakh. The MEA was reacting to Chinese spokesperson’s June 19 statement on the events in the Galwan Valley area. The MEA further clarified that the Indian troops have never undertaken any actions across the LAC and all the infrastructure built by India is on the Indian side of LAC only.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lijian Zhao had earlier today tweeted and claimed that in May, the Indian troops had trespassed the LAC.

The MEA, however, has refuted the claims.

The MEA stated that it was the Chinese side which had hindered India’s patrolling pattern in the area since May this year. This resulted in a face-off which was addressed by the ground commanders as per the provisions of the bilateral agreements and protocols.

The MEA again reiterated that India does not accept the contention that India was unilaterally changing the status quo. “On the contrary, we were maintaining it,” MEA said.

The full text of the MEA statement is below:

“The position with regard to the Galwan Valley area has been historically clear. Attempts by the Chinese side to now advance exaggerated and untenable claims with regard to Line of Actual Control there are not acceptable. They are not in accordance with China’s own position in the past.

Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the LAC in all sectors of the India-China border areas, including in the Galwan Valley. They abide by it scrupulously here, as they do elsewhere. The Indian side has never undertaken any actions across the LAC. In fact, they have been patrolling this area for a long time without any incident. All infrastructure built by the Indian side is naturally on its own side of the LAC.

Since early May 2020, the Chinese side has been hindering India’s normal, traditional patrolling pattern in this area. This had resulted in a face-off which was addressed by the ground commanders as per the provisions of the bilateral agreements and protocols. We do not accept the contention that India was unilaterally changing the status quo. On the contrary, we were maintaining it.

Subsequently in mid-May, the Chinese side attempted to transgress the LAC in other areas of the Western Sector of the India-China border areas. These attempts were invariably met with an appropriate response from us. Thereafter, the two sides were engaged in discussions through established diplomatic and military channels to address the situation arising out of Chinese activities on the LAC.

The Senior Commanders met on 6 June 2020 and agreed on a process for de-escalation and disengagement along the LAC that involved reciprocal actions. Both sides had agreed to respect and abide by the LAC and not undertake any activity to alter the status quo. However, the Chinese side departed from these understandings in respect of the LAC in the Galwan Valley area and sought to erect structures just across the LAC. When this attempt was foiled, Chinese troops took violent actions on 15 June 2020 that directly resulted in casualties.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) and the Foreign Minister of China, H.E. Mr. Wang Yi, had a conversation on 17 June 2020 wherein EAM conveyed our protest in the strongest terms on the events leading up to and on the violent face-off on 15 June 2020. He firmly rejected the unfounded allegations made by the Chinese side and the misrepresentation of the understandings reached between the Senior Commanders. He also underlined that it was for China to reassess its actions and take corrective steps.

The two Ministers also agreed that the overall situation would be handled in a responsible manner, and that both sides would implement the disengagement understanding of 6 June sincerely. The two sides are in regular touch and early meetings of military and diplomatic mechanisms are currently being discussed.

We expect that the Chinese side will sincerely follow the understanding reached between the Foreign Ministers to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas, which is so essential for the overall development of our bilateral relations.”

‘If 20 Indian soldiers were martyred, China lost at least double that number’: Union Minister General VK Singh

OpIndia Staff
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‘If 20 Indian soldiers were martyred, China lost at least double that number’: Union Minister General VK Singh

Union Minister General VK Singh made a significant statement regarding the India-China conflict in Ladakh. During an intrview with News24, he said that Indian soldiers had eliminated over 40 Chinese soldiers during the recent conflict where 20 Army men were martyred. The Retired General said that India had suffered the loss of 20 soldiers but at the same time, China had suffered at least more than double the number.

The Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways also said that India had also captured some soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China. And they were returned later on. He said that such things are not spoken of because they do not mean anything.

General VK Singh also said that some parts of the Galwan Valley have been under the control of China since 1962. Therefore, they continue to occupy those position even now. But he emphasised that parts of the Galwan Valley that are under the control of India are still in our control.

The specific number that General VK Singh has provided of the number of deceased in the PLA have not yet been stated in public by the Ministry of External Affairs or others in the government. However, the Prime Minister in his address to the nation has asserted that the martyred soldiers went down fighting and official statement by the Indian Army had asserted that there had been casualties on the Chinese side too.

NDA gains a crucial ground in the upper house after winning majority of the seats in the Rajya Sabha elections

OpIndia Staff
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NDA gains a crucial ground in the upper house after winning majority of the seats in the Rajya Sabha elections

The voting for the Rajya Sabha elections was held on 19 June 2020 in 19 seats in 8 states. BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, Digvijay Singh, and Shibu Soren are some of the personalities who won the race for the Rajya Sabha seats. A high-voltage drama was seen in Manipur and Gujarat at the same time that led to the delay in counting of votes. BJP succeeded in bagging three seats in Gujarat while Congress won only one seat.

The EC had announced Rajya Sabha elections for 61 seats, 55 of which were scheduled to be held on March 26 but delayed due to the pandemic. 42 of the these had been won unopposed, and the elections for the remaining 19 seats took place this week after relaxations in lockdown norms.

Of the 19 seats that went to poll, BJP won 8 seats, Congress and YSR Congress won 4 each and the rest 3 went to others. The BJP has won two seats in Madhya Pradesh, one each in Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Manipur while Congress succeeded in gaining two seats in Rajasthan and one in Madhya Pradesh.

In the total 61 seats, BJP won 17, Congress won 9, JDU 3, BJD and the TMC 4 each, AIADMK and DMK 3 each, NCP, RJD and the TRS 2 each, and others won the rest.

The Congress in Rajasthan won two out of three Rajya Sabha seats. KC Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi were declared elected, BJP’s Rajendra Gehlot won comfortably while Onkar Singh Lakhawat couldn’t get to a Rajya Sabha seat. With this, the total number of Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP is 7 now and Congress has increased its strength to 3 in Rajasthan.

The National Democratic Alliance led by BJP had 90 members in the Upper house of Parliament, and now it has increased to 101 in the 245 members upper house. The majority mark in the upper house in 123. For the first time, the number of NDA members have crossed 100 in the upper house.

Now the Bharatiya Janata Party alone has 86 seats in the house while the Congress has 41 seats. As the NDA govt has received from other parties like AIADMK, BJD, YSR Congress in several bills in Rajya Sabha, the govt should be in a more comfortable position in the upper to get legislations passed.

The voting for the Rajya Sabha seats was held amid all the precautionary measures in light of the Coronavirus pandemic. Two legislators from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh respectively went to vote in PPE gear. Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Kunal Chaudhary came in a PPE suit to vote as he has tested positive for Coronavirus. In Rajasthan, Congress MLA Wajib Ali came wearing PPE kit as he had returned to India a day before and is under quarantine as per guidelines.

Plans for Delhi Riots began in December, four stages preceded the communal violence in February: SC Advocate Monika Arora in conversation with OpIndia

OpIndia Staff
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Plans for Delhi Riots began in December, four stages preceded the communal violence in February: SC Advocate Monika Arora in conversation with OpIndia

The Delhi Police has filed several charge-sheets in connection with the riots that occurred in Delhi in February over the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act. The riots caused immense damage to life and property and during the investigation, a deep rooted conspiracy has emerged to disrupt communal harmony in the country. OpIndia recently had a conversation with Supreme Court advocate Monika Arora in connection with the matter.

Monika Arora told us that the riots occurred in February, but the planning for it has started in December 2019 itself. She told us that it was a well planned conspiracy. She said that there was nothing anti-Muslim in the law but fake news was spread about it and hate speeches were delivered and people were urged to take to the streets.

According to Monika Arora, the Delhi riots were a consequences of the hatred that was incited from December to February. She hinted towards Shaheen Bagh and the inflammatory language children could be seen using in some of the videos that went viral on social media. The Supreme Court advocate told us that the riots were a consequence of four distinct phases.

In the first stage, right after the passage of the CAA, hate speeches were delivered and university students after teaming up with outsiders hurled petrol bombs, vandalised property, and engaged in acts of arson. There clashed with the Police but later, they went to Courts and claimed that the Police was attacking them.

In the second stage, it was decided that they would occupy some important road in an area where Hindus and Muslims are roughly equal in number. Tents were put up, microphones were installed, and the constitution and the Tricolour were placed as well. However, the intention was always to incite communal violence. She also told us that anti-Hindu and anti-India slogans were also raised there.

In the third stage, mobs started gathering in large numbers in markets. On particular mob comprised of women in Burkhas raised slogans of ‘Azaadi’ in front of a Shiv Mandir. The Police were injured as well but due to the presence of a huge number of women, the Police could not do anything.

In the fourth and final stage, a road in Jafrabad was blocked by a mob of women where Safoora Zargar was present. Another road in Chand Bagh was also blocked.

Advocate Monika Arora was also not impressed with people using the pregnancy of Safoora Zargar to score victimhood points. She recalled the incident of Yamuna Vihar’s Priti Garg who was forced to throw her children off balcony in order to save their lives. The children were caught by their neighbours. Arora asked whether they were not children, whether Priti Garg was not a mother.

Th advocate said, “I am not hopeful but confident that it will be the last experiment of the ‘Dharne se dange tak’ model. Shaheen Bagh 2, Khilafat 2, Jinnah Wali Azadi, no one will be able to raise such slogans and hatch such conspiracies. No Priti Garg will have to throw her children from rooftops again. No Vinod Kashyap will be stoned to death again. We should make an effort to ensure that such an India rises before us. This is our effort as well as yours.”

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