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Comparing African Americans to Indian Muslims in India is like reading history upside down

Abhishek Banerjee
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Comparing African Americans to Indian Muslims in India is like reading history upside down

In America, the outpouring of public anger and outrage continues. The killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer has brought back America’s worst memories, as well as the worst of its lived realities. On the one hand, the history of slavery and segregation. On the other, the everyday prejudice and discrimination faced by African Americans in the United States.

We have to ask ourselves: was the case of George Floyd really so different from that of Ankit Sharma?

You may have already forgotten who Ankit Sharma was and how many wounds there were on his body when it was dumped into a drain in Delhi. Never mind. It happens. I guess you cannot name a single person who perished inside S-6 compartment of Sabarmati Express at Signal Falia near Godhra Railway station on Feb 27, 2002.

Never mind.

Today, everything is global. So we Indians cannot stop talking about what is happening in the United States. Questions about race, inequality and social justice in America have lit up both mainstream and social media in India.

Amid all this, a curious phenomenon has emerged. Indian liberal elites are drawing parallels between African Americans and Indian Muslims. This is shocking, insensitive, ill-informed and an insult to the oppressed people throughout history.

Slavery Vs the ruling class

In the US, African Americans have faced slavery and segregation.

In India, Muslims have been the traditional ruling class.

In India, it is Hindus who have faced subjugation. The ruling class imposed Jaziya tax on Hindu subjects. Numerous temples were destroyed. Ultimately, Partition happened. Pakistan was set up as an apartheid state. Millions of Hindus fled and sought refuge in India.

The last major flight of Hindus happened between 1989 and 1991. That’s when lakhs of Hindus had to flee their homes in the only Muslim majority state in independent India. That was barely thirty years ago. How much more is needed before Indian society comes to accept the reality of the oppression faced by Hindus?

And yet, why is the Indian elite reading history upside down? How did they manage to cast Indian Muslims as victims of Hindu oppression?

Denying history

Indeed, there is a lot that we in India can learn from the discourse that is currently happening in America. For one, America does not deny the dark chapters of its history. The horror of slavery and segregation is taught in great detail. The focus is on making sure that everyone knows what happened. So that it never happens again.

In India, we see quite the opposite. Everything from our history books to newspapers make a huge effort to deny and cover up the atrocities faced by Hindus. A myth of “Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb” has been imposed upon our minds. The oppressive rulers are cast as heroes. Even Aurangazeb. A certain historian, for example, has recently built a career out of glorifying him. In fact, she argues, in all seriousness, that Aurangazeb understood freedom of religion long before the modern world did.

Only recently, the ground in Ayodhya was dug up and idols emerged. Eminent historians and intellectuals had been stonewalling it for decades.

On the contrary, American historians have taken great pains to document the injustices of slavery. They have not tried to sugarcoat it, nor make excuses for it.

Multiple systems of privilege

American history texts do not speak of an imaginary utopia where black and white folks lived together in harmony. But we have the myth of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb.

Now this does not mean individual Muslims and Hindus were never nice to each other. I am sure there were several white plantation owners who treated their slaves humanely. But this is not an excuse to change the broad contours of history. One was the slave owner; the other was the slave. One class paid Jaziya tax; the other collected it.

Whenever the painful history of Hindus is brought up, the Indian intellectual elite has another diversionary arrow in its quiver: talking about the caste oppression in Hindu society.

As if caste oppression within Hindu society somehow negates the oppression that they have faced from outside.

Indeed, multiple systems of privilege exist independently in society at the same time. And they don’t cancel each other out.

This is really easy to understand. For instance, factory workers in England had miserable working conditions during the industrial revolution. At the same time, Britain put its colonial grip over India. A single person can be on the privileged side of one divide and on the oppressed side of another. One does not cancel out the other.

The modern term for this phenomenon is “intersectionality.” The Indian elite should really stay up to date on the latest in the world of wokeness.

Here is a simpler example. There’s male privilege in every community. Does pointing out male privilege cancel out the history of caste oppression? That’s absurd. The Indian elite does not really want to argue. They just want to change the subject. Because they know they have a lot to hide.

Watch out! The Indian elite is not just hiding how Hindus faced oppression as a community. They are just as invested in supporting the injustices that Indian “secularism” imposes on all disadvantaged sections, including backward castes.

For example, minority institutions such as Aligarh Muslim University do not have SC/ST quotas. Even though these are fully government-run institutions.

Indian liberals supported Article 370 that discriminated against Dalits

Do not forget how Indian liberals supported Article 370. Members of the Valmiki community were invited to Kashmir in 1957 to take up jobs as sanitation workers. However they and their descendants were not allowed to have permanent residency certificates. They could not buy land or take up any government job other than being sanitation workers. Even the historic 2018 Supreme Court verdict legalizing homosexuality did not apply to Jammu and Kashmir. Because of Article 370.

Don’t forget how liberals supported Triple Talaq. Don’t forget that kids from poor families cannot avail their rights under RTE in minority-run schools. Yes, Indian “secularism” will even shut the door on a five-year-old kid from a poor family, who is seeking an education.

In other words, Indian ‘secularism’ has been a yoke on nearly everyone’s shoulders. On the shoulders of Hindus, backward castes, women, LGBTQ, the poor. Indian ‘secularism’ has only ever helped Islamist patriarchy.

In America, people are now speaking loudly against white privilege. When will India learn?

Here’s how liberals in USA were celebrating, justifying and inciting riots after George Floyd’s death

OpIndia Staff
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Here’s how liberals in USA were celebrating, justifying and inciting riots after George Floyd’s death

The murder of George Floyd in the USA has led to a wave of riots in the United States. Violent mobs have rampaged through the streets pillaging and looting stores and engaging in vandalism and arson. During all of this, liberals were celebrating the spree of violence, justifying it, inciting riots but eventually, they decided to blame Trump supporters for initiating the riots.

But the Internet does not forget. There are screenshots of numerous tweets that are available which prove that liberals with verified handles were openly inciting violence and encouraging it. therefore, they cannot get away by blaming anyone else for the riots. Former ESPN NBA reporter Chris Palmer said on Twitter, “Burn that shit down” speaking of a police precinct that was burnt down. Later, when the violence reached his vicinity, he hypocritically panicked and called the rioters ‘animals’.

An Indian American ‘stand up comic’ urged rioters to ‘burn down white neighbourhoods’ so that “companies are afraid to move back there”. He encouraged rioters to do that so that when property prices fall as a consequence, they can be bought at cheap prices.

The Fairfax Democrats, which is an important unit of the Democrat party, called the riots “an integral part of the country’s march towards progress”. They appear to believe that such behaviour is the proper course of action to honour the legacy of George Floyd.

Fairfax Democrats justified the George Floyd Riots
The incendiary tweet by Fairfax Democrats

Feminist poet Olivia Gatwood urged rioters to “burn it down”. She also said, “F*** property” and “F*** Cops”. She has since then locked her account.

The tweet by Olivia Gatwood

The Base, which is an anarchist centre in Brooklyn, opined that it is the responsibility of all “revolutionary” organisations and collectives to “support and push the rebellion as far as possible”. “Anyone peace policing and stifling revolt is an agent of the state and should be treated as such,” they opined.

The tweet by The Base

The son of Martin Luther King Jr. said that a “riot is the language of the unheard”. He claims to be a ‘global human rights leader’.

The tweet by the son of Martin Luther King Jr.

Colin Kaepernick, controversial American football player, did not shy away from inciting violence either. He said, “The cries for peace will rain down, and when they do, they will land on deaf ears, because your violence has brought this resistance. We have the right to fight back!” It is not clear, however, how looting and destroying Black communities help George Floyd.

The tweet by Colin Kaepernick

The tweets presented here are only a microcosm of the open incitement to violence peddled by liberals on social media. They now seek to blame Donald Trump and his supporters for the riots in order to escape taking the blame for the same. Looting and riots were justified and glorified on Twitter during the same.

Twitter, however, which was quick to censor US President Donald Trump’s tweet for allegedly inciting violence, did not take any action on verified liberal handles that were deliberately encouraging violence. Apart from the hypocrisy of liberals, it also goes on to demonstrate the dual standards of censorship that is applied by social media giants.

“Chacha hai, aisa kabhi nahin kar sakte,” Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s niece alleges torture, sexual assault by his brother, says the actor did not support her

OpIndia Staff
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“Chacha hai, aisa kabhi nahin kar sakte,” Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s niece alleges torture, sexual assault by his brother, says the actor did not support her

As per the report published in TOI, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s niece has alleged torture and sexual abuse by one of her uncles, Nawazuddin’s brother, when she was a child. She told ETimes that a sexual harassment complaint had been filed against her uncle. She has alleged that she was sexually harassed in her childhood by her uncle.

In the conversation, she mentioned that when she was two years old, her parents got divorced. Her stepmother tortured her a lot. As a child, she was unable to understand what her uncle was doing to her. However, when she grew up, she realised it was a different kind of touch. She claimed there was violence too.

False cases against in-laws

Nawazuddin’s niece has a court marriage. She also claimed that her father and her uncle, Nawazuddin are harassing her in-laws too. She alleges that her father and Nawazuddin have filed false cases to harass her in-laws and that they never believed her when she talked about the childhood sexual assault.

“My father and the rest of the family never believed me. Every six months, my father files some cases against my in-laws,” She told ET. She further alleged that when she told Nawazuddin about the childhood trauma she went through, even he did not believe her. “Chacha hai, aisa kabhi nahi kar sakte” (He is your uncle. He cannot do anything like this.) Nawazuddin reportedly told her when she confided in him about the sexual assault by his brother.

Recently, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s wife, Aaliya Siddiqui, filed for divorce and alleged that she had faced mental and physical torture by her in-laws. Aaliya also mentioned that she changed her name back to Anjana Kishor Pandey and did not want to be reminded that she is using someone’s identity for her benefit.

George Floyd case: Solidarity posts by social media users backfire as crucial information gets lost under the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag

OpIndia Staff
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George Floyd case: Solidarity posts by social media users backfire as crucial information gets lost under the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag

The unfortunate killing of George Flyod in Minneapolis by a White American cop has once again brought to the fore the festering racial discrimination against the Black Americans. The incident became a rallying point for Americans longing for the fulfilment of one of their country’s foundational principles of the right to life, liberty and happiness.

Scores of demonstrators have hit the streets demanding equality and end of racial discrimination that has so far eluded the American society. However, soon the protests turned violent and many have taken advantage of the ensuing chaos to loot and ransack shops in many cities across the country. Many protesters have also taken to social media websites to voice their support for the Black population of the country who appear increasingly beleaguered with a surge in ethnic intolerance towards them. 

Hashtags such as #BlackLivesMatter and #BLM have emerged on social media websites such as Twitter, Instagram and other platforms where people are showing solidarity with the Black community against all forms of racism, violence and bigotry. Channelling the collective fury over the death of George Floyd, artists, executives, and companies from across the music business called out to participate for a silent protest on Tuesday— though the lack of clear messaging about the protest made it open to more than one interpretation.

Music Industry in US called for Blackout Tuesday(Source: CNN)

Heeding to the Blackout Tuesday called by the music industry, a raft of social media users, especially on Instagram, shared pictures of black squares and a black screen to express their solidarity with the black victims of police brutality. But several of them tagged their posts with #BlackLivesMatter and #BLM, drowning out the vital information about the protests, organization donations, and document police violence.

While the posts containing black squares and screens by users may be well-intentioned, several analysts and social media users highlighted that sharing black pictures with a bunch of important hashtags clogs the information channel and renders the hashtags insignificant.

A Twitter user pointed out how oodles of posts containing black squares and boxes posted by well-meaning Instagram users overwhelmed the hashtags with blank images and drowned out the crucial information related to protests and online campaign against the pervasive racial discrimination.

A Twitter user @anthoknees pointed out the problem of sharing black images as a mark of hmage to the victims of racial discrimination. He urged users to shun sharing such images which could intentionally or unintentionally make the vital information used on ground and online obscure.

Another Twitter user, Tatianna, too, tweeted that sharing black squares and boxes on Instagram was making the BLM hashtag useless. She urged people to not use the important hashtags so critical information is not drowned beneath the sea of solidarity messages.

Masood Azhar’s nephew Ismail Alvi alias Fauji Bhai, IED expert behind the 2019 Pulwama attack, killed by security forces in J&K

OpIndia Staff
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Masood Azhar’s nephew Ismail Alvi alias Fauji Bhai, IED expert behind the 2019 Pulwama attack, killed by security forces in J&K

In a massive success for the Indian security forces, Islamic terrorist Mohammad Ismail Alvi alias Fauji Bhai aka Lambu, who is the nephew of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has been killed by security forces in an encounter in J&K’s Pulwama.

According to the reports, Ismail Alvi was the mastermind behind the Pulwama terror attack and it is also believed that the Jaish terrorist had the assembled IED that was used in the February 2019 terror attack that killed 40 CRPF Jawans.

“Ismail is an IED expert and helped other bombers of the Pulwama attack to fit the bomb in Maruti Eeco van,” an army officer had revealed.

It is also reported that Mohammad Ismail Alvi, alias Lambu, was also involved in the last week’s failed bombing in Pulwama’s Ayangund area in Jammu and Kashmir. “We have information that Ismail Lambu planned to carry out similar car bombing in one of the camps or a convoy. The bomb was placed in the Santro car but it was detected on time in the wee hours on Thursday,” another officer said.

On Wednesday, the security forces had launched a cordon and search operation in the Kangan area in the south Kashmir district in the morning following information about the presence of Jaish terrorists. The search operation turned into an encounter as terrorists opened fire towards the forces, who retaliated and killed three Jaish terrorists in the encounter.

The identity of the other terrorists is being ascertained by the security forces. The forces have recovered incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition from the site of the encounter.

Fauji baba alias Ismail was behind the recent foiled terror attack

The encounter of Ismail alias Fauji Bhai comes just a week after the Jammu and Kashmir police in a joint operation with security forces had averted a major attack after they received information that a terrorist was moving in a car laden with explosives. 

According to the reports, Ismail Alvi, who is the current head of the Jaish in the Valley, had filled the car with explosives in order to carry out a terror attack in the valley similar to the earlier 2019 Pulwama attack.

The initial investigations had revealed that the white Santro car in which IED was fitted by Ismail belonged to Hizbul Mujhauddin terrorist Hidayatullah Malik.

The suspected vehicle arrived at night and a few rounds of bullets were fired at it. The driver abandoned the vehicle a bit further down the road and managed to escape in the darkness.

On inspection, the car was found to be carrying at least 40 kg explosives in a drum. The attempted terror attack has a great resemblance to the one in Pulwama where a vehicle-borne IED was used in a suicide attack.

Later,  the vehicle was exploded in-situ by bomb disposal squads. The controlled explosion, which was video recorded, completely destroyed the car, giving the indication the power of the bomb it was carrying. 

Further, according to security forces, Lambu, who is often referred to as Ismail Bhai, came to India sometime in late 2018 and helped Pulwama attack co-conspirators Mudassir Khan, Khalid, and Mohammad Umar Farooq to obtain explosive material including gelatin sticks from stone quarries and ammonium nitrate to build IEDs to carry out attacks in Pulwama.

Netizens challenge Vir Das to mock Islam and its prophet as he mocks Hinduism after he asks people to pay for his jokes

OpIndia Staff
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Netizens challenge Vir Das to mock Islam and its prophet as he mocks Hinduism after he asks people to pay for his jokes

Political activist Ramesh Solanki has set in motion an interesting turn of events involving comedian Vir Das. On Tuesday, Solanki threw an open challenge at the comedian to joke about ‘Izlam’ and the ‘Pròphet’ in his comedy acts. Vir das carefully skirted away from the challenge saying that he does not crack jokes for free and suggested that Solanki check out his shows on Netflix.

The inadvertent affect of the comedian’s tweet has been that people are now offering him money to go through with the challenge. People are coming forward and offering him to crack jokes on the Muslim community as a challenge.

Ramesh Solanki himself has assured Vir Das payment for his services should he take up the challenge. He also told the comedian to send him the links where he can find jokes on Islam and its prophet, he said that he already has a Netflix subscription and promised to buy 10 more should Vir Das take up the promise.

Vir Das has not responded yet to the offer of payment for his services as a comedian should he crack jokes on Islam and its prophet. It’s not clear whether he will take up the challenge or not but given the fate that befalls those who mock or criticise Islam, like Charlie Hebdo, it will not be surprising if he doesn’t. It appears Hinduism is made the butt of jokes because there is no apparent threat to one’s life.

Vir Das is a vocal opponent of Prime Minister Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has been heavily criticised by people on social media for his hypocrisy and nonsensical criticism of the ruling dispensation.

AAP leader Tahir Hussain transferred Rs. 1.1 crores to shell companies, anti-CAA protesters told to be prepared for ‘big action’ during Trump visit: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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AAP leader Tahir Hussain transferred Rs. 1.1 crores to shell companies, anti-CAA protesters told to be prepared for ‘big action’ during Trump visit: Reports

Former Councillor from Aam Aadmi Party Tahir Hussain had distributed money among anti-CAA protesters and several others from the locality and they were told to be prepared for “big action”, the second charge-sheet filed in the anti-Hindu Delhi riots case says. The charges-sheet says that the now-suspended AAP leader transferred Rs. 1.1 crores to shell companies and later received the money in cash.

The investigation says that Tahir Hussain transferred Rs. 92 lakh to the accounts of Meenu Fabrication and SP Financial Services, Rs 20 lakh to Show Effect Pvt Ltd and another Rs 20 lakh to Yudhvee Impex. The money was transferred in the second week of January and was later used to prepare for the riots at the national capital.

As per a report by Indian Express, the charge-sheet says that Umar Khalid told Tahir Hussain “to be prepared for something big/riots at the time of Trump’s visit”, and “he and other PFI members will help him (Hussain) financially”. “Hussain claimed Saifi gave him money for preparations and he, from the account of companies owned by him, transferred Rs 1.10 crore to fake companies in the second week of January. He later got that amount in cash through a chain of transactions and started his preparations. He also distributed cash to anti-CAA protesters. His co-accused and several other persons in his locality also told his other supporters to get ready for big action. He also got his licensed pistol released from Khajuri Khas police station when he learnt that some persons were organising pro-CAA demonstrations nearby, to teach them a lesson,” the charge-sheet says.

The Tahir Hussain Chargesheet

The charge-sheet mentions that fifteen people, including Tahir Hussain, played a pivotal role in the riots that took place outside Hussain’s house in Khajuri Khas, Delhi. His younger brother, Shah Alam was also arrested. Tahir’s licensed pistol, which was used by him during the riots, was impounded by the police during the investigation.

Tahir along with others have been booked under 109, 114, 147, 148, 149, 186, 353, 395, 427, 435, 436, 452, 454, 153A, 505, 120B, of the Indian Penal Code and 3/4 PDPP Act and Arms Act.

The charge-sheet notes an interesting finding that the AAP councillor had released his pistol from PS Khajuri Khas on February 22, 2020, one day prior to the starting of the riots in Delhi. Here again, Hussain was found in contact with Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi, who were a part of a larger group of persons involved in inciting riots in Delhi.

The Jafrabad Riots Case

A case was registered by Delhi Police for murder and riots that took place on February 25, 2020, on 66 Futa Road, outside Crescent Public School, near Jafrabad Metro Station, Delhi. A man named Aman had died due to gunshot injury during the riot.

The investigation into the riots that took place in Jafrabad revealed the involvement of a certain “Pinjra Tod Group”, a far-left organisation, in inciting the riots in the region. The Delhi Police had recently arrested two persons in connection with the riots that ensued in Jafrabad.

On May 23, the Special cell of Delhi police had arrested two women named Natasha Narwal and Devangna Kalita in the North-east Delhi riots case. Both the women are founding members of Pinjra Tod, which was established in 2015.

The Delhi Police had alleged that both the women-Natasha and Devangana were involved in hatching the conspiracy to incite riots in Jafrabad. Natasha was booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for her role in inciting the anti-Hindu communal riots in Northeast Delhi in February.

The FIR against them mentions that they are charged under Sections 147, 148, 149, 186, 353, 332, 333, 323, 283, 188, 427, 307, 302, 120B, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and under the Arms Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. The two arrested women were also a part of a larger conspiracy and were found to be associated with “India Against Hate” group and Umar Khalid.

Searching porn in incognito? Google is possibly recording you, and now it has been sued for $5 billion

OpIndia Staff
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Searching porn in incognito? Google is possibly recording you, and now it has been sued for $5 billion

Alphabet Inc.’s Google on Tuesday was sued with a proposed class-action suit for violating the privacy of millions of its users by monitoring their internet use from browsers set in “incognito/private” browsing mode. The lawsuit was filed against the tech giant in San Jose, California, and accused the search engine behemoth of “covert and unauthorized data collection from virtually every American with a computer or phone.”

Secretly collecting information of users?

The lawsuit seeks at least $5 billion from the Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, for secretly collecting information about what people view online and what they browse, even if they use what Google calls “incognito” mode.

The law firm Boies Schiller Flexner has filed the class action suit. “People everywhere are becoming more aware and concerned that their personal communications are being intercepted, collected, recorded, or exploited for gain by technology companies they have come to depend on,” the law firm stated in their filing.

The complaint filed against Google states that the organisation collects information from a host of other applications such as Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager, web-site plug-ins and smartphone apps whether they click on Google-supported ads or not. The litigant mentioned that such surreptitious activities by Google help the organisation in learning about the users’ friends, hobbies, interests, food habits and even the “most intimate and potentially embarrassing things” they surf online.

“Billions of times a day, Google causes computers around the world to report the real-time internet communications of hundreds of millions of people to Google,” the complaint read.

Covert methods to gather unauthorised data

The complaint stated that Google cannot continue employing covert methods to gather unauthorised data from every unsuspecting American with a computer or phone. Google spokesperson, Jose Castaneda, said that the organisation will vigorously defend itself against the allegations made against it.

“We explicitly state every time you open an incognito mode that the websites might be able to draw details of your browsing activity,” he added.

While the users may believe that the incognito mode shields them prying online eyes, computer security analysts have long asserted that Google and other rival organisations might extract information from multiple browsing modes used by the users for creating augmented user profiles based on the inputs gleaned from tracking their activities.

The proposed class-action suit reportedly includes millions of users and seeks $5000 as damages per user or three times actual damages, whichever is greater.

Modi 2.0 government asserts its commitment to uproot corruption from India, warns the ‘high and mighty’

OpIndia Staff
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Modi 2.0 government asserts its commitment to uproot corruption from India, warns the ‘high and mighty’

The Modi government recently completed the first year of its second term, known popularly as Modi 2.0. PM Modi, in his address to the people of India, had reiterated his promise for his government’s commitment for a stronger, healthier and corruption-free India.

Chargesheet against P Chidambaram and his son

In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet against former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram. As per reports, the chargesheet was filed in the court of special CBI judge Ajay Kumar.

The chargesheet names both Chidambaram and his son Karti as beneficial owners of several shell firms incorporated both in the country and abroad. The Chidambaram duo is facing charges of financial misappropriations and violations regarding the FIPB approval given to INX Media during P Chidambaram’s tenure as India’s finance minister.

It is also notable here that the former union minister, considered ‘untouchable’ for a long time, was arrested by the CBI last year and had spent over 106 days in custody before managing to get released under strict bail conditions.

The INX Media case

P Chidambaram is accused in the INX Media scam which involves charges of bribery and lobbying in granting foreign investments worth over Rs 300 crores to INX Media. INX Media, later known as NewsX, was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee of the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. Chidambaram is accused of misusing his power as the finance minister to grant INX Media an FIPB clearance.

Chargesheet against defence lobbyist Sanjay Bhandari

The crackdown on defence lobbyists and the unearthing of the massive procurement scams done under the UPA was another highlight of the Modi 1.0 government. With extradition of a number of major players involved in the defence dealings, the extent of corruption and international play involved was exposed.

Defence lobbyist Sanjay Bhandari remains a fugitive. However, during the past couple of years, the extent of his dealings with several international defence firms and their extensive roots of corruption, bribery and quid-pro-quo arrangements with a number of politicians and key players have emerged.

Bhandari was under investigation since 2010 in the charges of wrongly influencing defence deals. In May 2016, his offices were raided by the Income Tax Department as part of an investigation in a tax evasion case against Bhandari and his company. During the raids, confidential defence ministry documents were found in his possession, which included documents related to India’s proposal to buy mid-air refuellers.

The charge sheet filed on Monday reportedly details how the arms dealer invested the proceeds of his crime. The ED has also sought a non-bailable warrant against Bhandari to enable it to file an extradition request. An Interpol red-notice is already there against Bhandari.

It is notable here that Bhandari also reportedly had links with Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. It was accused that Bhandari had helped Vadra launder money through properties in London. Bhandari is also being probed by the CBI for a Rs 2,895 crores deal for Pilatus basic trainer aircraft. The ED had arrested CC Thampi, for his alleged link with Vadra’s property deals and Bhandari last year.

Tweet by PM Narendra Modi’s website

Interestingly, the official Twitter handle of PM Narendra Modi’s website narendramodi.in shared a recent article about the government commitment to continue its war against corruption hours after the chargesheets were filed.

Though the article highlighted the action taken against corrupt bureaucrats and the efforts to remove corruption by promoting digital India and incorporating technology to root out middle-men, it also shares some interesting lines.

It wrote, “The high and mighty, who were earlier considered too powerful to be out of the ambit of law, are finding it impossible to escape justice.”

CNN News 18 withdraws fake news misquoting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Ladakh standoff

OpIndia Staff
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CNN News 18 withdraws fake news misquoting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Ladakh standoff

Media outlet CNN News 18 has withdrawn the story it had based on its interview with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh where they had misquoted and misinterpreted his quote on Ladakh standoff.

CNNNews18 tweet on withdrawal of story

On Tuesday, Defence Rajnath Singh, speaking to Network 18 journalist Amish Devgan, addressed concerns regarding the current stand-off between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which has escalated tensions between the two countries.

In the interview, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also acknowledged that China had moved troops in significant numbers near the LAC during the ongoing stand-off. The Defence Minister also expressed hope to resolve the stand-off through diplomatic and military level talks.

Union Minister had also confirmed regarding the large presence of Indian troops to counter Chinese aggression on the LAC and assured that the government will not let anyone hurt country’s self-respect.

In the below video, at 0:50 mins, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refers to differing perceptions of LAC between both China and India while noting about the presence of Chinese troops across LAC. Most importantly, the Defence Minister did not answer or confirm anything regarding presence of Chinese troops the LAC to enter the Indian territory.

However, the usual suspects in the media claimed that the Defence Minister in the interview to Network 18 admitted that a “sizeable number” of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had entered Indian territory, especially into areas in eastern Ladakh despite there were no such statements made by Rajnath Singh in the interview.

Soon, self-proclaimed ‘defence experts’ indulged in a misinformation campaign to target the Modi government over the alleged statements made by the Defence Minister to insinuate that the government allowed China to disrespect India’s sovereignty by allowing the PLA troops to enter eastern Ladakh.

‘The Wire‘ did not waste any time to report misleading statements by attributing false statements to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, which he had never made in the first place.

The Wire misquoting Defence Minister

Even other media outlets like Outlook, Business Standard, Economic Times and Scroll also made similar claims stating Defence Minister had admitted to the entering of Chinese troops inside Indian territory near Eastern Ladakh.

Ajai Shukla, a known conspiracy theorist of the Congress era, brazened out to peddle the same misinformation to claim that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh publicly admitted that Chinese soldiers had crossed into India’s side of the LAC in large numbers.

Shukla, who has been pushing false information on social media ever since the current stand-off started between two countries, took to Twitter to state that he was glad that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh publicly accepted what he was saying from the last few days. Ajai Shukla, since few days, has been pushing pro-Chinese narrative claiming China has set in camps, deployed large number of troops. Shukla had also claimed that there was an incursion by the Chinese troops into Indian territory.

Ajai Shukla’s tweet

The misleading claims made by certain media outlets and self-proclaimed security experts were in fact debunked by credible experts immediately.

Later in the day, the official fact-checking agency PIB took to Twitter to fact-check claims made by ‘defence expert’ Ajai Shukla and categorically denied that no such statement was issued by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh claiming Chinese troops had crossed Indian territory in Eastern Ladakh.

The PIB fact-checked Shukla to state that the Rajnath Singh was referring to differing perceptions of LAC and the presence of Chinese troops, which was misinterpreted as if Chinese troops entered the Indian side of LAC.

PIB fact-checking Ajai Shukla

Soon after PIB fact-checked Ajai Shukla, the Network 18 itself clarified that their story based on an exclusive interview with Rajnath Singh was an error. The media network said that the headline and story inadvertently said, “Sizeable Number of Chinese Troops Moved into Eastern Ladakh, says Defence Minister Rajnath Singh“.

However, Network 18 said that the minister did not refer to Eastern Ladakh in the interview. “The error is regretted, and the story stands withdrawn,” the network issued corrigendum.

Despite all the clarifications, video evidence that there was no such statement issued by Rajnath Singh admitting that there was sizeable number of Chinese troops allegedly entering the Indian side, the media and the self-proclaimed ‘security experts’ have neither deleted their misleading tweets/reports nor issued a clarification for the same.

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