Most of the Indian stand-up comedians are characterised by having an extremely poor sense of humour and harbouring pathological hatred for PM Modi, which inevitably extends to their abhorrence for India. For them, ridiculing India is synonymous to mocking PM Modi. Their depravity has no bounds, and they feel no compunction in passing snide remarks at PM Modi, even if that means insulting the supreme sacrifice made by the soldiers manning our borders.
Recently, self-proclaimed comedian Aditi Mittal took to Twitter to trivialise the violent clashes between the Indian and Chinese soldiers in Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh. Mittal posted a facetious post on Twitter mocking the deaths of the Indian soldiers in the fierce hand-to-hand combat that took place along the Line of Actual Control.
“The coffins will come back with “PM Cares” stickers on them,” Aditi tweeted about the unfortunate killing of Indian troopers in Ladakh while taking a dig at the PM Cares Fund that is used for combating and containing the coronavirus pandemic as well as in the relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future.
Another unfunny comedian who goes by the name ‘Bollywoodgandu’, used the viral image of George Floyd’s death and photoshopped it to depict the India China standoff in Ladakh. The aforementioned comedian photoshopped the image of the white police officer with Chinese premier Xi Jinping’s face while the man who was kneeled upon by the police officer, George Floyd was replaced with PM Modi’s face with the message “I can’t breathe” and uploaded it as his story on Instagram.
Hating on PM Modi for these self-proclaimed comedians is not a new phenomenon and it has been exhibited by many, including politicians, left-leaning activists masquerading as journalists. But what these ungrateful individuals do not realise is while expressing their aversion for PM Modi, they often proceed to disrespect the country and its armed forces who stake their lives on the line to protect the country from enemy misadventures. However, in their bid to take a swipe at PM Modi, these so-called comedians have no qualms in deriding the sacrifices made by the Indian Armed Forces at the frontline.
India-China violent clashes at Galwan Valley
At least 20 Indian soldiers, including Commanding Officer, had attained martyrdom in the violent clashes with the Chinese troopers in Eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, the Indian Army said on Tuesday. The Army had initially claimed that 3 soldiers, including one Commanding Officer, were killed in the skirmishes but later in the evening it revised the figure to 20 saying 17 others had succumbed to their injuries due to the prolonged exposure to sub-zero temperatures.
The killing marks the treachery exhibited the Chinese Army as it violated the disengagement plan agreed upon between the two sides following Lieutenant General level meeting on June 6. A senior government official conversant with the debriefing of survivors at hospitals in Leh revealed that the assault of the Indian soldiers by China’s PLA hit team was premeditated as they had carried iron batons and clubs wrapped in barbed wire to attack the troops of the 16 Bihar Regiment.
The Congress party has in a press release informed that Sanjay Jha has been dropped as the AICC spokesperson with immediate effect. The party also confirmed appointing Abhishek Dutt and Sadhna Bharti as the Party’s national media panellists.
It is being speculated that Sanjay Jha’s recent comments against the party leadership might have gone against him. Jha, who is known to be a vocal critic of the Modi government, today took to Twitter and commenting on the recent India China face-off wrote: “This is a time for great mature political consensus within India in responding to China’s dangerous aggression. I don’t care if Mr Modi made several outrageous rhetorical comments against our Congress/UPA government in the past. We must rise. Let’s be different. Let’s be one”.
Knowing Congress party’s abhorrence for Modi and his government, Sanjay Jha’s this Tweet must have definitely irked his party’s high commands who soon after announced his termination from the post of party’s spokesperson.
Sanjay Jha appears to believe that Congress is headed towards “political obsolescence”
Not only this but recently, Congress national spokesperson Sanjay Jha has also openly expressed displeasure over the functioning of the Congress party leadership. Jha, in a damning indictment of his party’s leadership, had said that his party lacks internal democracy and that decision-making powers are limited to Delhi. Jha appears to believe that the party is headed towards “political obsolescence” if it continues to conduct itself in the same manner.
Congress completely disconnected from the ground and is reluctant to change
Speaking to media, Jha had made a series of comments against Congress party leadership which might have gone against him. He had said that Congress has become completely disconnected from the ground and is reluctant to change.
Sanjay Jha had called his party fossilised and reluctunt to change
Sanjay Jha had called his party fossilised, status quoist and reluctant to change. “Congress has had a culture of being one of the more internally vibrant and democratic parties. But that is now gathering dust,” commented Jha.
Raising questions on his own party’s decision-making abilities, Jha rebuked Congress high command for not consulting its spokesperson before banning them from participating in TV debates last year.
“We have moved into a cocooned shell, and withdrawn from gauging the public mood. We sit in Delhi, completely disconnected from the ground,” he added. “This is what has given the party the notorious high command culture,” said Jha speaking to ThePrint.
During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place between India and China on Monday night with casualties on both sides. At least 20 Indian soldiers, including Commanding Officer, had attained martyrdom in the violent clashes with the Chinese troopers in Eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley. China has reportedly suffered more than 40 casualties, but there is no confirmation on the same from the Chinese side, although China has accepted that their soldiers also died and injured in the clash. The killing of the Indian soldiers marks the Indian Army’s worst losses since the Kargil War in 1999 and signifies the most intense military combat between India and China since 1967 when India lost around 80 soldiers while over 300 Chinese army personnel were killed in the confrontation.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said India will always remain indebted to its soldiers who lost their lives in Ladakh’s Galwan protecting the country’s territory, and their bravery reflects the commitment towards the motherland. In a series of tweets, Shah said the pain of losing the brave soldiers at Ladakh’s Galwan cannot be put in words, while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the bravery and sacrifice of the soldiers who were martyred in clashes with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will not be forgotten.
A website named jammukashmirnow.com gives us the list of our heroes who laid down their lives upholding the best traditions of Indian armed forces and protecting thesovereignty and integrity of our country.
Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu
Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu was martyred in a violent clash on Monday night. The martyred colonel hailed from Hyderabad, Telangana. Martyr Colonel Santosh Babu was in the 16-Bihar Regiment and was posted on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) for the past one and a half years. The colonel was a student of Sainik School Korukonda and had later joined the NDA, followed by IMA. In 15-years, Col Babu had got four promotions.
Col Santosh’s body will arrive at Shamshabad airport on Wednesday and travel to Suryapet by road, where his last rites will be performed.
Martyr Havildar Palani
Passion and poverty had driven the martyred 40-year-old Indian Army soldier K Palani from Kadukkalur village in Ramanathapuram district to join the armed forces at the age of 18. Palani had been serving the Army for the last 22 years.
Palani was the elder son of the farmer couple Kalimuthu and Logambal at Kadukkalur village in Tiruvadanai taluk of Ramanathapuram district. He is survived by his wife P Vanathi Devi (35) and two children- a son aged 10 and a daughter aged 8.
The brave havildar had planned to retire from the army next year. Palani’s mortal remains are expected to reach his native village in a couple of days.
Martyr Jawan Kundan Ojha
Sepoy Kundan Ojha hailed from the village of Dihari of Sahibganj district in Jharkhand. Sepoy Kundan was in the Bihar 16 Regiment serving the Indian Army for the last 8 years. Ojha was blessed with a baby girl seventeen days ago. He died even before he could see his daughter.
Kundan is survived by his father, wife and three siblings – two brothers and a sister.
Martyr Naib Subedar Naduram Soren
Naib Subedar Naduram Soren was a resident of Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. After completing Class 12 from Rairangpur College, Soren joined the Army to fulfil his lifelong dream, in 1997, his elder brother Doman Majhi said.
Soren is survived by his wife and three school-going daughters.
“We all feel shattered. Nanduram was an asset for the family as well as the village. He was loved by all for his friendly nature,” his elder brother said.
Martyr Naib Subedar Mandeep Singh
Naib Subedar Mandeep Singh who was killed on the LAC in the Galwan Valley standoff in Ladakh was the sole breadearner of his family comprising of his aging mother, wife and two children. Singh had left his village after a nearly month long holiday only two weeks ago. Administration officials said his body is expected to reach Patiala tomorrow.
Martyr Naib Subedar Satnam Singh
Naib Subedar Satnam Singh who also hailed from Gurdaspur in Punjab state had served the Army for the last 25 years. He is among four soldiers belonging to the state who attained martyrdom.
Martyr Havildar Sunil Kumar
Havildar Sunil Kumar was a resident of Patna in Bihar.
Martyr Havildar Vipul Rai
Havildar Vipul Rai was a resident of Meerut city of Uttar Pradesh. Shaheed Vipul Rai was in the army for the past 17 years.
Martyr Nayak Deepak Singh Gaharwar
Nayak Deepak Singh Gaharwar (30) was a resident of from Faranda village in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh. Deepak Singh was in the army for the last 8 years. About 15 days back, Gaharwar told his family members that he would return when the situation gets back to normal after the Covid-19 lockdown.
His wife, Rekha, works as a teacher at a Navoday school. The couple got married in November last year. Deepak Singh’s elder brother Prakash Singh also serves the Army and is posted at the India-Pak border in Rajasthan.
Martyr Jawan Rajesh Orang
The oldest of three siblings, Rajesh Orang joined the Army in 2015. Subhas, his father, is a marginal farmer in Belgoria village in Mohammedbazar police station area in Birbhum district, of West Bengal. Rajesh’s mother Mamata had been hoping to get him married when he came back on a holiday next. “He came home on leave a few months back and talks were on for his wedding,” she said.
On Monday night, he died of injuries in combat with the Chinese army at Galwan Valley in Ladakh region, his father Subhas was informed.
Martyr Jawan Ganesh Ram Kunjam
Ganesh Ram Kunjam was among the 20 soldiers who laid their lives fighting for India on Monday. Ganesh Ram Kunjam, who belonged to Kutrutola village of Charama block in Kanker district has joined the army in 2011 and was posted in the India China border barely a month ago. Kunjam had decided to join the army soon after his class 12 exams.
His family was planning his marriage somewhere next year. His family was informed about his death by authorities.
Martyr Chandrakanta Pradhan
Chandrakanta Pradhan belonged to a tribal family, living in Kandhamal district’s Raikia block of Odisha. He had joined the Indian Army in the year 2014. It is being reported that Pradhan had last visited home around two months ago.
Martyr Jawan Ankush Thakur
21-year-old Sepoy Ankush Thakur laid his life fighting for his country. Thakur, a resident of Karohta village in Himachal Pradesh, was posted to the Punjab Regiment in 2018. His father and grandfather had also served in the Indian Army. Thakur has a younger brother who is studying in Class 6.
According to an official spokesperson at Simla, Ankur’s body would be given a state funeral Wednesday.
Martyr Sepoy Gurbinder Singh
The family of Sepoy Gurbinder Singh (22), who attained martyrdom on the Indo-China border in Galwan Valley, were planning his marriage as he had been engaged during his last vacation.
Gurbinder Singh, a resident of Tolawal village near Sunam was recruited in the army two years ago. He is survived by his parents, an elder brother and a sister.
“We got a call in the morning that Gurbinder has been martyred and his body is likely to reach on Wednesday night or Thursday. People are pouring in. My father and I are finding it tough to keep the news from my mother, who loved her youngest son the most,” Gurpreet Singh, elder brother of Gurbinder, said.
Martyr Sepoy Chandan Kumar
Chandan Kumar was from Bhojpur, Bihar. he had joined the Army three years ago in 2017.
Martyr Sepoy Kundan Kumar
Sepoy Kundan Kumar also hailed from Saharsa town in Bihar. Shaheed Kundan Kumar was in the army for the last 8 years.
Martyr Aman Kumar
Aman Kumar who hailed from Samastipur district of Bihar was recruited in th Army in 2014.
Martyr Jai Kishore
Being amognst the 20 soldiers who lost their lives on Monday night, Jai Kishore joined the Army in 2018. He belonged to Vaishali district of Bihar.
Jai Kishore
Martyr Sepoy Ganesh Hansda
Ganesh Hansda hailed from East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. He was recruited in the Army only two years ago.
Martyr Jawan Gutej Singh
Gutej Singh was a resident of Mansa district of Punjab. Shaheed Gurtej was also admitted to the Army in 2018, two years ago.
India pays tribute to the Bravehearts who made the ultimate sacrifice during the violent face-off with China in Galwan Valley on Monday night (15 June).
As China’s economic power has risen, so has its belligerence in asserting the numerous overlapping territorial claims it has with at least 14 of its neighbours. In the recent weeks, China has sunk a Vietnamese fishing boat in the disputed South China Sea, persistently harassed a Malaysian offshore oil rig, threatened Taiwan with an attack, tightened its grips on Hong Kong by passing a controversial national security law and flexed muscles with India along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.
Recently, violent clashes broke out between the Indian and Chinese forces along the Line of Actual Control in Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh after the Indian forces found Chinese troops intrude into its region following a disengagement plan agreed between the Lieutenant Generals of the two sides earlier this month. At least 20 Indian soldiers, including Commanding Officer of the 16 Bihar Regiment, were killed in action in the military confrontation between the two forces. Heavy casualties have been reported on the Chinese side as well, but no official number has been released by Beijing.
Amidst this border standoff between India and China, it is important to revisit the pithy observations made by Investigative Reporter Joshua Philipp on China’s use of psychological warfare, media warfare and legal warfare to “strangle countries with their own system” and view them in the context of its pervasive dispute with its neighbours.
In an interview on American Thought Leaders, Joshua Philipp talked on an array of topics concerning China, specifically about the origins of coronavirus in China, coronavirus as a fallout of Beijing’s biological weapons program, and the Chinese Communist Party’s strategy to foment unrest in other countries using psychological, media and legal warfares.
As a part of their agenda to instigate trouble in the enemy country, the Chinese Communist Party observes how different countries operates, sensitivities of people in those countries, what are the controversial elements in their system, and how can they be exploited to use those drawbacks against them and unleash chaos in the country.
“If you say you have faith in free speech, they will set up crippling protests in your own backyard to call you out. If you claim you believe in free press, they shall set up a state-run media in your country and use their services to lie to your population to spread their propaganda. This is what they do. You tell them you believe in free markets and they will bring state-owned companies that will sell products at low cost and drive your companies out of business. This is what they do. “Strangle you with your own system,” Joshua explained.
China’s “Three Warfares Doctrine”
Joshua enunciated the Chinese military’s publicly adopted “Three Warfares Doctrine’ which include psychological warfare, media warfare and legal warfare. According to the Investigative Reporter, psychological warfare doesn’t necessarily entail peddling lies. In fact, it means changing the way information is interpreted by the population. Explaining the concept, Joshua said when the virus emerging out of the central Chinese city of Wuhan is called “Chinese Virus”, the CCP swings into action its psychological warfare and twists the news by claiming it to be a racist reference discriminating against the Chinese people.
The media warfare, according to him, is the ability to control and manipulate outlets of information, not just news outlets, but social media, online platforms, the power of speaking freely. Anything that would enable people to communicate to a larger audience that could galvanise trouble for the CCP would be a target of the media warfare. Elaborating over the media warfare waged by the Chinese Communist Party, Joshua cites the document accessed by him which said that the Propaganda arm of the CCP had hired 1,600 operatives to sweep Internet and clean potentially incriminating information against China on social media platforms. He also added that the CCP hired the services of 50 cent Army which go on the comments section of websites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other Chinese social media website and firehose them with lies and disinformation.
A case in point, Joshua claims, is the disinformation campaign surrounding the origins of the coronavirus attributed to US military. A senior Chinese spokesperson publicly called the US military as the source of the coronavirus. Joshua contends that soon after the Chinese spokesman ascribed the virus to the US military, all the arms of the media warfare coalesced to amplify the disinformation that US military was responsible for unleashing the pandemic.
“They had everyone online pushing this narrative. They also control and regulate the discourse that goes along in the Chinese social media space. The head of Global Times, one of their state-run media, now registered, notably, in the United States as a foreign mission of the Chinese Communist Party also actively partook in pushing this propaganda. A branch of the Chinese government was posting this as well. Soon, people in China started believing that the virus had its origin in the United States and they started calling it USA virus,” Joshua said.
“The document accessed by me said that the Chinese Communist Party commissioned hundreds of articles, from online influencers, well-known individuals, whose opinions shape social impact. Perceived credibility—that is the nature of disinformation. Recently, Taiwan did an analysis and found the same thing. They discovered that 70% of online articles about these things were being done by the Chinese agents,” Joshua averred.
Regarding legal warfare, Joshua asserts that for CCP legal warfare means manipulating the international legal system. It is to this end that China is resisting an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus and fighting tooth and nail to avert a global inquiry on the matter.
The Uttar Pradesh anti-terror squad has traced and arrested the man behind the threat calls to BJP MP from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj. The man threatened the MP that he will kill him in a bomb attack.
The perpetrator has been identified as Gaffar and is currently under police custody after he was nabbed on 17 June. A case has been registered under Sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 507 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and section 66 (any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience) under information technology act.
He was produced before designated magistrate court for a remand.
Made threat calls to several other BJP Leaders too
During the interrogation, the accused confessed that he made the threat call when he was in Kuwait. He also accepted that apart from Sakshi Maharaj, he made threat calls to several other BJP leaders. One mobile phone, passport, Aadhar card, and Civil card have been recovered from Gaffar.
The ATS confirmed that the accused made calls to several BJP leaders. The ATS traced him while he was located in Kuwait but it was difficult to arrest him abroad. While he was on the radar on ATS, he was arrested immediately after he returned to Bijnor from Kuwait.
Other information regarding the accused that whether he was operating alone or there is a nexus behind the incident which is involved in making threat calls to BJP leaders is being investigated.
Threat call to Yogi Adityanath
Prior to this, Uttar Pradesh police had received a Whatsapp message sent to the social media cell of UP Police’s integrated emergency response centre UP112 in which a person threatened to kill Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath “with a bomb”. He has also warned of bomb blasts at 50 different places in Uttar Pradesh.
In the written message on Whatsapp an unidentified person has said that “we will blow up the entire state and the Uttar Pradesh government will keep watching.”
Last month, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) apprehended a 25-year-old man named Kamran Amin Khan from the Mhada colony in Chunnabhatti area of Mumbai who also threatened to kill Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a bomb attack.
Nationalist Conference politician and former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir has conspicuously deleted his Twitter account. Omar Abdullah, who has recently been released from preventive detention that was imposed after Article 370 was revoked in the now Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, seems to have deleted his Twitter account late Wednesday evening.
Deactivated Twitter Account of Omar Abdullah
The deactivation of his Twitter account comes after on Wednesday afternoon, Omar Abdullah had tweeted a warning to Kashmiri radicals about cheering China in the ongoing stand-off between India and China in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh.
Tweet by Omar Abdullah before he deleted his Twitter account
In the tweet, Omar Abdullah had warned Kashmiri radicals about the temptation to look towards China. “Those Kashmiris tempted to look towards China as some sort of saviour need only Google the plight of Uighur Muslims. Be careful what you wish for….”.
In the stand-off between India and China, many radical Muslims from Kashmir were seen cheering for China and looking towards China as a country that might help them in their nefarious designs. However, Omar Abdullah had sounded off a caution to the radicals saying that China is no ally of Muslims considering the plight of Uighur Muslims.
Omar Abdullah had interesting disabled replies to his tweet which warned Kashmiri Muslims. Clearly, Abdullah was sure of the abuse he might face at the hands of the radical Kashmiris and had thus, disabled the responses to his tweet. Twitter has a new feature where accounts can limit who is allowed to respond to their tweet and in the current tweet, Abdullah had limited to only those who are mentioned in his tweet being able to response. Since nobody was mentioned in his tweet, it would essentially mean that nobody would be able to tweet a response to him.
That the account was deleted after a tweet in which he had disabled responses points to the fact that Abdullah might have decided to quit Twitter to avoid the blowback he may receive for this tweet not only from Kashmiri radicals but also from Pakistanis.
This is not the first time that a member of the opposition parties has spooked out after tweeting against China. In May, Congress leader and Leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha – Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury took to Twitter to issue some warnings to China and praise the Indian forces. However, he soon deleted the tweet.
The Congress leader, slamming China, had warned the communist nation about how Indian forces can ‘defang the venomous snakes’ like China and stated that the entire world was watching the sinister designs of China while calling them “Yellow expansionist”. Chowdhury also urged the Modi government to accord to diplomatic recognition to Taiwan “without much delay”. Interestingly, this tweet was also subsequently deleted.
It appears that for certain opposition parties, tweeting harsh words against China would be considered forbidden fruit since in their political hatred for Prime Minister Modi, any praise for the Indian Armed Forces, the Nation or even harsh words against an enemy nation are considered off limits.
Update: Later in the day on 17 June, Omar Abdullah’s Twitter account was reactivated.
As the news broke out about the violent clashes that took place between the Indian soldiers and Chinese troopers in Galwan valley in Eastern Ladakh, an illustration of Lord Ram, one of the most important Gods in the Hindu pantheon, taking on the Chinese Dragon surfaced online.
The infographic of Lord Ram battling the Chinese Dragon was posted on the Hong Kong social media website LIHKG in solidarity with India after it lost 20 soldiers in the melee with the Chinese forces along the stretch of the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh. The illustration carried the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, Lord Ram, drawing a bow to shoot the Chinese Dragon along with the message “We conquer. We kill.”
Hong Kong Twitter user HoSaiLei shared it on Twitter and it instantly went viral as Indians and residents of Hong Kong joined hands to stand up to the Chinese expansionism. As of now, the post had garnered 780 retweets, 2,000 likes and 78 comments.
Similarly, other Hong Kong Twitter users also expressed their support to India in its fight to stall the expansionist manoeuvres of Beijing. Users tweeted with #HKstandswithIndia to convey their support for India.
— Sarath Prasannakumar (@SarathPrasanna4) June 17, 2020
The illustration of Lord Ram slaying the Chinese dragon was also hailed by the Taiwanese media organisation and The Taiwan News, one of the leading English media organisation in Taiwan published a report about the illustration that united the Twitter users from Hong Kong, Taiwan and India against the Chinese authoritarianism.
It is pertinent to note that there is groundswell of anti-China sentiments among the residents of Hong Kong and Taiwan after China tightened its grip on the semi-autonomous business hub and threatened Taiwan with military attack. China recently passed a controversial national security law that chip away at the autonomy previously enjoyed by Hong Kong and enables extradition of wrongdoers from Hong Kong to the Mainland China. The city was convulsed with demonstrations and protests much of the last year but the onset of coronavirus crisis dampened the protests. Taking the cover of the coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese Communist Party quickly passed the national security law on the pretext of restoring law and order in the semi-autonomous region. Protesters have claimed this to be in violation of the treaty signed with the Britain in 1997 and termed China’s move as autocratic to quell the dissenting voices.
China has similarly strengthened its claims on Taiwan and has considered it as a part of its territory. It has recently threatened to annex the country by military force if the island resists unification indefinitely. The threats came in the wake of Taiwan’s request to attend WHO meet and amidst growing mistrust among several countries towards China for its initial mishandling of the coronavirus crisis.
26-year-old Sepoy Kundan Kumar Ojha sacrificed his life for the nation in the violent face-off with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley, Ladakh. Hailing from Jharkhand, he was recruited in the Bihar regiment of the Indian army in 2011.
#WATCH Bihar: Father of Sepoy Kundan Kumar, who lost his life in #GalwanValley of Ladakh on June 15-16, says, “My son sacrificed his life for the nation. I have two grandsons, I will send them too.” pic.twitter.com/WHkkJw0HEX
His father, Ravi Kumar Ojha, said, ”My son sacrificed his life for the nation. I have two grandsons, I will send them too.” Sepoy Ojha was posted in the valley along with Col Babu, who also lost his life during the face-off between Indian and Chinese sides.
Col Babu’s father proudly narrated his son’s stories of bravery and told how he fought terrorists in Kupwara. He added that he was mentally prepared for this day from the moment his son joined the army.
Ladakh face-off between Indian and Chinese troops
On the night of 15th and 16th June, a violent face-off took place between Indian and Chinese troops. It led to casualties on both sides. Chinese authorities did not release any official figures. However, the Indian side has confirmed 20 casualties. It is believed that the casualties on the Chinese side are above 40. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in a statement that our soldiers died while defending the country, and their sacrifice will not go in vain.
Delhi Police recently filed a charge sheet in connection will the killing of head constable Ratan Lal during the violence that swept northeast Delhi in February this year. The police, in its charge-sheet, had stated that the murder of Ratan Lal was a part of a deeper conspiracy to gin up communal riots across the national capital.
The Special Investigation Team of Delhi Police has filed a 1,100-page charge-sheet in the murder of Ratan Lal and deadly attacks by rioters on IPS Amit Sharma and IPS Anuj Kumar. At least 17 accused have been named in the charge-sheet. There are about 4 to 5 key conspirators in this whole case, which includes Salim Khan, Salim Munna and Shadab. The police stated that the riots were engineered in Delhi through a conspiracy to malign the image of the country.
There were several other extremely disturbing details that emerged from the charge sheet, a part of which has been accessed by OpIndia. One name which has been mentioned in the charge sheet multiple times is that of one DS Bindra. In February, social media posts went viral praising ‘generosity’ of a Sikh man, one ‘Advocate D S Bindra’ who ‘sold his flat’ to fund ‘langar’ (community kitchen often in Gurudwara) at Shaheen Bagh.
India Today headlined its article about DS Bindra by declaring that he was serving humanity.
Headline by India Today
He was also glorified by Shaheen Bagh Twitter handle and used to claimed solidarity between Islamists and Sikhs.
This claim by DS Bindra had gone viral and unsurprisingly, the media had picked up these claims and glorified him for this ‘selfless act’. Aaj Tak and Lallantop while glorifying him, however, forget to mention two important aspects:
DS Bindra was an AIMIM leader
As per media reports, Bindra had also been instrumental in leading anti-CAA protests at Delhi’s Mustafabad and Khureji.
That Bindra was a leaded of AIMIM and was also leading the anti-CAA protests at Mustafabad should have sent alarm bells ringing, however, the media had found their hero through whom the Islamists could be whitewashed and they hanged on to him.
Now, it appears that DS Bindra has been named in the charge sheet filed by the Delhi Crime Branch as one of the key people who instigated the mobs that eventually murdered constable Ratan Lal during the anti-Hindu riots in Delhi.
What the chargesheet said about DS Bindra
The charge sheet said beat officers were regularly deployed in the area of the protest to ensure that no law and order situation arose. After the murder of Ratan Lal, two beat officers were also questioned and their statements recorded to ascertain facts. They revealed that Salim Khan, Salim Munna, D.S Bindra, Suleman Siddqui, Ayub, Athar, Shahdab, Upasna, Ravishand others were organizers of the protest site. At the site, provocative statements inciting Muslims were made every day. The charge sheet specifically mentions that according to the beat officers, the riot at this site was the handiwork of D.S Bindra, Salman Siddiqui, Salim Khan, Salim Munna, and Athar etc in cahoots with local rioters.
The charge sheet further mentions categorically, “The accused persons further combinedly disclosed that along with them D.S Bindra, Dr. Rizwan, Athar, Shahdab, Upasna, Tabbsum, Ravish and others were involved in the conspiracy behind the ChandBagh riots”.
Further, arrested accused Shahanawaz and Ibrahim “disclosed that the riots were a part of a conspiracy hatched by the organiser namely DSBindra, Dr Rizwan, Suleman (Salman), Saleem Khan, Saleem Munna and others with the help of others”.
Another accused, Mohd Saleem Khan (Organiser of the Chand Bagh protest) had revealed that about two months ago, DS Bindra had started community kitchen at service road, Wazirabad road, ChandBagh. Because of the community kitchen, a rather large crowd used to assemble there. He, along with Salman Siddiqui, Dr Rizwan, Salim Munna and others used to visit the community kitchen. DS Bindra instigated him and other Muslims to oppose CAA/NRC strongly and he stressed that people should come on the road to show their dissent.
The chargesheet also categorically states that the conspirators “were fully aware that violence may ensue and had accordingly directed the protestors to arm themselves”.
Further, the chargesheet says, “On 23.02.2020 the above said accused persons along with other organizers, conspirators and rioters convened a meeting at Chand Bagh and asked the residents to equip themselves with iron rods, Dandas, Petrol Bombs etc for the next day. On 24.02.2020 at around 1 pm as per plan the riots erupted and the protestors attacked the police personnel. Numbers of police personnel were injured and HC Ratan Lal was killed”.
People from the Muslim community which included women and children also used to gather in huge numbers. During the protest, hate speeches and instigating messages were conveyed from the stage through the mic. On 23/02/2020, the situation became tense after stone-pelting took place in Jafrabad, another site of CAA/NRC protest. On 24/02/2020, he, along with his associates and residents of ChandBagh planned to block the road and decided that in case police would intervene they would assault them too. Owing to this, he, along with his associates and local residents visited the protest site carrying sticks, Iron rods, petrol bombs, acid, stones, arms etc. In order to instigate the protesters at the protest site, hate speeches were being delivered since morning.
Beat officials from PS Dayalpur had come to the stage to call them for a discussion but they were forced to leave the protest site. They all tried to block the main Wazirabad road and when police asked them to retreat, the fully prepared crowd assaulted and lynched police officials mercilessly. The protesters snatched the tear gas shells and sticks from the police officials. In a planned manner, the CCTVs installed near the protest site were damaged before the assault upon police officials. They burnt the shops, vehicles and houses.
Further, the charge sheet says, “These are the persons who laid the foundation of the protest site. They met local people, organized meetings initially with them, made them believe that they are in a predicament and provided the initial spark. These included politicians, members of organizations like AISA, JCC etc. In the present case, D S Bindra is one of the conspirators. It has been revealed that he put up a community kitchen “Langar” at Chand Bagh at first. He was joined by some local residents whom we may term as Local organizers. Conspirators were in frequent touch with the local organizers since the inception of the protest site till the violence broke out on 24/02/2020”.
In the chargesheet, other than Ratan Lal who was mercilessly lynched and killed by the rioters, 49 other police officials who were injured in the riots were listed.
Ratan Lal’s murder was a deeper conspiracy
Constable Ratan Lal was murdered on February 24 when he was shot at by rioters while patrolling along with his seniors. The police had alleged in the charge-sheet that a group of 45 people held a meeting at the basement of a house on February 22, where the conspiracy of the riot was conceived. On February 23, after the conspiracy was hatched, rioters asked senior citizens and children to stay indoors as they ran riot on the streets, indulging in vandalism.
A day later, on February 24, rioters and vandals again hit the streets, damaging public properties, setting vehicles on fire and causing bloodshed. Around 1 PM in Chand Bagh area, patrolling party in Chand Bagh was vastly outnumbered by a huge crowd of rioters. Senior police officials tried to placate the riotous mob but the crowd turned violent and attacked police. Head constable Ratan Lal was shot dead by the rioters. Amit Sharma, Anuj Kumar and several policemen received serious injuries, the charge-sheet said.
While police head constable Ratan Lal died of bullet injuries in Chand Bagh region, IB sleuth Ankit Sharma(26) was brutally stabbed by a violent mob sheltered inside AAP councillor Tahir Hussain’s house. Sharma’s body was recovered from a ditch in the Chand Bagh area.
The US Chief of Naval Operations has taken to Twitter to raise apprehensions over TikTok, a Chinese video-sharing social media app, and concern over the privacy of its users. Sharing an article by The Wall Street Journal, Charlie Brown, the US Navy’s Public Affairs officer, raised apprehensions about the dynamics of a social media platform owned by a Beijing-based company.
Little bit of a rant: If you’re shocked by the allegations of message manipulation and soft censorship in this article, then you need to think more about the dynamic of a social media platform owned by a Beijing-based company. Social media literacy is national security, too. https://t.co/Kxt2ekYMj2
In a series of Tweets, the U.S. Navy Public Affairs officer asked his fellow soldiers to prudently choose the app they want to use to communicate with each other. He said that though TikTok is an extremely popular app, they should be choosing avenues which are more trustworthy.
For my fellow Sailors, it is not just about what is on our government phone or not. It’s about social media literacy— how much trust can you put in the info you are seeing?
TikTok sharing information of its users with Chinese Government
Raising apprehensions on the privacy of the Chinese app users, the US Navy Chief of Information stated that one needn’t be a think tank expert to understand how important it has always been for the Chinese government to have control over information, insinuating that all the information which a person shares on TikTok, including all personal information and private texts are possibly in possession of the Chinese government.
The Navy officers asserted “social media literacy is national security”, and urged all the sailors to refrain from using TikTok, instead choose from a set of other apps that are more ‘trustworthy’. He also stated that not just crucial data on the government issued-phones, but other information can also be exploited.
It is pertinent to note here, that last year, both the US Navy and the US Army had banned the social media app TikTok from government-issued mobile devices over “cybersecurity threat”. The ban followed guidance issued on December 16, 2019, by the U.S. Department of Defense, identifying TikTok as having potential security risks associated with its use.
Downgrading of the Chinese app
TikTok is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. The social media platform TikTok where users share short-videos witnessed a huge fallout after it was massively reported by users in India after several incidents of the platform being used for glorifying various crimes emerged in recent times. Last month, the app’s rating on Google Play Store had dropped swiftly from 4.6 to 1.3.
In India, there have been several complaints against the potential security threat associated with the platform.
Following that, several social media users had reported how the Chinese app is propagating hate crimes by enabling ‘TikTok influencers’ to glorify hate crimes against Hindus. Recently, some TikTok ‘celebrities’ have been seen inciting violence, encouraging acid attacks against women and spreading Islamist propaganda over coronavirus spread. The country witnessed significant violence following the incident and it’s unclear still the extent to which TikTok contributed to it.
Concerned over the Chinese app’s security issues, there have been demands in India too for the government to ban the app.
