Home Blog Page 5294

Madhya Pradesh: VHP Goraksha wing’s Hoshangabad district chief Ravi Vishwakarma shot dead in broad daylight

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Madhya Pradesh: VHP Goraksha wing’s Hoshangabad district chief Ravi Vishwakarma shot dead in broad daylight

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ravi Vishwakarma was reportedly shot dead on Friday in Pipariya town of Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. Ravi Vishwakarma was the Chief of Goraksha wing in the district. About half a dozen people attacked him when he was returning from a VHP meeting in Hoshangabad with his colleagues.

As per reports, the incident took place when VHP leader was returning to his residence from a meeting along with Rajkumar Singh and Suresh Patel who are provincial co-organization members of Bajrang Dal. At around 6 pm when he was passing the busiest under-bridge of Pipariya city, ten people stopped his car and ambushed him with sharp-edged weapons, rods and sticks. After that, the attackers fired two shots at him.

A video os the attack has also surfaced on social media.

<

It appears in the video that attackers pulled Ravi out of the car in a wounded condition and shot 2 bullets in his head. Ravi died on the spot. Other people sitting in the car were badly injured. The attackers fled the spot after murdering the VHP member.

After receiving the information the Mangalwara police station and station road police personnel reached the spot and recovered the car and three cartridges from the spot. Meanwhile, the brother of Ravi Vishwakarma also claimed that he suspects an attack on himself.

Reports suggest that Ravi Vishwakarma was already aware of plans attack on him. That’s is why he had handed over a memorandum to ASP AP Singh at Hoshangabad police station on Friday noon in which he mentioned a person named Rasukhdar can be a life threat to him. He also informed that his friend Rakesh Raghuvanshi has been implicated in the wrong charges.

The police have registered an FIR based on the statement of Ravi’s brother Amit, companions Rajkumar Singh and Suresh Patel who were present in the car. SDOP Shivendru Joshi said Ravi was attacked due to his old enmity, and the attack was carried out by the attackers only with intention of murdering him. Police have registered a case against ten people for the attack, and efforts are on to catch them.

 VHP prant sah mantri Gopal Soni has alleged that it was a planned murder. He said that Vishwakarma was working for the protection of cows as district chief of VHP’s gau raksha wing, and his killing should be probed thoroughly.

This is not the first incident in Pipariya. Prior to this many VHP leaders have also been killed in broad daylight. On 9 October 2019, a VHP leader named Yuvraj Singh was shot dead in an attack in Mandasaur of Madhya Pradesh. He was at the tea shop near the Geeta Bhawan underbridge.

On a day when the story was about MMS giving 100 crores to RGF, ThePrint’s idea of investigative journalism is ‘Rahul held a mithai ka dabba too’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
On a day when the story was about MMS giving 100 crores to RGF, ThePrint’s idea of investigative journalism is ‘Rahul held a mithai ka dabba too’

The media ecosystem, often sympathetic to the Congress party, has been facing a tough time since few weeks to defend the party ever since the alleged links between the Congress party and the Communist Party of China resurfaced. With more damning disclosures being made day-after-day validating the alleged links between the CPC and the Congress party, and revelations that Congress govt had donated money from Govt and PMNRF to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, the ‘liberal-secular’ media ecosystem, which has been put in a precarious position, have chosen to remain silent at a time when they are expected to question the mighty Gandhis.

Unsurprisingly, the media organisations, rather than questioning the Congress party leaders over their alleged links with China and questionable grants to RGF, have been trying their best to put out the portray the ‘positive’ image of the Gandhis. In a similar attempt, Shekhar Gupta’s ‘The Print’ on Saturday tried to pull out a stunt by carrying out ‘investigative journalism’ to fact check a claim on social media, which was originally intended as a pun to mock Congress party leaders, especially Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

An image of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi distributing sweets at an event went viral on social media on Saturday, in which Singh was holding a box of sweet standing next to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

The viral image is from 2015 and was taken during an event hosted by the Congress party to celebrate the country’s 69th Independence Day. 

Image Source: The Print

The social media users, however, made few observations and posted their views on the internet. Some netizens had their own take on the viral image. Similarly, Activist and Author Shefali Vaidya, known for her wit, shared the particular image on Twitter and took a dig at the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“Rare historical pic of family servant Ramukaka holding a box containing 100 crore rupees from the taxpayer’s money to be donated to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation as Shehzada and the Dowager Empress mingle with the commoners!” Vaidya tweeted targetting the Congress leaders.

Shefali Vaidya tweeted that former Manmohan Singh was holding the sweet box on behalf of the Gandhis, which they intended to distribute to the commoners.

The tweet by Shefali Vaidya came at a time when the Congress party under the leadership Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi is being alleged of receiving huge money not only from the Chinese but also of deviating public money to her private foundation Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

Not just Manmohan Singh, even Rahul Gandhi had a sweet box: The Print

However, Shekhar Gupta’s ‘The Print’, which has largely remained silent over the ongoing events linking to the Congress party, was quick to jump to fact check whether Manmohan Singh was holding the sweet box on behalf of the Gandhis.

Shockingly, The Print not only fact-checked the claim of a tweet which was intended as a pun but also revealed that Rahul Gandhi had carried his own sweet box and did not make Manmohan Singh hold on behalf of him.

The Print report read, “A gallery of images from the day can be found on the Congress’ official Facebook page, where even Sonia and Rahul could be seen holding sweet boxes. It was not just Singh who was holding the sweet boxes, as was claimed by Vaidya in her tweet.”

The Print ‘fact-checking’ a political tweet/Image Source: The Print

The Print claimed that the sweet boxes were distributed among some children after the flag hoisting, and Singh, Sonia and Rahul — all were seen distributing sweet boxes to the children.

The Print’s investigative journalism continues

The Print, however, did not stop just at ‘fact-checking’ Shefali Vaidya. It went further to state that the same picture was shared by a group, ‘India Against Presstitutes’, on Facebook in 2017. “Both Vaidya and India Against Presstitutes shared the image with the false claim that the former PM was holding a box of sweets for the Gandhi family,” the ‘investigative report’ claimed.

Therefore, The Print chose to ‘fact check’ a tweet which was intended as a joke against the Congress leaders, to defend the party which is facing the heat due to its closeness with the ruling Communist Party in China.

Journalists, researchers, policymakers among China’s international espionage ring: Reports

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Journalists, researchers, policymakers among China’s international espionage ring: Reports

Even as the scourge of coronavirus, which first emerged from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, presumably from the wet markets that operated in the city, ravages countries across the globe, a sinister plan appears to have been set in motion by Beijing as the world finds itself engulfed in the chaos induced by the rampaging contagion. From the Himalayas to the South China Sea, China is aggressively pushing to extend its territorial claims, exploiting nations who are overwhelmed by the Chinese virus.

Now, an explosive report by Wion reveals that China is aggressively scaling up its non-traditional espionage activities across the world. The report states that the scale of the spy rings operated by China is unprecedented and is much larger than that of the cold war era. It also claims that the Chinese spy rings include people from all professions—journalists, policymakers, political leaders, researches and many others.

An Australian MP, Shaoquette Moselmane, is currently being investigated on charges of being a member of this global Chinese spy ring. The legislator is extremely pro-China and vocal about his inclination towards China. He had recently even applauded China for its response to tame the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Since China’s autocratic Chinese Communist Party(CCP) has a pervasive control over the discourse in the country, it is generously employing people in important positions abroad to carry out its propaganda activities in other countries and effect decisions in its favour.

China has taken snooping to an altogether different level and the Australian MP is not the only one who is allegedly part of this well-oiled Chinese spy ring. There are several others, the report says, which are in influential positions to sway policy decisions and steal crucial information and critical research findings, who are on Chinese payroll. Some of them are working in the world’s top research labs and are being paid in millions to smuggle information to China.

Earlier this year, Charles Lieber, a professor at the Harvard University, was found by the US agencies of working closely with the Chinese. China had reportedly paid him $1 million. US officials also found two other Chinese agents who were illicitly funnelling information out of the United States, to China. Yanqing Ye, a researcher at the Boston University, was caught by the US agencies on the charges of espionage. It was later revealed that before being a researcher at Boston University, Yanqing was in the Chinese army.

Another cancer researcher, Zaosong Zheng, was arrested from the Boston airport while he trying to flee to China. When he was patted down, authorities found 21 biological samples in his bag. He was arrested at the Boston airport.

Furthermore, the report states that Chinese agents are masquerading as Confucian scholars in more than 500 universities. Even journalists are on the payroll of China and are offered sponsored trips or junkets to China. In return, the journalists have to whitewash China’s maltreatment of its Uyghur population and write editorials lauding Beijing.

In a survey carried out by the International Federation of Journalists, scribes from 58 countries were asked if they received overtures from China. The survey, as it turns out, revealed that in at least 29 of these countries, journalists had been on trips to China. Some of the respondents in the survey claimed that China has a visible presence in their national press coverage. 67 per cent of the respondents replied in the affirmative that they were approached by Chinese entities.

All these findings prove that China’s unconventional espionage activities are central to Chinese authoritarian leader Xi Jinping’s plan to dominate the world order. All countries carry out espionage activities to defend their interests, but China’s activities reveal that it is bent on ratcheting up its spy war. China is vigorously recruiting like never before, snooping, stealing secrets and research information on a scale that has never been witnessed before.

Union govt announces 100%-170% hike in salaries for employees involved in road construction in difficult and high-risk border areas

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Union govt announces 100%-170% hike in salaries for employees involved in road construction in difficult and high-risk border areas

The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation has announced an increase in the salaries of its personnel posted in high altitude and difficult areas in Uttarakhand, North-east India, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh with effect from June 1. The increase ranges from 100% to 170% towards risk allowance, which is aimed at checking the attrition level of staff posted in high-risk and difficult terrains along the border. The move assumes significance as the government wants to accelerate the construction work at the border areas for better connectivity and infrastructure along with the high-altitude areas and difficult terrain areas.

As per reports, the salaries for the people deployed in difficult terrain areas have been increased by more than 100 percent, going up to 170% for some. The maximum increase is announced for those working in Ladakh noting the adverse weather conditions. The non-technical staff’s pay has been doubled or increased significantly and similarly, the graduate engineers posted there will now get double the salary compared to what they were getting till the month of May.

After the hike, the salary of an outsourced non-technical staff like data entry operator working in Ladakh has increased from Rs 16,770 per month to Rs 41,440 per month. The salary for the same post is Rs 28,000 in Delhi. The salary of an accountant also has been increased from Rs 25,700 to Rs 47,360 per month in the Ladakh area. Similarly, a civil engineering graduate working in the Ladakh area will now get a salary of Rs 60,000 as opposed to the earlier monthly salary of Rs 30,000. The salaries at manager level has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,12,800 per month, and a senior manager will now get Rs 1,23,600 a month instead of the earlier salary of Rs 55,000 per month, according to reports.

Apart from the remuneration hike, the authority has decided to ensure 5 lakh health insurance and 10 lakh life insurance cover for all the staff who work on a contract basis.

Read- Ladakh: Amid LAC standoff, Indian Army completes crucial Galwan river bridge that PLA has been trying to stall

The employees working in difficult areas have been kept into three categories: The first category comprises of employees working in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Uttarakhand. The employees working in Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram and Nagaland have been kept in the second category. The people working in the Ladakh region have been kept in the third category, which is the highest risk category..

While speaking to TOI, an official stated that the move aims to retain talent and personnel to push the construction of roads in these strategic areas. The official said, “There is a need to retain the talent and push our road construction work.”

The strategic infrastructure along the borders will provide a safe connectivity for the army and paramilitary to pass and secure the sovereignty of the nation against the neighbors.

Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received donations from a foundation that was partners with Huawei and received donations from Qatar Foundation

K Bhattacharjee
-
0
Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received donations from a foundation that was partners with Huawei and received donations from Qatar Foundation

The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has found itself at the heart of a controversy after it was revealed that it received over Rs. 1 crore as donations from the Government of China during the UPA regime. The foundation counts Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi among its top functionaries. OpIndia can now report that such shady links between the RGF and China continued as late as 2018-2019.

According to the annual report of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation for the year 2018-19, Bharti Foundation was one of the organisations that donated to it. During the same year, Bharti Foundation was also partners with Huawei, recognised widely as an extended arm of the Chinese state. The annual report states that income for the RGF for the year 2018-19 from grants and donations was Rs. 95,91,766 rupees.

Source: RGF Annual Report 2018-19

Earlier in 2020, the Trump administration in the US had blocked Huawei and its suppliers from accessing American technology and software. The US has made it clear that Huawei is a threat to their national security due to their extensive links to the Chinese Communist Party. For similar reasons, the United Kingdom is also considering banning Huawei from its 5G networks.

U.S. intelligence officials have been raising concerns for years about the potential for Huawei to use its network access to spy, or worse, to shut down communications in the event of a cyberwar.

The threat posed by Huawei has been clear for quite some time. And yet, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation managed by top Congress functionaries were receiving funds as late as 2018-19 from an NGO that had partnered with Huawei.

Source: RGF Annual Report 2018-19

The documents submitted by Bharti Foundation to the Home Ministry also reveals that it received over Rs. 14 crores in the fiscal year 2018-19 from the Qatar Foundation Endowment. The Qatar Foundation is a private charity established by former Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his consort Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.

Currently, the Board of Trustees of Qatar Foundation includes Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, all members of the Qatari Royalty.

Document source: MHA website

It is not clear exactly what amount the Bharti Foundation donated to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. It is also to be remembered that during this period, the RGF was partners with the Aman Biradari Trust, which was founded by Harsh Mander, an ‘activist’ who is a member of an organisation that works with the Italian Secret Service.

While it is to be made clear that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation did not receive donations from an organisation established by Qatari Royalty and was not partners with Huawei, they did receive donations from an organisation that did. Given everything else that we know about the links of Congress party with the CCP, which includes the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two, it only adds to the aura of suspicion and doubt regarding the operation of the foundation.

Pakistan: 3 policemen arrested in Peshawar for stripping and assaulting an Afghan man

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Pakistan: 3 policemen arrested in Peshawar for stripping and assaulting an Afghan man

On Wednesday, three cops, including 2 constables and an assistant sub-inspector, were reportedly arrested for abusing, stripping and assaulting a 30-year-old Afghan national, Amir, at Tehkal police station in Peshawar, Pakistan. The abuse was recorded by someone on a phone, the video of which later went viral on social media. In the said video, a policeman could be seen forcibly taking off the clothes of the victim and then thrashing him.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered on the complaint of a police officer. Amir had earlier uttered choicest of expletives for high ranking police officials, including the inspector general and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SP), in a viral video. A week later, the cops hunted down the Afghan national and physically abused him. The resident of Tehkal was forced to apologise for uttering profanities against the cops and promise not to repeat the expletives again.

Zahoor Babar Afridi, who serves as the SSP (operations) in Peshawar, informed that the high command had taken cognisance of the matter and that action would be taken as per the law. The three cops involved in stripping and assaulting Amir had been suspended. A case had been lodged against the trio under the KP Police Act, 2017, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Sections 335 (assault), 118 (concealing design to commit an offence) and 119 (public servant concealing design to commit an offence) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Besides, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Thekal police station was suspended for ‘poor supervision’.

Notice issued for the constitution of a committee to investigate the matter

Protests against the torture of Amir

After the video of Amir’s torture went viral on social media, protests took place against the high-handedness of the police force. Demonstrators were seen raising slogans while the cops chased them away. Shots were also fired in air to disperse the crowd in Peshawar.

In a sit-in protest against the abuse of the Afghan national, people were seen adhering to social distancing rules and holding placards to raise awareness about the issue.

KP Chief Minister takes notice

Following social media outrage and public protests, Masood Khan took cognisance of the matter and directed the provincial police chief to submit a report regarding the case. Khan is the Chief Minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Inspector General of the province, Dr. Sanaullah Abbasi, has also ordered the Peshawar Capital City Police officer to probe the matter and file a detailed report. Ajmal Wazir, the adviser to CM on Information, informed that a committee would be formed and a report would be submitted within a day. He stated that police brutality would not be tolerated and a fair and transparent investigation would be conducted.

Hatemonger Ajaz Khan caught spreading fake news again, deletes tweet after UP Police refuted his claims

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Hatemonger Ajaz Khan caught spreading fake news again, deletes tweet after UP Police refuted his claims

Serial abusive Bollywood actor and hate monger Ajaz khan was caught spreading fake news against UP police on social media. The actor is often seen indulging in controversial dialogues and nefarious activities like inciting violence and abusing others on social media. This time he targeted the Meerut police with fake news.

Ajaz Khan on Friday took to twitter to attack Meerut police alleging that they beat a Muslim boy and his religion after he was tested positive for coronavirus but later the entire police station was sealed because some policemen tested positive later. Ajaz Khan tweeted, “Muslims are called a corona factory. In Meerut, a child named Mubashshir was found the coronavirus positive. After that the personnel of the police station Parikshitgarh abused him and his Muslim religion beating him black and blue. Now the police station is sealed as some of the officers of the police station have been found coronavirus positive. Find treatment, not hate.”

On this, the Meerut police responded and refuted the claims. The Meerut police replied, “Sir, the allegations you put forward about the policeman of Parikshitgarh tested corona positive is completely false (Although, any policeman can be tested positive. Balbir Singh, sub-inspector of police station Lissadi Gate was martyred while performing duty in a hotspot area without caring for his life even after he was tested positive.) Kindly do not spread rumors. Meerut police are committed to protecting the social harmony and constitutional values of India.”

After badly slammed by the Meerut police the hatemonger actor deleted his tweet.

However, this is not the first time when Ajaz khan is caught spreading hate and communal dialogue in order to create disharmony. Last year, the hate monger Ajaz khan was heard instigating riots in a Facebook video. In the video, Khan blamed RSS and Bajrang Dal for forcing people to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and spoiling the secular fabric of the country. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shielding the RSS and Bajrang Dal. 

Khan instigated the Muslims and said they should be ashamed of themselves for not coming out on streets after the alleged lynching of Tabrez Ansari. He threatened that if 40 crore Muslims of the country, including legal and illegal residents, came out on the streets the whole country would be shut down. Later he also posted a video on Tiktok mocking the Mumbai police for filing FIRs against the TikTok celebrities. Ajaz Khan was later arrested by the Mumbai police.

Earlier this year, Ajaz khan posted a video abusing journalists Arnab Goswami, Rajat Sharma, and Sudhir Choudhary and wishing that they had their respective families get infected with the coronavirus. In the video, Ajaz khan ranted, “Dogs of BJP have bought these pimps in the media like Arnab Goswami, Rajat Sharma, whom I used to respect once. Allah willing you get coronavirus, your wife gets coronavirus, Arnab Goswami gets coronavirus, his entire family gets infected with the coronavirus. The mother and father of that Zee TV reporter, hope she also gets coronavirus. Hope everyone in his family gets coronavirus.”

Two days later he was nabbed by Mumbai police. The Mumbai police invoked Sections 153A, 117, and 121 of the Indian Penal Code against Ajaz Khan.

Ajaz Khan is known for his anti-democracy views which were evident from the fact that he once tweeted that he would choose the Quran over the constitution. He was arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Cell of Navi Mumbai for possessing drugs. He later got out on bail. He was arrested in 2016 too for sending lewd and vulgar messages to a hairstylist. In the past too, Ajaz Khan has indulged in promoting hate speech through his Facebook account which could disturb the communal harmony in the country.

Aam Aadmi Party claims credit for 10,000-bed coronavirus facility in Delhi built by ITBP under union home ministry, mocks Modi government

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Aam Aadmi Party claims credit for 10,000-bed coronavirus facility in Delhi built by ITBP under union home ministry, mocks Modi government

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government, which has been receiving a lot of criticism over the handling of coronavirus pandemic in Delhi, on Saturday stoked a massive controversy after it attempted to politicise the issue of newly built Sardar Patel COVID Centre and Hospital in Delhi.

On Saturday, India’s largest facility for coronavirus patients, the Sardar Patel COVID Centre and Hospital, Chattarpur became operational in Delhi. The 10,000-bed COVID facility, which has been set up inside the Radha Soami Satsang Beas facility in Delhi, was operationalised after Union Home Ministry Amit Shah took control the affairs of the national capital, which had seen a massive rise in the number of coronavirus cases.

The ITBP, which managed to build the facility at Delhi within a short span of time, will also be responsible for the operation of the 10,000-bed facility.

However, the Aam Aadmi Party, which had almost given up the coronavirus fight in Delhi, soon jumped to take the credit for the newly built coronavirus facility despite the Arvind Kejriwal-led government had a very limited role to play in setting up the facility.

On Saturday, AAP took to twitter to share the video of the newly built Sardar Patel COVID Centre and Hospital in Chattarpur to claim that the first set of 2,000 beds out of the 10,000 beds in the facility, which got operationalised today was built by the Kejriwal government.

The Aam Aadmi Party leaders not only hijacked the credit for the facility but also went on to mock the BJP government at the centre for naming it after Sardar Patel.

AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh took to Twitter to mock the BJP on Saturday and claim that the union government only built statues in the name of Sardar Patel while Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government built the newly built coronavirus facility.

The claim by the AAP and its leaders that it was the Delhi government which built the coronavirus facility was not only rebuked by the social media users but also reminded the Arvind Kejriwal government of its failure to handle the epidemic which resulted in Union Home Ministry setting up such facility in such a short time. Several people on Twitter also claimed that if it was actually built by the AAP govt, it would not have been named after Sardar Patel.

It is important to note that the Sardar Patel Covid Centre and Hospital, Chattarpur was set up by Home Ministry with the help of ITBP after the Arvind Kejriwal-led government struggled with a high number of coronavirus cases, with over 74,000 infected persons since the outbreak. The work on setting up the hospital was started after Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal inspected the campus of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur in Delhi on 14th June.

Importantly, the ITBP has been tasked by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to provide the medical staff and support to the coronavirus care centre at Radha Soami Beas Chattarpur, New Delhi. The Radha Soami Beas Chattarpur is providing the campus, housing and other assistance including food.

The Delhi government will only providing all administrative support to the coronavirus facility.

Reportedly, in the beginning, only 2,000 patients will be treated, for which a team of 160 doctors, mostly from Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and ITBP, will be deployed on a weekly rotation. The number will be later increased to 1,000 doctors over time. Each doctor will have three to four nursing assistants to ensure proper treatment.

Pakistan responsible for 50% of all ‘imported’ Coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Pakistan responsible for 50% of all ‘imported’ Coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan now accounts for over 50% of the total ‘imported’ Coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom, reported The Telegraph. About 190 flights have landed in the United Kingdom from Pakistan since March 1. Public health records revealed that a total of 30 people who had come to the UK from abroad have been diagnosed with the Wuhan Coronavirus. As per reports, the deadly disease has infected 3,09,360 people and claimed 43,414 lives.

Reportedly, several passengers from Pakistan had to be admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICUs) upon their arrival in Britain. Earlier, Emirates had cancelled its flights from Pakistan after 30 travellers were diagnosed with Coronavirus on a flight to Hong Kong. As per reports, around 2 Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights arrive in the UK every day. Even though initial flights were meant to evacuate stranded British and Pakistani nationals, later, flight operations were resumed for daily travel.

According to a government spokesperson, passengers were directed to wear masks and those with high temperatures were not allowed to board the flights. “The new health measures at the border are informed by science, backed by the public and designed to keep us all safe. We are seeing a high level of compliance and we expect this to continue as the vast majority of people will play their part to help”, he was quoted as saying.

Coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan

As of June 27, Pakistan, which has 21.2 crore population, has witnessed 4,035 fatalities and 1,98,883 Coronavirus cases. As per the report, the total number of cases may cross 3 lacs by June end and 12 lacs by the end of July. Asad Umar, Pakistan’s Planning Minister had also warned people that the total number of cases of the Chinese virus could suppress the million mark by the next month. Owing to a sharp rise in Coronavirus cases, hospitals have reached their optimum capacity and some have refused to attend new upcoming patients.

Pakistan Cricket Players test positive for Coronavirus

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that seven more Pakistani cricketers have tested positive for Coronavirus infection. In a press release, the board informed the names of the players that are Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Hasnain, Wahab Riaz, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Kashif Bhatti, and Imran Khan.

On 22nd June, the board had confirmed that Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, and Haider Ali had tested positive for the infection. As of now, ten Pakistani cricketers have tested positive. Pakistan is preparing for its tour of England scheduled for August this year. These tests were done as per mandatory safety protocol.

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
-
0
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.

1...5,2935,2945,295...7,674Page 5,294 of 7,674