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West Bengal: State police clashes with BJP Yuva Morcha workers performing ‘Bharat Mata Puja’ in Howrah

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: State police clashes with BJP Yuva Morcha workers performing ‘Bharat Mata Puja’ in Howrah

Tension soared in West Bengal’s Howrah district Sunday after the state police stopped Bharatiya Yuva Morcha (BYM) workers from performing ‘Bharat Mata Puja’ on the occasion of Republic Day.

According to reports, clashes broke out between BJP Yuva Morcha workers and the state police after the workers were ruthlessly manhandled by the state Police for ignoring their orders.

In a video shared by Times now, the West Bengal police are seen using force to disperse the crowd, while the workers are seen resisting the police excesses. The Police are seen pulling one of the workers by his hands on the road and also forcefully stuffing the workers inside the police van. According to reports, several workers have been taken into preventive custody.


The workers of Bharatiya Yuva Morcha wanted to hold ‘Bharat Mata Puja’ outside two police stations namely Gorabari police station and Howrah police station, both in Howrah district to symbolically protest against the state police excesses, for which they said they had sought police permission.

The police had reportedly threatened to take legal action against the workers who were adamant on performing the puja. It is alleged that to hinder the puja, the sculptor who made the idol of Bharat Mata was also threatened by the police not to sell the idols to the BJP workers. Apart from the sculptor, sound system providers had also been threatened.

Police said that the puja was disallowed as it was organised on a congested road causing traffic disruption. The state police at the behest of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has on several previous occasions discharged excesses on BJP workers in Bengal.

Last year also, BJP’s effort to organise a similar puja in Kolkata and other districts of the state to mark the 73rd Independence Day was throttled by the West Bengal police. The party’s student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had then also accused Trinamool Congress-backed miscreants of vandalising an idol of Bharat Mata near Howrah’s Kona Expressway.

In March last year, the state police had lathi-charged and baton-charged BJP workers to stop them from carrying out Vijay Sankalp bike rally. This led to violent clashes between the police and the BJP workers at Durgapur and Asansol in West Burdwan district, Midnapore town and Goaltore in West Midnapore and Balurghat in South Dinajpur where the rallies were taken out.

Earlier the West Bengal government had refused to give permission for BJP’s Rath Yatra citing the law and order situation as a reason.

Delhi Police files an FIR, UP Police dispatches two teams to nab Sharjeel Imam, mastermind of Shaheen Bagh and The Wire columnist

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Police files an FIR, UP Police dispatches two teams to nab Sharjeel Imam, mastermind of Shaheen Bagh and The Wire columnist

The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has registered an FIR against Shaheen Bagh protest chief organiser Sharjeel Imam for instigation people to cause violence. The Delhi police have registered a case against Sharjeel Imam under IPC section 153 for giving provocative statements with intent to cause riots.


Earlier, Assam Police had registered a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against Sharjeel Imam, said to be one of the organisers of the anti-citizenship law protest at Shaheen Bagh after videos of him calling for the state to be cut off from the rest of India surfaced online.

A separate complaint has been registered against the JNU student for his comments in Aligarh, where the incendiary comments were reportedly made. Following the complaint, two teams of police from Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh have been set up to arrest Sharjeel Imam.

Speaking to the media, SP Aligarh Akash Kulhari said that two teams have been sent to arrest Sharjeel Imam. We are working in coordination with the Delhi Police and Bihar Police, added SSP Kulhari.

Read: Radical Islamists say Muslims must stand by Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam, defend his decision to cut off Assam

The FIR comes after the Wire columnist and Shaheen Bagh roadblock mastermind Sharjeel Imam’s video went viral where he had asked Muslims of the country to break India by cutting of North-east from the rest of the country. “Our main aim is to permanently cut Assam and North-east India from rest of India,” he could be heard saying in the video.

In his video, Sharjeel Imam had added, “If 5 lakhs Muslims are organised then we can cut the North-east from rest of India. If we cannot do permanently, at least we can cut North-east from India for months”.

Further, Sharjeel Imam who is also a columnist with The Wire and mastermind of Shaheen Bagh protests had said, “Our responsibility is to cut the Assam from India then Govt will hear our voice. If we have to help the Assam then we will have to cut the Assam from rest of India”.

Sharjeel Imam is the mastermind and main coordinator of the Shaheen Bagh protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Interestingly, earlier, ‘Jinnah Wali Azadi’ slogans were raised at Shaheen Bagh which also pointed towards the main agenda of these anti-CAA protests, specifically at Shaheen Bagh, is the second partition of India.

Watch: Indian Air Force wows crowd at 71st Republic Day parade by performing gravity defying manoeuvres

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Indian Air Force wows crowd at 71st Republic Day parade by performing gravity defying manoeuvres

As India celebrates its 71st Republic Day today the fly-past by Indian Air Force took everyone’s breath away as IAF pilots performed some of the most amazing gravity-defying stunts. The grand finale and one of the most keenly awaited segments of the parade was the fly-past by the Indian Air force.

Piloted by Wing Commander Yathartha Johri along with Flight Lieutenant S Mishra, a lone Su-30MKI flew at a speed of 900 km/hr and split the sky with a gravity-defying ‘Vertical Charlie’.


The stunt from another angle left everyone speechless.


The entire national capital has been put under multi-layered security cover with thousands of armed personnel keeping a tight vigil over it, including the celebration venue Rajpath.

The grand parade at Rajpath, which is performed as a tribute to India’s unity in diversity and rich cultural heritage comes to an end today with the Indian Air force performing some enthralling stunts with its aircraft.

The India air force also stunned the crowd with the ‘Arrowhead’ formation. Five Jaguar Deep penetration strike aircraft, in ‘Arrowhead’ formation flew past at a speed of 780 kmph. The formation was led by Group Captain Parijat Saurabh.


The Sukhoi 30MKIs of Indian Air Force executed the ‘Trishul’ manoeuvre.  The formation was being led by Group Captain Nishit Ohri. The captains of the other two aircraft were Wing Commander Nilesh Dixit and Wing Commander Karan Dogra.


Wing Commander SK Chauhan leads the ‘Vic’ formation, comprising three Dornier aircraft. The captains of the other two aircraft are Squadron Leader Vikas Kumar and Squadron Leader Abhishek Vashisht.


This is 1st time that a “Tri-service Formation” took part in the Republic Day celebrations. It comprised of three ALH (Advanced light helicopters) in a ‘Vic’ formation. This formation was devised during World War 1. Three or more aircraft fly in close formation with the leader at the apex and the rest flying to left and right. The entire arrangement looks like a ‘V’. The tri-service formation is significant as India got the post of Chief of Defence Staff, a tri-service chief looking after Navy, Army and Air Force.

Today, for the first time, the Rajpath saw the formation of the formidable Apache attack helicopters. The Indian Air Force in a tweet on the Republic Day even shared the video from the rehearsals.


Apache was first inducted in the IAF in September 2019.

Additionally, three Chinook helicopters took part in the Republic Day parade for the first time after being inducted last year.

Breaking from the tradition, Prime Minister Modi had paid homage to the fallen soldiers at the newly built National War Memorial (NWM) at the India Gate, instead of Amar Jawan Jyoti, on Sunday morning prior to participating in the 71st Republic Day celebrations.

National Geographic Traveller ‘likes’ tweet by ex-JNU student Umar Khalid where he is mocking Amit Shah’s challenge on CAA debate

OpIndia Staff
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National Geographic Traveller ‘likes’ tweet by ex-JNU student Umar Khalid where he is mocking Amit Shah’s challenge on CAA debate

National Geographic Traveller India’s Twitter handle today ‘liked’ a tweet by ex-JNU student and activist Umar Khalid where he was mocking Home Minister Amit Shah’s challenge to opposition leaders to debate with him on Citizenship Amendment Act.

Nat Geo promoting tweets of terror sympathiser Umar Khalid.

Umar Khalid, son of a former SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India, a banned terror organisation) member, is accused of shouting pro-Pakistan slogans inside the JNU campus.

On 24th January, Khalid had tweeted, “Amit Shah – I challenge Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and Mamta Banerjee for an open debate on CAA.

Meanwhile, Shaheen Bagh Dadis be like – Aao Kabhi Haveli Pe!”

It is important to note that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had invited leaders of opposition parties to discuss the historic legislation of Citizenship Amendment Act once again even after debating it on the floor of the parliament. The opposition parties which had indulged in a rampant disinformation campaign against the CAA, however, failed to respond to the Home Minister.

It is pertinent to note that the anti-CAA protests which started as a ‘peaceful’ protests at Shaheen bagh, later not only turned communal as manifested with the Hinduphobic “Jinnah wali Azaadi” slogans but also turned anti-India as Sharjeel Imam – the chief co-ordinator of the protest openly called Muslims to cut North-east from the rest of the country.

Earlier, Zee News had retweeted tweets in support of Shaheen Bagh from its official handle before undoing them. In December, the official handle of Government of India’s Press Information Bureau, the nodal agency for communicating with media on behalf of the government of India, was seen sharing a tweet in support of the Jamia rioters with hashtags like #SOSJamia, #RejectCAB and #StopViolenceAgainstStudents. After the tweets created a buzz on the social media amidst the news of Delhi Police’s crackdown on the Jamia rioters, PIB soon shared a tweet saying that the tweet in support of the Jamia rioters was ‘inadvertently’ done by one of the members of their social media team. They stated that the person had shared ‘her’ personal comments on the Jamia matter and they ‘deeply regret’ the error.

Shaheen Bagh protesters desperately try to prove their patriotism a day after mastermind called to cut off Assam

OpIndia Staff
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Shaheen Bagh protesters desperately try to prove their patriotism a day after mastermind called to cut off Assam

A day after video of Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam asking Muslims to cut off Northeast from rest of India went viral on social media, the protestors at Shaheen Bagh seem to be desperate to prove their patriotism. As reported by news agency ANI, the protestors had gathered at Shaheen Bagh to celebrate the 71st Republic Day.


The mob could be seen clapping and waving plastic tricolours. Former JNU student and activist Umar Khalid and Gujarat MLA Jigesh Mevani were also present here. Earlier today, they had also unfurled the national flag to mark the Republic Day.


Later, a second flag was also hoisted when the crowd of ‘protestors’ had soared.


The desperate attempts to prove their patriotism seems to be an aftereffect of the viral video where the mastermind behind these ‘protests’ and roadblocks, Sharjeel Imam could be heard urging Muslims to cut off the northeastern states of India from rest of the country. Imam was yesterday booked under the UAPA for his seditious statements.

Watch: ITBP soldiers brave through knee deep snow to hoist the Indian flag on snow-capped Himalayas

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: ITBP soldiers brave through knee deep snow to hoist the Indian flag on snow-capped Himalayas

As the country celebrates its 71st Republic Day on Sunday, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel observed the historic day at 17,000 feet in Ladakh, trudging through the snow. The temperature in Ladakh at present is minus 20 degrees Celsius.

A video clip shared on social media showed ‘Himveers’ dressed in white uniforms and chanting slogans of – Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram as the tricolour flies high.

Two of the soldiers were seen holding the tricolour as they marched in the snow.


ITBP is a specialized mountain force and most of the officers and men are professionally trained mountaineers and skiers. Being the first responder for a natural disaster, the force has been carrying out numerous rescue and relief operations across the country.

ITBPF was raised on October 24, 1962. Presently, ITBP is deployed on border guarding duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh covering 3488 km of Indo-China Border and manning Border Outposts on altitudes ranging from 9000 feet to 18700 feet in the Western, Middle and Eastern sectors of the Indo-China Border.

A total of 15 ITBP personnel have been conferred with medals on Republic Day.

Republic Day celebrations are taking place across the country. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is the chief guest on Republic Day who witnessed the celebrations with President Kovind, PM Modi and other dignitaries at Delhi’s Rajpath.

MNS unlikely to get any political leverage from turning to Hindutva as Shiv Sena never shed its saffron colour: Shiv Sena

OpIndia Staff
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MNS unlikely to get any political leverage from turning to Hindutva as Shiv Sena never shed its saffron colour: Shiv Sena

After taking a ‘secular’ turn due to forming the coalition government along with Congress and NCP, Shiv Sena has sought to turn back towards Hindutva after that position was threatened to be taken over by his cousin Raj Thackray. An editorial published in the party mouthpiece “Saamana” on Saturday said that the party had never shed its saffron color. The party also said that Muslim infiltrators from Bangladesh and Pakistan should be “driven out” of the country.

The party’s comments come at the backdrop of a jibe by his cousin Raj Thackeray, the President of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), who claimed that Shiv Sena had changed its colours to form a coalition government.


Shiv Sena took a dig at Raj Thackeray for the ideological shift of MNS towards “Hindutva.” It stated that dealing with “Hindutva” is not a “child’s play.” On Thursday, Raj Thackrey unveiled a new saffron-coloured flag for MNS that bears ‘rajmudra,’ a royal seal used by Maratha warrior King Shivaji. Saamana alleged that the presence of two flags reflected the “confused state of mind” of Raj Thackeray.

The party also suggested that Raj Thackeray should stay firm with Hindutva, even if it has been borrowed from Shiv Sena. They added that MNS is unlikely to get any political leverage from it as Shiv Sena had never shed their “saffron colour.” The editorial also slammed Raj Thackeray for his doublespeak on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). It also stated that the “Marathi identity” espoused by MNS did not get the votes because Sena has done a lot for the community.

“The Shiv Sena had already done a lot of work on the issue of Marathi. Hence MNS did not get any response from Marathi people. There is a criticism that Raj Thackeray has turned towards Hindutva as BJP wanted it. But MNS is unlikely to achieve anything on this front also as the Shiv Sena has done a lot work on Hindutva across the country,” the editorial said.

They reiterated that Shiv Sena had not changed its political leaning, despite joining hands with his political rivals. They have also criticised the BJP for allegedly breaking its pre-poll alliance (the decision to share the Chief Ministerial post) with the Sena. The editorial also took a dig at BJP saying that they can form governments with anyone like Mehbooba Mufti, but when Shiv Sena allies with Congress and NCP, it becomes a sin.

Fre days ago CM Uddhav Thackeray had also said that he has not changed his ideology despite changing allies. “I have chosen a new political path by taking along old political rivals as allies. I have not changed my colour, my core (Antarang). It continues to remain saffron,” he had said on Thursday after he was accused of leaving Hindutva for the sake of power.

“Although the ideologies of the three parties (NCP-Sena and Congress) are different, there is a consensus among them that the government will be run for the welfare of the people. What the BJP could not do in five years, the MVA government had achieved in 50 days,” it said. “BJP changed its colour in 2014 and 2019. Now since Shiv Sena is not going to change despite being in alliance with Congress and NCP, a conspiracy has been hatched to divide the Hindutva votes,” the editorial further added.

Watch: JNU student Afreen Fatima spews venom about Ram Mandir verdict, calls terrorist Afzal guru ‘innocent’

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: JNU student Afreen Fatima spews venom about Ram Mandir verdict, calls terrorist Afzal guru ‘innocent’

In a video that has gone viral on social media, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Afreen Fatima could be seeing spewing venom against the government as well as the Supreme Court. She challenged the integrity of the country’s highest judicial body by raising doubts over its crucial decisions like that on Ram Mandir and hanging of terrorist Afzal Guru


In a 45 sec video posted on Twitter by user @knewschannel, the JNU student tries to instigate the crowd by saying that while protesting against CAA and NRC they have realised that neither the government nor the Supreme court is worthy of their trust.

Claiming that SC’s judgement on parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was wrong, Fatima insinuates that terrorist Afzal Guru was ‘innocent’. She is heard saying that Afzal Guru had no hand in the Parliament attack.

Read: Actress Soni Razdan calls terrorist Afzal Guru’s hanging ‘travesty of justice’, insinuates that he was ‘innocent’

She further spews venom on SC’s Ayodhya verdict by saying that the SC backtracked on its words. Fatima said that the SC which earlier said that there was no proof whether a Mandir existed below the Babri Masjid, later went on to give the permission to construct the Ram Mandir on the disputed land.

Interestingly, Afreen Fatima is the same person who had earlier urged Muslim mob to attack Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for his comments on communalisation of the anti-CAA protests. Taking to Twitter on January 12 Fatima had asked Muslims to attack Tharoor, whom she called an ‘Islamophobe’ with La illaha illallah chants.


Following her call to say ‘La ilaha ilallah’ on Tharoor’s face, when the Congress MP had gone to Jamia Millia Islamia to express solidarity against CAA, he was greeted by Muslim mob chanting ‘La Ilaha Illallah’ (There is only one God, Allah). The reason Tharoor was attacked by radicals is that in December 2019, Tharoor had reacted to protestors chanting La ilaha illallah, the Islamic Shahada which means “There is no god but God”, where the second God means Allah.

Read: In a bid to demonise Hinduism, Shashi Tharoor compares Hindutva to Islam and Christianity, get attacked by ‘liberal’ bullies

Tharoor said that their “fight against Hindutva extremism should give no comfort to Islamist extremism either”. He said that the fight against the Citizenship Amendment Bill is a fight to defend inclusive India. “We will not allow pluralism & diversity to be supplanted by any kind of religious fundamentalism,” he added. Soon, the radicals descended upon his timeline to call him a ‘soft bigot’.

IIT Bombay faculty condemns politicisation of campus, joins students in Tiranga March head of Republic Day

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IIT Bombay faculty condemns politicisation of campus, joins students in Tiranga March head of Republic Day

IIT Bombay faculty members have condemned politicisation of campuses. The students and teachers took out a Tiranga March on campus on the eve of 71st Republic Day of India.

Tiranga March held at IIT Bombay on eve of Republic Day on 25th January 2020

More than 1500 student’s of IIT Bombay participated in the march holding the 1,000 feet Tricolour from the convocation hall covering each and every hostel.

Read: IIT Bombay students march in support of CAA, rue misinformation against the act and politicisation of educational campuses

IIT Bombay faculty Prof Varadraj Bapat Som condemned the politicisation of educational campuses and said this (IIT-Bombay) campus is not for politics and to serve someone’s political propaganda.

Tiranga March held at IIT Bombay on eve of Republic Day on 25th January 2020

“IIT Bombay is an institution which is known for excellence in research not politics. It’s hampering our research. We condemn it. Today what is more important is to celebrate Republic Day and we are here for that,” said Professor Ashutosh Kumar.

Students and professors who participated in the march can be heard chanting Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai slogans while holding the Tricolour high.

The March concluded with the recital of the national anthem.

Radical Islamists say Muslims must stand by Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam, defend his decision to cut off Assam

OpIndia Staff
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Radical Islamists say Muslims must stand by Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam, defend his decision to cut off Assam

A day after Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam was booked under the UAPA for his seditious statement where he asked Northeast India to be cut off, radical Islamists have now come out in his support. Newslaundry campus columnist Sharjeel Usmani took to social media to stand by leftist propaganda website The Wire columnist Sharjeel Imam for his comments where he urged Indian Muslims to cut off Northeast from India.

Taking to Facebook, Usmani questioned how is ‘chakkajam’ (roadblock) seditious. He conveniently misses out on mentioning how Sharjeel Imam wanted to cut out Northeast India. Sharjeel Usmani decided to paint cutting off the chicken neck, or the Siliguri corridor, which connects the seven northeastern states to rest of India, as mere chakkajam when it has been known to be an enemy project to do so since decades.

Sharjeel Usmani supporting Sharjeel Imam

The Siliguri Corridor (or the Chicken’s Neck) was created in 1947 after the partition of Bengal and has been an important and sensitive territory in India.

Siliguri Corridor or the Chicken’s Neck (image: defencenews.in)

Because of the strategic location, the area is heavily patrolled by Indian Army, Assam Rifles, the Border Security Force and the West Bengal Police.

He is also supported by one Iman Abdullah endorses Imam’s views as he is on the path of ‘Haqq’. Referring to Imam as ‘independent Muslim thinker’ he calls those who do not support him as ‘Hindutva Nazis’.

Sharjeel Usmani appealing to Muslims to stand by Sharjeel Imam

Sharjeel Usmani further took to Facebook to say that he stands by Sharjeel Imam. “If you throw Sharjeel Imam under the bus to gain a little more legitimacy of these protests in the eyes of the state, I’ll jump with him,” he said.

Read: From The Wire to everything else, the Anatomy of an Islamist: Into the mind of Sharjeel Imam, mastermind of Shaheen Bagh

He even took to Twitter to send out a warning of sort to the ‘Sarkari Musalmans’, the Muslims who are not really radical and don’t toe their line.


JNU student leader Afreen Fatima standing by Shrjeel Imam

Afreen Fatima, JNU student and JNUSU Councillor, too, took to Facebook to stand by Imam. Referring to him as her ‘leader’, Fatima said that media trials, false cases and hate campaigns will not silence ‘our brother’.

She, too, took to Twitter to refer to crackdown against Sharjeel Imam for his problematic views as ‘Islamophobia’ by Indian government.


One Nazeel Shafeeque standing by Sharjeel Imam and Sharjeel Usmani

Some even referred to the crackdown on Imam as ‘witchhunt’ as he is leading against the ‘fascist government’.

‘Political activist’ Ali Sohrab, who used to earlier refer to himself as a journalist and was arrested for his hateful comments on slain Hindu leader Kamlesh Tiwari, also expressed his solidarity.


Many took to Twitter to trend ‘ISupportSharjeelImam‘ hashtag. Many even justified his seditious statement by trying to give ‘context’ to his hateful statements.


Jamia ‘Sheroes’ have also chimed in and supported Sharjeel Imam.

The overwhelming support that is coming for Sharjeel Imam just goes out to show how Ummah is more important than the constitution they are claiming to be protecting. However, the ‘fight to protect the constitution’ is nothing but a facade. The real fight is for the anger over November 2019 Supreme Court verdict where the apex court ruled in favour of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple at Ayodhya.

Sharjeel Imam has been at the forefront of the anti-CAA protests from the very beginning. In a video that had gone viral on social media by the 17th of December, he could be seen inciting Muslims to do ‘Chakkajam’ in Delhi and wherever they have sufficient numbers. He called for Muslims to bring entire cities to a halt. “There are over 30% urban Muslims in UP. Do you have no shame at all? Why cannot you do Chakkajam in UP? The area in Bihar where I am from, the rural Muslim population is 6% while the urban Muslim population is 24%. Indian Muslims mostly live in cities. So it is upon you. You can bring your cities to a halt. If anyone asks you not to, disown them” he was heard saying in the viral video.

On Saturday, another video had gone viral on social media where he had asked Muslims of the country to break India by cutting of North-east from the rest of the country. “Our main aim is to permanently cut Assam and North-east India from rest of India,” he could be heard saying in the video.

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