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Article 370 was the only temporary provision in the constitution: EAM S Jaishankar explains rationale behind govt’s Kashmir decisions

OpIndia Staff
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Article 370 was the only temporary provision in the constitution: EAM S Jaishankar explains rationale behind govt’s Kashmir decisions

In an interview with journalist Lin Xueling of the Channel News Asia (CNA), the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar gave a comprehensive response when questioned about the wisdom behind abrogating Article 370 from the Indian constitution. Defending the government’s move, Jaishankar explain detail the government’s rationale in doing away with Article 370.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMRgkMk7SQE?start=1050]

“Whatever changes were brought about were brought about by following parliamentary procedures. About 2/3rd of the Indian parliament passed the legislation to strike down Article 370. The Article 370 was the only provision of the constitution that was acknowledged explicitly, uniquely as a temporary provision. It had written temporary right next to it,” Jaishankar said.

The interviewer then proceeded to assert that the termination process has not been smooth as expected, questioning the External Affairs Minister about the timing of the decision as to why the government felt it was a good time to revoke the article with reports of clashes with security forces, allegations of people being hurt and law enforcement agencies being forced to impose curfew coming from Kashmir.

In a stunning riposte, Jaishankar counter-questioned the host asking her about the situation of Kashmir before the abrogation of Article 370. Lin retorted back saying that the government’s decision has only exacerbated the situation in Kashmir. However, adopting a confrontational approach, Jaishankar informed the host that about 40000 people have perished in the Valley since the last 3 decades. He also stressed upon the immensity of resources that India has to invest to stem terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

Jaishankar further added, “The government came back in power with a strong mandate. They had mentioned in their manifesto of abrogating Article 370. I know it’s unusual in politics but this government believes in fulfilling promises which it makes to the people and it did exactly that.”

Explaining the necessity for the government to remove the article, EAM S Jaishankar cited the old local governance that had created a barrier between India and Kashmir. “Kashmir was socially out of sync with the rest of the India because a lot of progressive legislations such as women’s rights, domestic violence, child protection and legislation on affirmative action did not apply in Kashmir because of the temporary provision and local political ethos were resistant to them,” Jaishankar said.

The EAM also cited lack of economic opportunities in Kashmir as a reason for the government to bring about the change that it did. “There was very little worthwhile economic opportunity in Kashmir that would provide employment to the people of Kashmir. The youth there blamed New Delhi for the lack of employment in their state. What was initially meant as a comfort provision for alignment of state with the Indian Union ended up as an obstacle that engendered mental isolation among the masses in the Valley,” Jaishankar said.

When questioned when would the good times come in Kashmir, Jaishankar replied that the changes will come gradually but they will be effective only if the people of the state accept and embrace them positively. He further added that the normalcy is slowly coming back and the restrictions are being progressively lifted in select areas of the state. Jaishankar said that the efforts are underway to bring Indian industries to invest more in Kashmir and provide employment to the citizens of the state.

“Efforts are to call upon the industries to invest in Jammu and Kashmir and create jobs for the citizens there. Today, Kashmiris go out of the state to study, for medical treatment, for jobs. This is not good for them or us. The abrogation of Article 370 is an effort to say that the old way of things is not working. Lets be honest and courageous enough to accept it. Lets try something different,” Jaishankar said.

Controversial Samajwadi MP ST Hasan compares parliament to ‘Dharmic congregation’, says he is feels ashamed to be there

OpIndia Staff
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Controversial Samajwadi MP ST Hasan compares parliament to ‘Dharmic congregation’, says he is feels ashamed to be there

In a shocking statement, controversial Samajwadi Party (SP) MP ST Hasan compared the Indian parliament to a religious congregation as he said that the environment inside the Parliament is such that he felt parliament was a religious group rather than a governing body. “Mera sar sharm se jhuk jata hai” (I feel shamed and bow my head), claimed the SP MP.

Reportedly, addressing a gathering, ST Hasan, who represents the Moradabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, said, “The situation in Parliament is such that it seems like I’m in a religious congregation rather than Parliament of the country.”

Questioning the Modi government for bringing major reforms, the Moradabad MP asked what did the Hindus achieve by the dilution of Article 370 and criminalising triple talaq. He further stated that Kashmir was always ours and will always be ours but the stripping it of its special status had not provided anything to the common man.

Spreading misinformation and fear against the NIA, he stated that the new bill passed in parliament has given such powers to the NIA that it can call someone a terrorist and jail him just on the basis of suspicion. He had also called the NIA raid in Amroha last year on a terror module as fake and claimed that NIA had claimed garage equipment as rocket launchers.

In the run-up to passage of Triple Talaq Bill in the Lok Sabha, ST Hasan had made a shocking statement stating that it is better for the husband to give his wife triple talaq instead of killing her or burning her to death if he finds out her wife with another man.

Samajwadi MP ST Hasan had earlier too stoked controversy after he had compared actresses to a ‘tawaif’. Speaking on the Zaira Wasim controversy, Hassan had then endorsed Wasim’s decision to quit films because it interfered in her faith.

Pakistan faces yet another embarrassment, British HC rules in favour of India in Nizam of Hyderabad’s property rights case

Jhankar Mohta
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Pakistan faces yet another embarrassment, British HC rules in favour of India in Nizam of Hyderabad’s property rights case

Pakistan which has been facing severe humiliation after its Kashmir rhetoric and false anti-India narrative fell flat, is having to deal with yet another embarrassment. The British High court on Wednesday ruled in India’s favour in the legal tussle with Pakistan on the rights over the wealth of the Nizam of Hyderabad. While it rules that the Nizam’s property belongs to India, it also unmasks Pakistan’s deceit.

The Nizam’s property worth around £35 million has been the bone of contention between the two countries, as Pakistan, which is in a habit of lying through its teeth, has been claiming rights on the Nizam’s wealth.

However, coming as a slap on the face of Pakistan, the British HC today rejected Pakistan’s claim as it ruled that Pakistan has “no stake in the claim” in the decades-old case.

The Nizam’s property was deposited in a London bank account during the time of partition in 1947. The matter, however, reached the UK High Court after Pakistan persisted with its claim on the wealth. India has also been consistently putting in efforts to prove Pakistan wrong.

The Nizam’s descendants, Prince Mukarram Jah, who is the titular eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, and his younger brother Muffakham Jah, had recently joined hands with the Indian government in the dispute against Pakistan over the wealth lying deposited with London’s NatWest Bank plc.

Around £1,007,940 and nine shillings, which has since then appreciated into millions of pounds, were transferred from Osman Ali Khan, the then Nizam of Hyderabad, to the British High Commissioner of the then newly-constituted Pakistan in 1948.

Sonia Gandhi is right, Gandhi would not like the India of the last 5 years: Here is why

Editorial Desk
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Sonia Gandhi is right, Gandhi would not like the India of the last 5 years: Here is why

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Sonia Gandhi made some grandiose remarks at Rajghat following a padayatra led by Rahul Gandhi. Addressing a crowd of Congress workers, the Congress President said, “India has Gandhi’s principles as its foundation. The India we have seen in the last five years will shake Gandhi’s idea of India.”

Essentially, Sonia Gandhi is right. India has displayed a remarkable shift from the days of pathological nonviolence that defined Gandhi’s legacy in the past years. And it’s not a bad thing at all. Contrary to the Gandhian policy of offering the other cheek when one of them is slapped, India has decided to combat the Pakistani state-sponsored terrorism with disproportionate costs imposed through the Indian Armed Forces.

The Surgical Strikes following the terror attack at Uri and the airstrikes following the Pathankot terror attack is evidence of that. And now, with the abrogation of Article 370, it has become more than evident that India shall not shackle itself through impractical expectations of the kind that Gandhian philosophy represents.

Sonia Gandhi further said, “Only Congress has followed Gandhi’s path and will continue to do so.” She is right insofar as she is referring to the pathological nonviolence aspect of Gandhi’s ideology. The refusal to use India’s military might against Pakistanis and emphasizing talks instead to resolve issues between the two countries bear testament to that fact.

However, the Congress party has completely ignored the other aspect of Gandhi’s ideology, one that was concerned about the welfare of cows and the manner in which he prioritized cow protection. Gandhi once said, “Cow protection is the gift of Hinduism to the world. And Hinduism will live so long as there are Hindus to protect the cow…… Hindus will be judged not by their Tilaks, not by the correct chanting of Mantras, not by their pilgrimages, not by their most punctilious observances of caste rules, but their ability to protect the cow.”

While Gandhi was concerned greatly with Gauseva and cow protection, the Congress party slaughtered a cow on the streets of Kerala and consumed its meat. Therefore, it does seem rather hypocritical on Sonia Gandhi’s part to claim that only the Congress party has followed Gandhi’s path when it violated one of the core principles of Gandhi’s ideology so blatantly and in an extremely vile manner.

She also said, “Some people who are trying make RSS the symbol of India and sideline Mahatma Gandhi, those who want to have absolute power, will never understand Gandhi.” These are mere talking points that have very little to do with actual facts. The truth is, the BJP and the RSS have co-opted Gandhi and have adopted Gandhi’s legacy, not only within the country itself but also at the international scene. Mahatma Gandhi has not been sidelined at all, in fact, he is one more stalwart of the country whose legacy is being used to further cement Hindutva’s hold over the political scene of the country.

In much the same way as the Congress party clung on to only one aspect of Gandhi’s ideology, the BJP, too, has only focused on Gandhi’s emphasis on Gauseva and Swachh Bharat and other aspects while completely abandoning Gandhi’s pathological nonviolence. Therefore, Sonia Gandhi is right when she said that the last five year will shake Gandhi’s idea of India. But as it so happened, Nehru’s idea of India already killed it long back.

Infighting in Haryana Congress: Former state chief Ashok Tanwar holds protest outside AICC headquarters

OpIndia Staff
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Infighting in Haryana Congress: Former state chief Ashok Tanwar holds protest outside AICC headquarters

As all political opponents in Haryana gear up for the upcoming Assembly elections, Congress party in the state is going through immense turbulence. The internal discord shows up as the ex-party chief of Haryana, Ashok Tanwar has alleged the party of selling tickets to “undeserving” candidates and called his supporters to protest outside the AICC headquarters in Delhi on Wednesday.


“For 5yrs I gave my blood&sweat for Congress. Leadership in Haryana has been destroyed. We’ve been dedicated to the Party. Why to give tickets to those who’ve recently joined&criticised Cong earlier,” said the ex-party chief while protesting outside Cong HQ.

In a voice message, the Congress leader had said that some people were out to ruin the Congress. “Come to AICC headquarters to save your interests as well as to save the interests of the party,” said Tanwar in the message.

Hundreds of Tanwar’s supporters had created a ruckus outside Sonia Gandhi’s residence on Tuesday alleging discrimination with them in the selection of candidates. Police had to be called as his supporters blocked the road outside Sonia’s residence.

Alleging that those who worked hard for five years to strengthen the Congress were being ignored in the distribution of tickets, Tanwar furthered that CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda was conspiring against him and his camp.

“Those who have worked for the party in the last five years are ignored in ticket distribution. The persons who have worked against the party are considered by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda,” alleged the miffed leader.

Sources said that the party is even considering giving tickets to turncoats. As many as 10 leaders from different parties have been offered tickets by the Hooda camp to sway Tanwar’s supporters, said a leader.

Meanwhile, a worker belonging to Tanwar’s faction took the name of senior party members like Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Ghulam Nabi Azad, alleging that they were responsible for giving tickets to “undeserving” candidates.

They raised slogans against Azad who is the in-charge of the party’s Haryana affairs.

Ashok Tanwar has been involved in a bitter fight with Hooda after the former was shown the door as state chief by the latter. Such grave is the situation that Bhupinder Singh Hooda had almost threatened to split the party because of his antipathy to Ashok Tanwar.

As per sources, Tanwar had demanded the following seats: Rania, Kalawali, Dabwali, Ferozpur, Badhshpur, Fatehabad, Panipat rural, Sirsa city, Assand, Julana, Rai, Bawal, Ateli, Radour, Narwana, Kalanaur and Narnond, but incidentally was not even given any one of the seats.

The state will be going to polls on October 21, along with Maharashtra, while the counting of votes will be done on October 24 in a single phase. The BJP has already issued names of 78 candidates.

When a Pastor from Sweden had declared Greta ‘How Dare You’ Thunberg as the successor of Jesus Christ

OpIndia Staff
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When a Pastor from Sweden had declared Greta ‘How Dare You’ Thunberg as the successor of Jesus Christ

A tweet posted in 2018 by a Pastor from Sweden declaring teen star climate activist Greta Thunberg as the successor to the Jesus Christ has resurfaced in the wake of her ‘How Dare You!’ speech before the United Nations.

“Announcement! Jesus of Nazareth has now appointed one of his successors, Greta Thunberg,” the church reportedly tweeted on December 1, 2018. The Limhamns Church had previously tweeted several sentiments of climate activism.


The 2018 tweet of the church has now appeared again on social media platforms following Thunberg’s appearance at the United Nations earlier this month in which she had warned about climate change during her speech, which has gone viral too.

“My message is that we’ll be watching you,” Thunberg warned the world leaders. “You all come to us young people for hope, how dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words and yet I’m one of the lucky ones … We are at the beginning of mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you?” Thunberg had said in her animated speech.

Reportedly, the Church is known for its climate change activism, noting on their official website, “When the Amazon burns, we gather to fight for Mother Earth together.”

However, the church later said that the tweet was being misinterpreted. After some backlash in December when the tweet was published, the church posted a second tweet that suggested “success” could be interpreted in more than one way and apologised for the for hurting the sentiments. The Church had even quit the Twitter following the backlash it had received after the incident.


“Dear Twitter, If we have hurt someone we apologize, it has never been our meaning. Our meaning has been to talk about Jesus Christ in our own way. Now we leave the arena. Thank you for your commitment, joy and debate. God bless you! Jonas Persson, the ward pastor,” said the Church.

There were several websites that had reported that it was the Sweden Church that had made this declaration, however, that was not entirely true. It was a Church in Sweden, however, the Swedish Church to which most of the Swedish congregation belongs had not made any such statement.

The 16-year-old Greta Thunberg last week had denounced world leaders for failing to tackle climate change in a speech at the start of a climate summit at the United Nations in New York. The dramatic speech made by Greta at the UN climate summit has received mixed reactions, with some sections even accusing her of being a left-wing created phenomenon.

Uttar Pradesh: Minor boy brutally stabbed inside a Madarsa, police suspects some insider’s role

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Minor boy brutally stabbed inside a Madarsa, police suspects some insider’s role

A ten-year-old boy was mercilessly stabbed and his throat was slit while he was sleeping in the hostel of a Madarsa in UP on Tuesday. The student was rushed to the Medical College Hospital in Meerut in a critical condition.

The incident reportedly occurred in the Madarsa Islamiya Arabiya Ahle Sunnat Faiz-ul Uloom Rahmania in the Mohammadabad village under the Gajraula station limits.

The police suspect an insider’s role in the crime. They have detained two Madarsa staffs for questioning.

According to reports, the blood trail led the police straight to the room of the hostel, where the victim was sleeping along with 16 other children. “There were 17 students in the hall when the attack took place. All of them were sleeping. Assailants entered the room clandestinely and slit the student’s throat and stabbed him. The attackers fled after a student woke up to the pandemonium and started shouting for help,” said a madarsa staffer.

Hearing the screams, the other madarsa staffers woke up and rushed to the hall.

The principal of the Madarsa took the child to a nearby community health centre (CHC), from where he was referred to the Medical College in Meerut.

The knife used in the crime belonged to the common kitchen of the madarsa. The police later recovered it from a field next to the seminary’s boundary. They confirmed that “there were visible attempts to wipe the stains.”

Superintendent of Police (SP) Vipin Tada and Gajraula Station House Officer (SHO) D.K. Sharma reached the Madarsa and started the investigation in the case. They have registered a case against unidentified persons.

SP Tada said, “Police have registered a case and detained two persons from the madarsa on suspicion. There were bloodstains on the floor of another room of a suspect. The culprit tried to wash it with water. We suspect that someone from the madarsa is involved in the attack. The cause of the attack is yet to be ascertained.”

The Madarsa housed almost 200 children.

Inspired by PM Modi’s Swachh Bharat Mission, Google Maps lists 57,000 public toilets in India

Jhankar Mohta
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Inspired by PM Modi’s Swachh Bharat Mission, Google Maps lists 57,000 public toilets in India

Google Map now lists over 57,000 public toilets in 2,300 plus cities across India on its platform, giving a major boost to PM Narendra Modi’s flagship project, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The announcement had been made on the eve of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150 birth anniversary.

Users can now type ‘public toilets near me’ on Google Search, Google Assistant or Google Maps and get instant locations of public toilets near their area.

“We believe that making information about public sanitation facilities easily accessible to people is a key element for social good – one that also constitutes the cornerstone of the government’s Swachh Bharat campaign to promote clean habits and hygiene,” said Anal Ghosh, Senior Programme Manager of Google Maps on Tuesday as part of the announcement.

“For this campaign, our product and engineering teams together built a new process to integrate toilet listings into Google Maps seamlessly,” said Ghosh adding that more than 2.5 lakh users are already searching for public toilets every month across Google Search and Google Maps.

 

Google Maps result for public toilets

The initiative was initially launched in 2016 as a pilot project in three cities, namely,  in New Delhi, Bhopal, and Indore as a joint initiative with the Swachh Bharat Mission and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

In addition, the ‘Google My Business” platform has helped the government take ownership of these listings on Google Maps so they could monitor visits, ratings, reviews and more, thereby, gaining insights that could help them take necessary action to maintain and upgrade toilets, the company informed. Moreover, Google Maps’ active Local Guides community continues to share feedback on toilets in their locality.

Last year, Google Maps ran a campaign to spread awareness that resulted in 32,000 reviews, photos, and edits being added to public toilets across India by local guides.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a flagship initiative of PM Modi’s government, which was launched in 2014 with an aim to clean up the streets, roads, and infrastructure of India’s cities, towns, and rural areas, had been termed as the ‘biggest sanitation movement’ in the world by the World Bank. This initiative has received several acclamations from organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF.

Under the NDA government’s flagship scheme the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ (clean India mission), over 93 per cent of rural households in India now have access to toilets out of which around 96.5 per cent households have used the facility.

PM Modi, in September last year, while launching ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ campaign had said the sanitation coverage in the country has increased from almost 40 per cent to nearly 90 per cent and asserted that the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ is playing a central role in creating a healthy India.

US warns of possible attacks on India by Pakistan based terror groups over the abrogation of Article 370

OpIndia Staff
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US warns of possible attacks on India by Pakistan based terror groups over the abrogation of Article 370

The United States today raised concerns of possible terror attacks in India engineered by Pakistan based terror outfits in retaliation to India’s move to abrogate Article 370, stripping away the separate status of Jammu and Kashmir and the subsequent bifurcation of the state into two union territories for exercising tighter control.

The US intelligence agencies have observed that Pakistan based terror organisations might launch terror attacks in India unless Pakistan “keep a lid on these terror groups”.

The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Randall Shriver, while responding to a question on China’s support to Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir after India repealed articles 370 and 35A of its Constitution that gave temporary special privileges to Jammu and Kashmir said, “I believe that many want Pakistan to keep a lid on terror groups that might conduct cross-border activities as a result of the Kashmir decisions, and I don’t get the impression that China wants that kind of escalation or would support that.”

Shriver further continued saying that Chinese support to Pakistan on Kashmir is largely diplomatic and political in nature. “Chinese have resolutely supported Pakistan on international forums. There are discussions ongoing if Kashmir would be taken up in the UN. China would support that. But in terms of anything beyond that, it is highly improbable to me,” the Pentagon official said.

Regarding the relationship between China and Pakistan, Shriver said that they have has long-established ties with each other and are facing stiff competition from India. He also added that India is seeking a stable relationship with China.

“We have discussed with India about our relationship with China. They want a stable relationship with China, but there’s no doubt that there are rising concerns and competitiveness there as well. So I believe on a range of issues to include Kashmir, China has titled towards Pakistan,” Shriver said.

In addition to this, Shriver also remarked upon the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s ongoing visit saying that the United States is having consultations with him.

Ever since India abrogated Article 370 from its Constitution, Pakistan has been jockeying at international forums and requesting countries to condemn India’s move and pressurise her into revoking its decision. However, most of the countries have disregarded Pakistan’s shrill rhetoric.

Imran Khan’s party PTI and organisation linked to Hizbul Mujahideen behind anti-India protests at Houston

OpIndia Staff
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Imran Khan’s party PTI and organisation linked to Hizbul Mujahideen behind anti-India protests at Houston

A desperate and isolated Pakistan facing humiliation across the world for its state-sponsored terror policy attempted to create chaos as their proxies – radical Islamists and pro-Khalistani terrorists had thronged to the NRG stadium, the venue of the “Howdy, Modi!” to try and disrupt the community event to be addressed by PM Modi. An OpIndia investigation has revealed the protest organisers’ relationship with these radical Islamist and pro-Khalistani elements earlier.

An investigation conducted by India Today has revealed that there have been direct links between Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and Khalistani and radical Islamist groups that had created chaos at the NRG stadium during the “Howdy, Modi!” event on September 24. Shockingly, the shabby plan of Pakistan to disrupt the “Howdy, Modi” rally was devised directly while keeping Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the loop.

According to the Sunday Guardian investigation, the protests also got support from Islamic organisations linked to terror group Hizbul-Mujahideen.

The visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to the US and the subsequent propaganda carried out by the Pakistani establishment against India since the abrogation of Article 370 was aided by massively funded “Pakistan friendly” media coverage in the US and global press on the issue of Kashmir. The India Today Open Source Investigation (OSINT) has now threw light on the methods and characters employed during this campaign by the Pakistani deep state.

Behind the Imran Khan’s propaganda in the United States, the investigation reveals that a shell NGO and an advertising blitzkrieg backed by PR firms in the US was responsible for anti-India protests that were carried out by pro-Pakistan groups with the support of Tehreek-i-Insaf and organisation linked to Hizbul Mujahideen.

The NGO – International Humanitarian Foundation Inc

An NGO named International Humanitarian Foundation Inc. (IHF) was behind the Pakistani campaign, which was the main organiser of the anti-India protest in Houston on September 22 at the NRG Stadium in Houston. On September 27, the New York Times ran a full-page ad with false and misleading headlines like “The Seizing of Kashmir is Blatant Racism,” and “8 Million Under Siege by a Million Soldiers Since August 5th.” The sponsor for the advertisement was listed as the International Humanitarian Foundation.

According to advertising rates of the New York Times, this advertisement alone would have cost at least $100,000 to the IHF.

Further, the website of International Humanitarian Foundation, which is managed by a resident of Houston but who is originally from Rawalpindi, became active in July-August this year. IHF which claims to be an international humanitarian non-profit has no visible body of humanitarian work in any other region of the world on any other issue. The NGO was brought into existence in July, after the announcement of the “Howdy, Modi!” event specifically with a purpose to disrupt the event.

Image Source: India Today

Reportedly, the individual behind the website and the Facebook page also runs a Twitter handle of the “Overseas affairs of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)” and is a prominent PTI voice of Houston. A major gathering to discuss on how to disrupt the Modi event was held on September 4 at a restaurant in Houston where PTI leaders, along with Khalistani faces, met to raise funds for the anti-Modi protests.

Among those who were present in the meeting was one Atif Khan who is the President of PTI, Houston Chapter. Later, his efforts to disrupt the “Howdy, Modi!” was praised by Imran Khan who met him personally on September 24.

Pakistan Federal Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was also present at a similar event attended by the same group of people which was held just one day before the “Howdy, Modi!” event, to make sure that everything was in order. We had reported how the terror state of Pakistan had put its dirty hand to ransack the event after Pakistan’s federal minister for Kashmir affairs, Ali Amin Gandapur was seen outside the venue of Houston event.

The Sunday Guardian investigation states that other prominent stakeholders of a local news channel owned by Pakistani nationals were a part of these strategy meetings. The event was also attended by Sajjad Burki, who is a senior leader of the PTI overseas wing.

Further, a major part of the funding for the protests was arranged by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), whose Houston unit president, Sultan Salahuddin, was himself present in the meeting and was given special attention because of the hold he has over the Muslim population of the area.

The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is a “domestic affiliate” of the terrorist organisation of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), which is a banned organisation in India. The Jamaat’s terror wing is Hizbul Mujahideen. With PTI and ICNA behind the protest event to disrupt the event, elaborate planning was put in place. The mosques in the area were used by the protesters to broadcast messages asking people to enrol themselves in large numbers for the protests.

The Khalistani terror sympathisers of the notorious “2020 Punjab referendum”, which calls for a separate Khalistan, was also involved in the protest rally at the Houston. The organisers arranged free bus rides for protesters from many religious sites, including the Miskah Islamic Center, a Houston-based organisation that works towards conserving and promoting Islamic culture.

At least 20 prescribed points of shuttle service, comprising 120 buses were arranged by the organisers to carry the protesters and drop at the venue of the protest. More than 700 volunteers were engaged in this process.

The OpIndia investigation earlier had also revealed details regarding how radical Islamists and Khalistanis backed by IHF in Houston had organised anti-Modi protests ahead of ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event.

The PR Firm pushing Pakistan’s anti-India agenda:

A report published by the O’Dwyer PR, a US-based platform which publishes rankings of the PR companies in the United States, stated that IHF had signed a $50,000 contract with a US-based PR firm Fenton Communications.

Pakistan’s newspaper Dawn had reported that Imran Khan even held a meeting with David Fenton, the founder of Fenton communication in New York during the visit.

The O’Dwyer report further claims that the IHF is run by representatives of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). Atif Iqbal Khan who is also president of Houston chapter of PTI and very close to Imran Khan is linked to IHF, who had reportedly posted a message on his social media page thanking the designer for preparing the NYT ad-design on short notice.

Interestingly, the terror state of Pakistan backed IHF spent money worth $150,000 for advertising and PR over 12 days alone. In addition to these costs, the cost of logistics which includes “free park and ride” in Houston and New York could take the expenditure amount by the purported humanitarian organization to its double.

The details of the investigations reveal how deeply the anti-India lobby abroad is connected with Pakistan and terror organisations that find support and shelter in Pakistan. The anti-India lobby, be it pro-Khalistani elements or the groups claiming to be concerned about Kashmir invariably find support and backing from the Pakistani government. The extent of the expenses, PR campaign and depth only show how far Pakistan is willing to go to protray a negative image of India to the world.

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