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Fact-check: Viral video of ‘Sikh procession reaching Shaheen Bagh’ is actually of ‘Nagar Kirtan’ from Jalandhar

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-check: Viral video of ‘Sikh procession reaching Shaheen Bagh’ is actually of ‘Nagar Kirtan’ from Jalandhar

A video of a Sikh procession was shared widely on social media claiming that they were heading towards Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh to support Muslims against National Register of Citizens and Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

One Facebook user ‘Mohammad Javed’ posted the video along with a caption in Hindi which translates to ‘Sikh brothers reach Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, say they too are with Muslims. No NRC, No CAA’.

This video which was posted on February 4, has received 17 lakh views and over 1,26,000 shares.

However, according to a report by India Today, this video is three months old and from Sultanpur Lodhi in Punjab. Taking a closer look at the video, the registration code of a motorbike passing by exhibits the RTO quantity (PB08BA 8747) of Punjab’s Jalandhar. A car of Punjab Police may also be seen.

According to Jalandhar police that procession was of Namdhari Sikhs, an India sect of Sikhism, who mostly wear white turbans, kurtas and pyjamas. It turned out that these Sikhs were participating in a Nagar Kirtan, a Sikh custom involving processions by the community.

The stills from claimed Sikh procession reaching Shaheen Bagh (L) is same as that of Nagar Kirtan (R)

When searched with related keywords, some YouTube videos were found from November last year which showed a similar procession and a police vehicle as seen in the viral video.
The details of these YouTube videos show that it is a procession by Namdhari Sikhs on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in Sultanpur Lodhi, a holy town in Kapurthala district of Punjab.

Read: Aaj Tak and Lallantop glorify Sikh man ‘who sold his house for funding Shaheen Bagh langar’. Here is what they don’t tell you

Another such video from the same event could be seen here.

While DSP of Sultanpur Lodhi, Sarwan Singh Bal confirmed to India Today that the viral video is of a procession led by Namdhari Sikhs in the town on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November 2019, Sultanpur Lodhi MLA Navtej Singh Cheema also confirmed that the video was from his constituency and was shot in November last year.

The MLA divulged that he had organised the celebration in the city, and the procession seen in the video was going to Gurudwara Ber Sahib, a famous holy spot for Sikhs in Sultanpur Lodhi.Incidentally, this incident was reported by Punjab Kesari on November 2, 2019.

The mastermind of Hizb terror conspiracy is not tainted J&K cop Davinder Singh but lawyer Irfan Shafi Mir: NIA

OpIndia Staff
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The mastermind of Hizb terror conspiracy is not tainted J&K cop Davinder Singh but lawyer Irfan Shafi Mir: NIA

The National Investigation Agency shifts the investigation spotlight from tainted Jammu and Kashmir police officer Davinder Singh to a lawyer Irfan Shafi Mir. Mir was arrested along with Singh and two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists on January 11. Post interrogation the NIA has revealed that DSP Davinder Singh was a mere “mercenary”, the key man behind the operation was one lawyer Irfan Shafi Mir.

According to an India Today report, NIA revealed that Irfan Shafi Mir, a resident of Diaroo in Shopian, was the common link between Davinder Singh and dreaded Hizbul leader Naveed Babu. Mir had reportedly arranged for the militants to be transported to Jammu and subsequently to be exfiltrated to PoK.

However, Davinder Singh, who was paid a huge sum for conducting the high-risk assignment, reportedly told NIA that he wanted to extract money from the module and later would have earned brownie points with Jammu and Kashmir Police after tipping them off and getting them eliminated.

Irfan’s phone book also gave away contacts of two-dozen numbers of various terrorists and over-ground-workers. Some of them are said to be ‘most wanted’ in NIA cases. Also, his social media profile shows that he was following an array of journalists, Bollywood actors and the official account of the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Agencies divulged that Irfan was the one who travelled to Pakistan at least five times. His passport showed that he had travelled via the legal route during which time he visited the Hizb office and met the top leadership of the terrorist organisation.

Mir, whose father was once a police constable with J&K Police, was arrested back in 2019 but was reportedly let off. Mir’s father had reportedly joined the terror network Hizbul Mujahideen back in 1990s and was close to the current Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin. He was later on killed by the security forces.

Officer Davinder Singh was arrested on January 11 in Kulgam while ferrying Naveed, Asif, and lawyer Irfan Mir to Jammu in his car. A team led by DIG Atul Goel had flagged the car (Hyundai i10) based on intelligence inputs. Sources said agencies learned about Naveed’s movement through Irfan’s phone, which had been put on surveillance. “Conversations revealed Naveed’s plan to leave for Jammu in an i10 car on January 11. Davinder was a chance arrest, albeit not shocking,” officers investigating the case had revealed.

He was involved in multiple operations of trapping and killing militants or forcing their arrest or surrender. Due to his successful anti-terror operations in the Special Operations Group, he had got an out-of-turn promotion as DSP and later was awarded a President’s Police Medal.

But his stint in Jammu and Kashmir was not clean. Singh was removed from SOG after there were allegations of extortions against him, and he was suspended from services for some time.

Davinder Singh was currently posted at the Srinagar International Airport. Earlier he was in the anti-hijacking squad of J&K police and before that a part of the special operations group when the elite force was established. His case has been handed over to NIA.

Jamia Millia Islamia University releases a statement distancing itself from controversial CCTV footage inside library

OpIndia Staff
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Jamia Millia Islamia University releases a statement distancing itself from controversial CCTV footage inside library

In a new twist to the ongoing controversy over the release of edited CCTV footages of police action against anti-CAA rioters inside Jamia Millia Islamia University, the university administration has now released a statement distancing itself from the leaked CCTV footage.

“It has come to our notice that some video regards to police brutalities in Dr Zakir Hussain library are in circulation. This is to clarify that the video has not been released by the university,” Jamia Millia Islamia University administration said in a statement.


Interestingly, the official statements by the Jamia Millia Islamia University come at a time when the so-called CCTV footage released by the Jamia Coordination Committee was found edited out and morphed, leaving the anti-CAA protestors at Jamia hugely embarrassed.

Earlier in the day, the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), which includes students and alumni of the Jamia Millia Islamia and is not officially associated with the university, had released a purported CCTV footage in which some people with police uniforms were seen caning students allegedly in the library on December 15 during the anti-CAA riots that took place inside the university campus.

The 49-second video purportedly shows some seven to eight people alleged to be police personnel entering the Old Reading Hall and beating ‘students’ with lathis. The video was released by the JCC in the early hours of Sunday.

The video released by Jamia coordination committee has too many discrepancies and has been edited out to portray Delhi police as the perpetrators of the attack. However, with careful observation, it can be seen that the Muslim mobs who had unleashed violence had taken refuge in the library to escape from the police action.

One of the ‘students’ who took refuge in the library was seen setting a bike on fire near Jamia University campus during the anti-CAA riots.

Interestingly, the JCC which released the video on twitter is not even an officially elected body. It was formed after the December 15 riots and has been forefront at organising anti-CAA protests inside the university campus as well as at Shaheen Bagh, Khureji and other places.

The controversial Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi had emerged as one of the epi-centres of the anti-CAA agitations being perpetrated in the name of ‘peaceful protests’. The students and Muslim mob associated with the Jamia Millia Islamia University had unleashed violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

In December, the protests against CAA and NRC had turned violent amidst chants of Allah-o-Akbar and Naara-e-Taqbeer. The Muslim mobs had burnt four DTC buses, 100 private vehicles and 10 police bikes and pelted stones, injuring several policemen.

Google maps marks Kashmir outline ‘disputed’ when viewed from outside India

OpIndia Staff
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Google maps marks Kashmir outline ‘disputed’ when viewed from outside India

The popular search engine, Google maps have redrawn Kashmir’s borders which appears different when searched from outside India. It shows Kashmir’s outlines as a dotted line acknowledging “dispute” when it is viewed from outside India.

According to a report by the Washington Post, the borders on Google’s online maps display Kashmir as an integral part of India when viewed from India, contrary to what it appears when seen from elsewhere. For example, when viewed from Pakistan, the Kashmir region would appear disputed marked with dotted lines.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZpc2_xnSfc]

“From Pakistan, Kashmir appears disputed while from India, it appears as a part of India”, the Washington Post report said, adding that “Google Maps changes disputed borders based on what country you search from”.

Read: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor shares map of India with part of Kashmir given to Pakistan, ironically calls it attempt to save India

Reacting to the report, a company spokesperson said, “Google has a consistent and global policy to depict disputed regions and features fairly, showing claims made by the disputed or claiming nations on its global domain.

“This does not endorse or affirm the position taken by any side. Products that have been localised to the local domain, such as maps.google.co.in, depicts that country’s position as per the mandate of the local laws”.

“We’re committed to providing our users with the richest, most up-to-date and accurate maps possible. We do border updates based on data from our providers as new or more accurate data becomes available from authoritative sources or geopolitical conditions change. As we did for the state of Telangana in 2014,” the Google official told PTI.

Read: Political map of India now has 28 states and 9 union territories as Jammu and Kashmir is officially split into two UTs

In 2016, the microblogging site Twitter came under sharp criticism by many Indian users for showing Jammu & Kashmir in China and Pakistan when users used the website’s location services while composing their messages.

Earlier in 2013, Google Maps had come under criticism for showing PoK and Aksai Chin (and parts of Arunachal Pradesh) outside the Indian map, and the then government had asked it to correct it.

Dear Prime Minister, we need to clean-up the academia, and we need to do it now – an open letter

Abhinav Khare
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Dear Prime Minister, we need to clean-up the academia, and we need to do it now – an open letter

Dear Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji,

Ministry of Human Resource Development is as critical as Ministry of Home Affairs, if not more.

Education is the soul of India. Allowing wrong people to give wrong education to our kids is akin to selling our country’s soul. Education shapes the world view and narrative. Education shapes generations. Indian Education System is dominated by mediocre academics who are good at Leftist politics and bad at authentic research, innovation and creativity. We need to urgently fix it. We need to increase our spending on education by many folds and bring quality talent in Indian academia.

Today we are at war, at war with misinformation and propaganda against our culture and heritage. While the taxpayers watch helplessly in shock, the educational institutions of India are burning today filled with disparate groups and innocent youth inflicted with Left ideologies. There is one common thread that joins it all, it is the domination of our education system with Leftist post-modernism.

Few radical teachers and professors are misusing our youth while romanticizing “Azadi from Hinduism & Hindustan”. There have been examples where a couple of radical professors at our premier institutes were able to issue statements opposing Citizenship Amendment Act without the consent of their student councils which leaves the students no choice but to remain silent else, they face discrimination. How did we, as a country, allow our children to be used this brazenly, Sir?

Read- The NEP provides a way for Leftists to get back at the Hindus by controlling and changing the education system

The roots of this Leftist domination over all our educational and intellectual establishments started with the systematic removal of all non-Left intellectuals from these institutions in the 1950s. The biggest example was the removal of Columbia University Economist Jagdish Bhagwati from the Delhi School of Economics. The cleanse was so intense that by the 1990s, there were no non-Left thinkers remaining in these institutions.

We should not have a knee jerk response to these protests going around our universities. Instead, we should strategize and systematically work to reform this century old education system. We know, sir, that we won’t get immediate results.

The world has now understood and recognized the role of culture being integral to our broader development goals. The UNESCO International Congress “Culture: Key to Sustainable Development” held in Hangzhou, China in May 2013 recommended that culture be included in the United National development agenda and it should focus on heritage, diversity, creativity and the transmission of knowledge. The study of religion and culture is in fact mandatory in many countries around the world. In Finland, religious education is a mandatory subject both in comprehensive schools (7–16 years) and in senior/upper secondary schools (16-18/19 years). In Germany, Catholic or Protestant religious instruction is a required subject, but students over the age of 14 can opt out, thus ensuring that the necessary value system is built in a child before they venture forth in the world. If the developed nations know to respect their religion and culture, why should we ignore our traditions?

The Big-4 ministries have always been the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence. Education has always been neglected and now time has come to change that. It’s time that the Ministry of HRD is added into this power club.

Mr Prime Minister, India needs to be an open market of ideas and the Left cannot be barring entries to it. This is the clarion call; we need to clean-up the academia. And we need to do it now!

Regards,
Abhinav Khare
A Concerned Indian Citizen

Originally published on My Nation

We stand by the decisions on Article 370 and CAA despite severe opposition: PM Narendra Modi

OpIndia Staff
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We stand by the decisions on Article 370 and CAA despite severe opposition: PM Narendra Modi

While speaking at Chandauli, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Government will not back down from its stance on the abrogation of Article 370 and the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He said that the decision of the government will not be rolled back as they are required in the interest of the company.


He said, “For years, India had been waiting for decisions like repealing Article 370 and introduction of CAA. These decisions were necessary for the interest of the country. Despite all the pressure, we stood our ground over these decisions and will remain so.”

The prime minister also said, “we took both these decisions after severe opposition from various corners of the world. We are committed to our decisions and we will continue with them”.

PM Modi’s statement came on a day when 5000 Anti-CAA protestors from Shaheen Bagh were denied permission to meet Home Minister regarding the said issue.

PM Narendra Modi also stated, “A trust has been formed for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. This trust will work rapidly.” He also laid the foundation of around 50 projects worth ₹1,254 crores in Varanasi.

India’s first overnight private train, “Maha Kaal Express” connecting Varanasi, Ujjain and Omkareshwar was also flagged off by PM Modi on Sunday. A 63-feet tall statue of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was unveiled along with a Memorial Centre. A super-specialty hospital, housing 430 beds was also inaugurated.

Ever seen the CAA had been passed by the Parliament, the country had witnessed 24/7 sit-in Islamist protest at Shaheen Bagh, Muslim mob violence and vandalism of public property. The PM’s statement came as a reassurance to his supporters that the CAA or the decision to revoke Article 370 will not be rolled back by the government despite constitent pressures from the left-liberal groups and some political parties.

Congress planning to nominate Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to the Rajya Sabha: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Congress planning to nominate Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to the Rajya Sabha: Reports

Speculations are rife that the Congress party will nominate Priyank Gandhi Vadra, the sister of former Congress President and daughter of the interim president, to the Rajya Sabha from either Chhattisgarh or Madhya Pradesh. As per reports, the party believes that the entry of Rahul Gandhi’s sister will augment the voice of the party in the Upper House of the Parliament.

The tenures of senior leaders of the Congress party, including Ambika Soni, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Digvijaya Singh, are set to come to an end and Congress will fill these seats from the vacancies allotted to Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand. The decision of the Congress party is likely influenced by the drubbing it received in the Delhi Assembly Elections on Tuesday.

Read: “Rahul thinks he is knowledgeable, Priyanka toes Vadra line”, unhappy Congress functionaries want a non-Nehru-Gandhi as party president

The Lok Sabha currently has two members from the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar while the Rajya Sabha has none. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s formal introduction into politics came last year ahead of the General Elections when she was made the Congress-in-Charge of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. The party had not benefitted from her entry and it was reduced to a single seat in UP after Rahul Gandhi forfeited the family bastion of Amethi to Smriti Irani.

If the journalist closest to the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar, Pallavi Ghosh, is to be believed, there are leaders within the party who consider Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha to be a ‘double-edged sword’. She reported, “While it may be a good strategy to have Rahul Gandhi lead the charge against ruling BJP in the Lok Sabha and Priyanka in the Rajya Sabha, it would leave the Congress open to shriller accusations of dynasty politics.”

Accusations of dynasty politics thrown at Congress hurt the party because it is true. With Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s entry to the Rajya Sabha, there will be three members from the Parivar in the Parliament of the country. Furthermore, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s daughter does not have any significant achievement in politics thus far and her biggest asset continues to be her family name.

Pak-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad calls for ‘revenge’ ahead of US President Trump’s visit to India

OpIndia Staff
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Pak-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad calls for ‘revenge’ ahead of US President Trump’s visit to India

Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to India, Pakistan-sponsored Islamic terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has released a video calling for a “revenge”, which said, “the killers would not be forgiven”.

Reportedly, the video threatens the Indian government and calls for revenge for ‘harassing Muslims and destroying their settlements’. In the video, a person citing Quran Sharif was heard saying, “We have heard a lot of lullabies on peace… now every excuse has gone… it’s time to see things ‘unrestrained’.”

It is believed that the video and its contents are Pakistan’s attempt to show during Trump’s tour that Kashmiris are angry after the removal of Section 370 and they are carrying out terrorist attacks. This comes days after intelligence reports had revealed that Pakistan-sponsored Islamic terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has created a new group of highly-trained terrorists called ‘Ghaznavi Force’ to carry out Pulwama-style terror attacks in India.

According to the inputs gathered by the Indian intelligence agencies, Pakistan’s notorious spy agency – the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) joining hands with terror group JeM has made an elaborate plan to carry out more deadly terror attacks in India.

Reportedly, “Ghaznavi Force” comprises fighters from other banned terror outfits like LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen, AuGH and Al Badr. The terrorists belonging to this group might attempt to target security forces, their convoys, vital installations and border outposts by planting IEDs, the agencies have warned.

United States President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are scheduled to visit India on February 24-25.

Meanwhile, security agencies have received an input pertaining to the video that a meeting of terrorist groups was held in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir earlier this month and officials of ISI and Pakistan Army were also present in that meeting. It was in the meeting the Pakistani establishment seems to have decided to activate Hizbul Mujahideen.

According to reports, it was also discussed that terrorists operating in Kashmir should be given “more responsibility” instead of Pakistani terrorists. An order has been issued that Hibzul should take all “responsibilities of terror acts from Lashkar-e-Taiba and JeM.

Many attacks are being planned on the police, security forces and common people in urban areas to create fear among Kashmiris. Besides, attempts are also being made to carry out major suicide attacks on the convoys and camps of the security forces.

Watch: Akhilesh Yadav lashes out at a police officer after a man reached near the stage and started chanting “Jai Shree Ram”

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Akhilesh Yadav lashes out at a police officer after a man reached near the stage and started chanting “Jai Shree Ram”

On Saturday, Samajwadi Party leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, lashed out at a police officer after a man reached near the stage and chanted “Jai Shree Ram.” The incident happened when Yadav was addressing a gathering at Kannauj.


The man who reached the stage has been identified as one Ashok Shukla. Akhilesh Yadav was speaking over the issue of unemployment when Shukla interrupted him. He then reached for the stage but was soon overpowered by the security forces.

During the speech when Akhilesh Yadav was attacking the government for inflation, the man interrupted him and asked what he plans to do about if he comes to power. As his question was not audible to Yadav, he asked the man to come closer. When he repeated the question from near the stage, instead of answering Akhilesh Yadav instead asked him if he belongs to a political party. In response to this, the man chanted “Jai Shree Ram”, angering the SP leader.

The former UP CM then slammed a police officer present there for allowing the man to reach the stage. He asked, ‘how can he come here? You are providing security, how can he reach here? What were you doing? Now he can’t leave from here, I want that you bring him to me along with all the details like his name, father’s name, village etc’. He also asked the police to check the belongings of the man thoroughly.

After that, the former Chief Minister claimed that Shukla belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and that he could have killed Yadav. He said that a BJP leader had threated him two days ago and now this man tried to breach the security, and he could have taken his life. He asked the police officers what actions will be taken against the man and under which sections he will be booked.

This is not the first time when Akhilesh Yadav intimidated a public officer on duty. Last month, he called the Emergency Medical Officer at a hospital in Chhibramau town of Kannuaj, a ‘Chhota aadmi,’ and told him to get out of the hospital ward.

PM Modi flags off Kashi Mahakal Express connecting three Jyotirlings in Varanasi

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi flags off Kashi Mahakal Express connecting three Jyotirlings in Varanasi

The Kashi Mahakal Express was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. It is the third private train that is launched by the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) after the successful run of the two Tejas Express trains between New Delhi-Lucknow and Mumbai-Ahmedabad.

The Kashi Mahakal Express train will run between Indore and Varanasi and connect the three Jyotirling pilgrimage centers of Omkareshwar (near Indore in Madhya Pradesh), Mahakaleshwar (Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh) and Kashi Vishwanath (Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh).

Source: Piyush Goyal/Twitter

The train will have two routes. The service through the Sultanpur-Lucknow route will be bi-weekly and though Prayagraj, it will be a weekly train. The train via the first route will make a stop at Bina, Jhansi, Kanpur, Ujjain, Sant Hirdaram Nagar, Lucknow and Sultanpur stations, both to and fro. The train via Prayagraj will have stoppages at Ujjain, Jhansi, Kanpur Sant Hirdaram Nagar, Bina and Allahabad stations, both to and fro. The Kashi Mahakal Express, like the Tejas trains, will have a dynamic fare structure.

The train will make its regular run from the 20th of February after its inaugural run on the 16th. People can book their tickets on the train from authorized travel agents and from the website and app of the IRCTC. They can also get their tickets from the online travel partners of IRCTC. The train will have an advance reservation period of 120 days.

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