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An NGO writes to govt asking for study into the use of Ganga water in treating Coronavirus, Shekhar Gupta’s The Print makes it Modi Govt’s proposal

OpIndia Staff
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An NGO writes to govt asking for study into the use of Ganga water in treating Coronavirus, Shekhar Gupta’s The Print makes it Modi Govt’s proposal

Continuing its usual antics of spreading misinformation against the Modi government, the controversial news website ‘The Print’ on Wednesday resorted to peddling false information regarding Modi government’s alleged request to ICMR to conduct research on a theory that Gangajal, or water from Ganga river, could possibly cure coronavirus.

The Print, which has a notorious history of publishing fake news, reported that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has turned down the “Narendra Modi government’s request” to carry out a research on a theory that Gangajal could be a possible cure for the Chinese pandemic.

The left-wing website claimed that a ‘source’ in the ICMR informed them that the research institute has refused to get involved as it is focussing on the coronavirus battle and does not want to waste time on other research.

Misleading information from the Print

The Print, in its headline, claimed that it was Modi government which wants a study on Gangajal. However, it contradicted it’s own report as it wrote that the “request” from the Ministry of Jal Shakti to conduct “further research” was sent after it received a proposal by an NGO, Atulya Ganga.

The Print again quotes an imaginary source from the ICMR, without even naming his identity, raising suspicion on the authenticity of the claims made by the website.

According to the report, in its letter last month, NGO Atulya Ganga had cited the presence of a ‘ninja virus’’ called a bacteriophage, in Ganga’s water that could cure coronavirus. A bacteriophage is a special type of virus that eats harmful bacteria, the letter said. Atulya Ganga founder, Major Manoj Keshwar (retd) said that there are scientific references to suggest that these phages have anti-microbial properties and could potentially destroy bacteria.

The NGO had asked the government on 3 April to conduct a study on the possibility of this virus acting as a cure. It had also sent a copy each to the ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), according to The Print’s own admission.

ICMR rejects NGO’s proposal

The National Mission for Clean Gangaa, an arm of the Jal Shakti Ministry and the department in charge of the Modi government’s ambitious Namami Gange programme, had received a number of proposals, including from general public and NGOs working on Ganga, to undertake clinical studies for the treatment of coronavirus patients with the river water. After receiving the letter from the NGO Atulya Ganga, the NMCG following the routine protocol wrote a letter to ICMR on 30 April requesting a clinical trial.

The ICMR then held a meeting to discuss the idea, but refused to proceed, offering only its “help” to the NGO.

“We had indeed received a letter from the Ministry of Jal Shakti for such research. The experts at ICMR also held a meeting on this matter. Then we asked those proposing this research that you should tell us about hospitals and doctors that are ready and willing to conduct some research on it. We will certainly help them in this regard,” said the ICMR official.

The Print’s false claims

According to the Print’s own claims, it is the NGO – Atulya Ganga which had initiated the proposal to use the water of Ganga for possible research on developing a cure to coronavirus and not the Modi government. The same was mentioned by other media houses which reported on the matter.

In fact, following the necessary protocol, the Modi government’s Jal Shakti ministry had merely forwarded the proposal to the ICMR rather than itself taking a call on the matter.

However, the Print, through a clickbait headline resorted to mislead the public by claiming that it was the Modi government who on its own sent the proposal to the ICMR and deliberately hid the details pertaining to the NGO so that it could discredit the efforts of the Modi government.

Bacteriophage in Ganga water

A study by the scientists of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) had indeed found that the Ganga water contains a higher proportion of bacteriophage, the virus that kills bacteria. In the study titled ”Assessment of Water Quality and Sediment to understand the special properties of River Ganga”, it was found that the water in Ganga contains three times more bacteriophage compared to other rivers, particularly in the upper Himalayan stretches of the Ganga. Although the bacteriophage virus kills bacteria, the Coronavirus is a virus, not a bacteria, so it is unlikely that the water containing a higher amount of bacteriophage will be beneficial in treating Coronavirus infection. But it may be beneficial in eliminating some harmful bacteria, therefore studies in this regard may be conducted in future when situation returns to normalcy.

Journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai posts Pakistani image, claims it is ‘mother India’s feet’

OpIndia Staff
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Journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai posts Pakistani image, claims it is ‘mother India’s feet’

It is not just the Pakistanis who try to peddle images of Palestinian women as that from Jammu and Kashmir. Indian journalists and politicians have also been found imitating the stunts.

Yesterday, former Aaj Tak and ABP News journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai had posted an image which showed the chapped, rough feet of some children. He added the text, “Mother India ke panv dekhe hain kabhi”? which means, ‘have you ever seen the feet of mother India?

The post was shared on May 6, 2020. However, in his attempt to score browny points over poverty porn, Bajpai forgot to verify when and where the image was from.

As pointed out by Twitter user @theFirstHandle, Bajpai had used an image that was published in a 2018 report by The London Post, in an article titled “Real Face of Pakistani Democracy- Children need a sponsor for medical treatment”.

Image shared by Congress leader too

Not just PP Bajpai, the image seems to have captivated Congress leaders too. Americai V Narayanan, the Congress leader and spokesperson had used the same image last month to insinuate that the poor in India are struggling during the lockdown and the rich are being helped by the government.

After being pointed out by many on Twitter, Bajpai deleted his tweet. However, Congress spokesperson Americai Narayanan is yet to delete his tweet that had used a 2018 image from Pakistan.

Not the first time peddling fake news

Bajpai is famous for his ‘Bahut krantikari’ remark for Arvind Kejriwal. Last year, he had predicted more seats for Congress ally DMK that the Tamil Nadu party was even contesting, and the claim was happily shared by Congress. From peddling fake narratives of EVM hacking to twisting statements to attack the Modi government, Bajpai has been very ‘Kraantikari’ in the world of fake news.

Posting such misleading images is something that political leaders are often caught doing. In 2018, the Aam Aadmi Party had tried to pass off the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam as the Signature Bridge in Delhi. Last year, AAP’s Atishi Marlena has posted an image of a foreign sewer treatment plant as that from Okhla, in a failed attempt to mock the Statue of Unity.

Andhra Pradesh: Three including one child die after gas leak at chemical plant in Visakhapatnam

OpIndia Staff
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Andhra Pradesh: Three including one child die after gas leak at chemical plant in Visakhapatnam

At least three people, including one child, have died and several fell ill after a gas leak in a chemical factory in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. A chemical gas leakage was reported early morning on Thursday at LG Polymers factory. People in the vicinity were taken to hospital after they complained of burning sensation in eyes and breathing difficulties.

After the report of gas leak poured in, police and ambulance was called on the spot. The leakage reportedly happened at around 3 AM near the Naiduthota area which is close to Gopalapatnam. People started to panic as several people fell ill and many fell unconscious on the road with breathing difficulties. Many also complained of rashes and sore eyes. As per reports, the exact cause of the gas leak is not yet known.

From Hinduphobic ‘gaumutra’ to Homophobic ‘gays of srk’: Meet the journalist who operates the Times of India Twitter handle

OpIndia Staff
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From Hinduphobic ‘gaumutra’ to Homophobic ‘gays of srk’: Meet the journalist who operates the Times of India Twitter handle

On Thursday, a Twitter user identified as X Æ A-12 Duggu @R0adside_M0nk, in a series of tweets exposed the sheer Hindhuphobia of a Times of India editor, who not only pushed hatred against Hindus but also used the official Twitter account of Times of India to make Hinduphobic comments.

Samina Shaikh, who has access to the social media account of Times of India was exposed by netizens for her Hinduphobic and Homophobic comments. According to Twitter user Duggu, Shaikh has been handling the ToI Twitter account, the handle which has put out various controversial posts lately on social media.

Shaikh, who is the editor of Bombay Times, deputy editor of ETimes, and also associated with Femina magazine, was caught handling the Times of India’s twitter account after she tweeted the same content from the Times of India’s Twitter account which was earlier shared from her own account. Perhaps, Shaikh had forgotten to switch her social media accounts.

Not only that, Samina Shaikh’s old tweets of taking a dig at Hindus by making ‘gaumutra’ jibes has also resurfaced on the social media platforms. Such jibes have often been used by far-left and Islamists, including the Pulwama bomber.

In addition to her tweets with Hinduphobic slurs, Samina Shaikh’s old tweets were also put out by social media users where she had made shocking Homophobic comments against Bollywood actors.

Following the expose, Samina Shaikh, initially, urged the social media user Duggu to delete the tweets put out by him and claimed that she was not anti-Hindu. Shaikh claimed that she has only Hindu friends and also said she was an Indian.

Image Source: Duggu

As Shaikh was exposed by social media users, she soon displayed her victim card by claiming that she has been targetted on Twitter. She said she has been receiving rape threats and abuses after her Hindu hatred was exposed. However, she did not put out screenshots of such threats.

“He was not a rapist, stop calling him that,” brother of the Class 12 boy who committed suicide says that social media made him a rapist overnight

OpIndia Staff
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“He was not a rapist, stop calling him that,” brother of the Class 12 boy who committed suicide says that social media made him a rapist overnight

Rishi Singh, brother of the class-12 Gurugram boy, Manav Singh, who committed suicide on Tuesday after being accused by a girl of sexual assault on social media, has taken to Instagram to claim that his brother was innocent. While defending Manav, Rishi Singh narrates what circumstances compelled his brother to take such a drastic step and urges that his innocent brother should not be held guilty for a crime he did not commit.

He also mentioned that this incident has nothing to do with the ‘Boys Locker Room’ case.

Rishi Singh’s Instagram post dated May 6, 2020

“MANAV WAS NOT A RAPIST. HE DIDN’T DESERVE TO DIE” Rishi Singh captioned his post with several hashtags such as #justiceformanav, #stopdefaming, #slander, #falseaccusations, etc. Rishi wrote in his post that his brother Manav was unable to handle the tremendous pressure he was in after the story of the girl who falsely accused him of rape and molestation went viral on social media and impulsively decided to commit suicide.

Rishi said that the social media post which went viral spoke about an alleged incident that happened two years ago when Manav was about 14 or 15 years old. He claimed that the girl who made the accusations had no proofs for the same.

Rishi wrote that Manav received threat calls and messages after her story went viral on social media. He said that Manav tried to defend himself in front of the girl and her friends who had accused him. He tried to convince them that he was innocent but he couldn’t handle the constant threats and believed that his side of the story would not be heard.

Rishi Singh’s Instagram post

Speaking about how contemptuous Manav’a accuser was, Rishi alleged that after hearing about the suicide the girl posted another story which said that if Manav could not handle the pressure then its not her fault. “She didn’t repent for a second what she wrote which not only led to a young kids demise but also shattered his family’s life”, lamented the devastated brother of the teenage boy.

Rishi Singh’s Instagram post

“Defamation on social media can be harmful to the mental health of people”, wrote Rishi Singh claiming that social media made his brother into a rapist overnight. Social media declared Manav guilty of the crime he did not even commit, “He is not a rapist, please stop calling him that”, asserted the brother. “We as a family stand proof to how devastating a mere story on Instagram can be, said the aggrieved brother of Manav Singh.

Manav Singh was the youngest member of the family and he didn’t deserve to die, wrote Rishi demanding justice for his brother.

Gurugram suicide case

A class 12 boy in Gurugram’s upscale residential area, DLF Phase 5, jumped from the balcony of his flat on 11th floor at around 11 PM on Tuesday. The police are investigating whether he was involved in the controversial ‘Bois Locker Room’ Instagram group.

The teen was a resident of DLF Carlton Estate. His phone has been seized by the police and has been sent to forensic lab for analysis. Cybercrime cell has also been involved to investigate his social media accounts. He has not left any suicide note.

“No suicide note was found but messages retrieved from the boy’s phone showed that fellow students warned him that the police would question him,” an officer told the Hindustan Times.

As per the report, Deepak Kumar, the Station House Officer of Sector 53 police station said the guards heard a thud sound and rushed to the spot. They found the boy severely injured in a pool of blood. The guards informed the family at around 11:30 pm. The boy was rushed to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

Gurugram boy’s parents file no police complaint

The parents have allegedly refused to file any police complaint. The police have therefore started a suicide inquiry under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Deepak Mathur, the forensic expert who conducted the autopsy said, “There were multiple injuries, including head injury, which caused the death”.

Bois Locker Room

Recently, social media was awash with repugnant details of an Instagram chat group comprising of boys that discussed ‘gang-raping’ girls in a group called ‘Bois Locker Room’ (Bois, being a spin on the word ‘boys’). The leaked photos of the “Bois Locker Room” (Boys Locker Room) Instagram group had kicked up a storm over the normalisation of rape culture in the country. The group allegedly ran by teenage boys, involved graphic sexualisation and sharing of private photos of underage girls, objectifying them and planning gang-rapes with minor girls. Although many linked the suicide case with this, the brother Rishi has asserted that both are separate incidents and Manav was not involved in the infamous group.

West Bengal has the highest rate of coronavirus fatalities and lowest rate of testing: Union Home ministry to Mamata Banerjee government

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal has the highest rate of coronavirus fatalities and lowest rate of testing: Union Home ministry to Mamata Banerjee government

The Union Home Ministry in a letter to West Bengal government has revealed that the state has the highest rate of coronavirus fatalities. In a memo, the Union Home Ministry also pointed out that the state has a “very low rate of testing in proportion to the population and a very high rate of mortality of 13.2 percent, by far the highest for any state.”

The letter revealed further, “This is a reflection of poor surveillance, detection, and testing in the state. There is also a need to increase random testing in crowded clusters.”

In a letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary, Union Home ministry secretary Ajay Bhalla revealed that the lockdown violations are noted in the cities of Kolkata and Howrah with media reports of the corona warriors being attacked.

The home secretary stated that certain instances of overcrowding in markets with poor sanitation, free movement of people in large numbers without masks, bathing of people in rivers, people playing cricket and football, serious laxity in enforcing lockdown measures in containment zones, plying of rickshaws without any restriction are grave violations of lockdown instructions and social distancing norms have emerged in the state. They all are examples of poor implementation of crowd control measures by district authorities, the letter said.

After the feedback of IMCT teams which were deputed in Kolkata and Jalpaiguri districts since April 20 and returned on Monday, the Union Home secretary wrote the letter to West Bengal secretariat.

The IMCT had extensively toured a total of seven districts in the state and have communicated their observations from time to time to the state government, Bhalla mentioned in the letter.

The two-page letter said that the stricter enforcement of lockdown was necessary and that problem has arisen due to the ostracism of healthcare professionals and lack of quarantine facilities in the state.

IMCT slammed West Bengal government for its handling of coronavirus crisis

The Inter-Ministerial Central Team(IMCT) slammed the West Bengal government for its handling of the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis in its final observations regarding the state of affairs. Team Leader and Special Secretary to the Government of India, Apurva Chandra, in his letter to the Chief Secretary of the state asserted that the government had taken an antagonistic approach towards the team and has not supported it in its pursuit to carry out its duties. He also said that the testing rate was not up to the mark and indicated that the government led by Mamata Banerjee was fudging data, an accusation that has been leveled by numerous other people across the board. The letter also said that adequate systems were not in place to conduct surveillance in containment zones.

Journalist with The Wire calls terrorists as martyrs, seen operating close to security forces in Jammu and Kashmir

OpIndia Staff
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Journalist with The Wire calls terrorists as martyrs, seen operating close to security forces in Jammu and Kashmir

Junaid Bhat, a photojournalist with ‘The Wire’, has been seen eulogising terrorists and glorifying them on his social media accounts. In several of his tweets, he has called the terrorists who wreak havoc in Kashmir as “martyrs” and blamed the Indian troops for eliminating them.

However, it is a startling fact that the same journalist Bhat has been found sharing intimate details about the movements of the Indian Armed Forces and their anti-terror operations carried out in Jammu and Kashmir. On his social media accounts, the photojournalist Bhat has been sharing his pictures of operating dangerously close to the Indian Army personnel, in the process revealing critical information that should have otherwise remained under the wraps

The dichotomy of a terror apologist operating in close proximity to the Indian Armed Forces in Kashmir was highlighted by Abhijit Iyer Mitra on Twitter. Raising suspicion that Bhat may be feeding intelligence input to terrorists, Mitra shared tweets posted by Bhat where he is seen eulogising and extolling terrorists. The Twitter account of Junaid Bhat has since then been deactivated.

In one of the pictures shared by Mitra, Bhat claimed that when Zakir Musa had gone to Punjab, not a single non-Muslim turned informer against him while Kashmiri ‘traitors’ were responsible for providing crucial information about the whereabouts of Zakir Musa to the security forces which eventually led to his encounter.

In another tweet, Bhat exalted terrorists as “martyr” by saying, “Every day Indians martyr our innocents, Every morning shows our new story, sometimes against us, sometimes in our favour.”

A cursory glance at this journalist’s social media accounts reveals how potentially sensitive information he feeds to the outside world about the ongoing operations in the Kashmir Valley, such as troop movements of Indian Army within Kashmir and photos and visuals of the encounter sites.

While the encounter was underway at Beigpora between the security forces and terrorists, including Hizbul chief Riyaz Naikoo, Bhat shared vital information on Facebook about the encounter such as the visuals and videos that could be used by the terrorists to locate the troops and plan an escape.

Screenshot of Facebook profile of Junaid Bhat

On Instagram too, Junaid has been quite active in sharing his bold exploits. In one of the posts, even as the Handwara encounter was underway, Junaid passed off pivotal information such as the count and formation of Indian Army personnel carrying out the encounter. He also added that the top security officials among security men have lost contact with their colleagues.

Image Courtesy: Instagram/junaidphotographer

Bhat shared another photo of himself along with the Armed Forces from the site of Handwara encounter.

After the Handwara encounter had concluded, Bhat shared another photo on his Instagram profile of the Indian Army convoy leaving the site with the number of vehicles in the convoy.

Image Courtesy: Instagram/junaidphotographer

Crucial information such as the convoy details and their chosen route is normally withheld from being made public, for the fear of terrorist attack against them. But this sobering reality doesn’t deter Mr Bhat from sharing the particulars on his social media timeline for global consumption, including terrorists operating inside Kashmir and their handlers in Pakistan.

It is pertinent to note that the Indian Army suffered heavy casualties in the Handwara encounter where an Indian army colonel, a major and two soldiers, along with a Jammu and Kashmir Police sub-inspector, were killed in a counter-terrorist operation in Kashmir late on Saturday.

The above instances, where a terror apologist who also happens to be a journalist with ‘The Wire’, shares vital information about the Indian Armed Forces, reminds one of the disastrous journalism that accompanied the horrifying Mumbai 26/11 attacks where the handlers based out of Pakistan were instructing terrorists in Mumbai about the commando movements based on the Indian TV coverage of the attacks.

The Armed Forces would do well to steer clear of such journalists and reporters who do not exercise restrain in sharing information on their social media pages or who might be willing collaborators with the terrorists to either escape encounters or inflict heavy casualties to the security personnel.

Five Tablighi Jamaat members, who had misbehaved with nurses in Ghaziabad hospital, arrested after the end of the quarantine period

OpIndia Staff
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Five Tablighi Jamaat members, who had misbehaved with nurses in Ghaziabad hospital, arrested after the end of the quarantine period

Five members of Tablighi Jamaat, who had misbehaved with nurses and other female staff at a Ghaziabad hospital, have been arrested by police. The Jamaatis were under quarantine as the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi had emerged as super spreader of the Wuhan Coronavirus in the country.

Ghaziabad police arrested the 5 Tablighi Jamaat members on Wednesday after their quarantine period was over and they tested negative for Coronavirus. They were kept in Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology in quarantine.

10 Jamaat members were kept in quarantine in District MMG Hospital in Ghaziabad after the Jamaat’s link with Coronavirus had emerged, but five of them had started to misbehave with the female staff. They were roaming naked in the ward, made lewd gestures for female staff, and sang obscene songs. They were also making unreasonable demands for food, and harassing the healthcare workers of the hospital.

After the nurses had written to police complaining about the behaviour of the Tablighis, the Chief Medical Officer of the Hospital had also written a letter to the Ghaziabad police informing about the criminal behaviour. After that, the problematic Jamaatis were shifted to the quarantine centre set up at RKGIT. An FIR was registered in the case, and National Security Act also has been invoked against them.

It may be noted that after the Tablighi members were booked on the complaint of nurses and hospital administration, a section of left-liberals had stared a campaign to label it as a propaganda against Muslims. People like Wire editor Arfa Khanum Sherwan and Wall Street Journal columnist Sadanand Dhume had insinuated that the nurses were lying and they had registered a false case.

Arfa Khanum Sherwani said that she refused to believe that the Tablighi Jamaat members will harass or molest women, and the nurses were doing propaganda. She had also said that in guise of attacking Tablighi Jamaat, the entire Muslim community was being targeted. Similarly, Dhume had said that the conservativism of Tablighi Jamaat members extends to “extreme propriety around women”, and he refuse to believe that they will harass doctors or molest woman. He had claimed that “stories about their lewdness ring false. And attempts to tar Muslims, in general, are beyond despicable”.

Since then, several other incidents of Tablighi Jamaatis attacking police personnel and healthcare workers, spitting on people engaged in their care in hospitals and quarantine centres, and hiding in various places like mosques to evade getting testing for Coronavirus has emerged.

Jamia student Shadab Najar who was shot during anti-CAA protests bats for Islamic terrorism in Kashmir, glorifies terrorist eliminated by Army

OpIndia Staff
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Jamia student Shadab Najar who was shot during anti-CAA protests bats for Islamic terrorism in Kashmir, glorifies terrorist eliminated by Army

Shadab Najar, the student from Jamia Milia Islamia University who was injured in the shooting incident at Jamia during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, has lent his support for Islamic Terrorism in Kashmir. On Wednesday, he shared an Al Jazeera article along with the caption, “By raising our guns against Indian rule in Kashmir, we want to let them know that we will not accept the occupation of our land under any circumstance. We will respond to their force with force since that seems to be the only language they understand.” The words were uttered by the Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir, Riaz Naikoo, who was eliminated by the Indian Army in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Shadab Najar’s post on Facebook

Pertinently, the words are from an interview the terrorist gave to Al Jazeera in 2018. By sharing the said words, Shadab Najar has made it abundantly clear which side he is on. His Radical Islamic inclinations have been clear for a long time. After he was shot, screenshots of his posts on Facebook had gone viral giving a clear indication about his loyalties. On 9th July 2017, Shadab had likened slain terrorist Burhan Wani to army personnel as all he did was ‘picking gun and shooting innocent’, thereby implying that Indian army shoots innocent people. In May 2018, he made yet another post which degraded the Indian Army claiming that the army personnel are raping women.

In March 2018, he yet again shared posts which claimed Indian Army is killing Kashmiri civilians. On 16th February 2019, just hours after the deadly Pulwama attack, Najar shared a Facebook post by documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan who cast aspersions that the terror attack was an ‘inside job’ ahead of 2019 general elections. Thus, his Facebook post after the terrorist was eliminated today comes as no surprise.

Jamia Student bats for Terrorists

Unfortunately, Shadab is not the only Jamia student who bats for terrorists. Jamia Millia Islamia University law student Mahoor Parvez referred to the Indian soldiers who were martyred in Handwara encounter on Sunday as ‘war criminals’. “Why are you all obsessed with glorifying war criminals? These forces have illegally occupied and committed gross human rights violations in Kashmir for 70+ years. And yet the one who picks up the gun to liberate Kashmir is a terrorist to you and these are martyrs? Make it make sense,” she said.

Mahoor Parvez has now deleted her Instagram and other social media profiles. Parvez has earlier interned with a law firm, Khaitan & Co, which had later distanced itself after her hateful comments on Indian Armed Forces went viral.

Following the elimination of Hizbul commander Riyaz Naikoo, here is how liberals are humanising him and singing dirges to the Islamic terrorist

Jinit Jain
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Following the elimination of Hizbul commander Riyaz Naikoo, here is how liberals are humanising him and singing dirges to the Islamic terrorist

Top Hizbul commander Riyaz Naikoo was eliminated by the Indian Armed Forces on Wednesday in Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Riyaz Naikoo, who was leading the banned Hizbul Mujahideen in Kashmir valley, had been trapped in the operation in Beighbora village of Pulwama district earlier in the day. Naikoo, along with two other terrorists were gunned down by the security forces in an encounter. The dead Hizbul terrorist was quite active in the valley and responsible for various abductions and recruitment of fresh blood to the Hizbul Mujahideen over the years.

However, the death of one of the most prominent terrorists active in the Valley has provided a fresh opportunity for the propaganda peddlers to understate the menace of terrorism in Kashmir and demonise the Indian state and its Armed Forces. Propagandists have started singing dirges for the slain terrorist and are providing disingenuous accounts of how the terrorist was pushed into “extremism” by the Indian state, thereby whitewashing his terror activities and elevating him to the “martyr status”.

Besides, eulogising articles that serve to humanise the terrorist and extenuate him of his crimes are being published. This is a part of a vile agenda that seeks to legitimise the Kashmir struggle and undermine India’s claim to the Himalayan state. Perhaps, media organisations will now even interview the family members of Naikoo to mitigate his terror status, provide ‘reasonable’ justification for his acts of terror and pin the blame on the Indian government’s policies for him to embrace terrorism.

As the news of the death of Hizbul chief Riyaz Naikoo trickled in, some news organisations fell over themselves to shield the terrorists and provide a humanising account of past life. To this end, the Indian Express proceeded to brush aside terror activities by Naikoo by exalting him to the status of a scholar who had a degree in mathematics, as if it is too elusive to acquire one. The Indian Express goes on to minimise his role as a terror perpetrator by characterising him as someone who was a “popular teacher among students”.

Indian Express describes the terrorist as maths teacher

‘The Wire’ which is known for leaning towards Islamists, also couldn’t bring itself to describe Riyaz Naikoo as a terrorist. In an article published on ‘The Wire’ detailing Naikoo’s encounter by the Security Forces, there was not a single instance in the entire report where the it referred to Naikoo as a terrorist.

In fact, long before Riyaz Naikoo was neutralised by the Indian Armed Forces, attempts to humanise the dreaded terrorist were already in the offing. A Huffington Post article published in 2018 described Hizbul Commander Riyaz Naikoo as someone who has gone from “Being a Math teacher to Hizbul Mujahideen’s Chief”.

Huffington Post humanising the terrorist

It is imperative to note here that the premise of the article is not based on the terror proclivities of Riyaz Naikoo but it is on how he had once been a Math teacher and ‘circumstances’ prodded him into adopting terrorism and becoming Hizbul’s chief. However, such extraneous details are often reported, highlighted and glorified by the media organisations so that the hideous details of one’s unabashed involvement in terror activities can be concealed and anodyne facets of their lives can be foregrounded.

Media glorified Zakir Musa as someone who loved gels, deodorants

Last year, after the jihadi terrorist head of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, Zakir Musa was killed by the Armed Forces, there were some media outlets who tried to whitewash his crimes and humanised him. In a report published by News 18 on the slain terrorist Musa, prosaic information about him was used to project as if he was a rock star or movie actor. The report highlighted inconsequential information like how Musa’s father Abdul Rasheed Bhat, an engineer by profession, had received a packet containing an iPhone, iPod, and three debit cards in 2013. Zakir Musa’s decision to become an armed terrorist has been represented in the report as a father’s sorrow of his son ‘sacrificing’ luxury.

The report goes on to quote the terrorist’s friends saying how Musa loved hair gels, expensive deodorants, new clothes and shoes.

The report also attempts to find the ‘trigger’ that ‘made’ the so-called “Young boy who loved sports bikes and cigarettes” join terrorists. In Musa’s case, the report says it was probably because of the incident when he was ‘slapped by a policeman’ and falsely accused of stone-pelting.

Burhan Wani- A headmaster’s son

Perhaps, the most brazen attempt to whitewash the crimes committed by a terrorist was done by none other than ‘illustrious journalist’ Barkha Dutt. Soon after Burhan Wani, then Hizbul Commander in Kashmir was neutralised by the Armed Forces in an encounter in 2016, Dutt lost no time in putting out a tweet describing Wani as a “headmaster’s son” instead of calling him simply what he was- a wretched terrorist.

The murderous Islamist tendencies exhibited by Wani held no significance but his father’s profession as a headmaster of a school was considered as an important nugget of information to be used to characterise him. This is a classic case of how Indian journalists provide fodder to Pakistan and separatists based in Jammu and Kashmir. Once the terrorist is described in humanising terms, all his egregious sins perpetrated by him are whitewashed while the Armed Forces and the state that ordered his elimination are subject to incessant vitriol for killing “a headmaster’s son”.

Adil Dhar became terrorist after beaten by troops

In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, several of the mainstream media organisations proceeded to rationalise the dastardly act of Adil Dhar, the terrorist who rammed an explosive-laden car into one of the vehicles of the CRPF convoy, killing 40 CRPF personnel.

Dhar’s parents were interviewed by many mainstream media channels where they were seen diminishing their son’s terror act. India Today organisation interviewed Dhar’s parents who reasoned that his son became a terrorist after Armed troops beat him up while he was returning from his school. Very cunningly, Dhar’s parents pass the buck on the Security Forces by asserting that their son chose the path of terrorism only because he was thrashed by the Armed Forces, which again is an unsubstantiated claim.

Pulwama terrorist became terrorist after he was beaten up by cops.

The Hindustan Times also carried the interview, solidifying the attempts made to humanise Dhar and provide a justification to the monstrous act perpetrated by him. The HT too published the parents’ version of their son’s humiliating encounter with the Army which pushed him into joining Jaish-e-Muhammad.

Pulwama terrorist mother’s sob story

This is a typical modus operandi adopted by the cabal which rushes to sweep under the carpet the sins committed by the slain terrorists. Their approach entails highlighting trivial and mundane details about the terrorists such as their characteristic traits, areas of interest, family background, educational qualifications etc. to generate a wave of sympathy among the readers for the dead terrorists. The terror apologists use these details in their articles and writings to brand the aggressors as victims of perceived state repression and recount incident that served as a “trigger” for them to adopt “militancy”, a euphemistic term used to describe terrorism.

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