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Executive Editor of Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin, files writ petition in SC against ‘information blackout’ in Kashmir valley

OpIndia Staff
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Executive Editor of Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin, files writ petition in SC against ‘information blackout’ in Kashmir valley

In the wake of the effective abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), leading to the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories (UT), Anuradha Bhasin, Executive Editor of Kashmir Times has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India challenging the freedom of the press in the state.

As per the report published, the petition seeks to allow the journalists in J&K to practice their profession in a free environment as restrictions through a blanket ban on the internet and telecommunication services hamper them from executing their duties. Besides, the restrictions on the movement of reporters and photojournalists also come in the way of reporting fairly from the state, the journalist claimed.


Lawyers Vrinda Grover, Soutik Banerjee, and Ratna Appnender represent the petitioner, and the petition was filed through Advocate on Record Sumika Hazarika. Bhasin is one of the signatories to file a petition expressing her displeasure with the Government of India’s (GoI) decision to abrogate Article 370. It is noteworthy to mention that common people are happy with GoI’s move to remove the discriminatory article granting separate status to J&K, which in turn, led the state into an array of uncertainties for the lack of development.

Bhasin’s petition states, “information blackout set in motion is a direct and grave violation of the right of the people to know about the decisions that directly impact their lives and their future.”

According to the petition, at the time the political developments in J&K and curtailment of mobility and telecommunication in the valley are creating anxiety, alarm, insecurity, and fear amongst the residents of the valley. The petitioner believes, there is information blackout in Kashmir.

Ahead of the big announcement on Article 370, the GoI clamped down on mobile networks, internet services, and landline phones in the Kashmir valley and parts of Jammu. This was done to curtail fear-mongering and keeping a check on propaganda machinery from targetting unsuspecting public on the government’s bold move.

Is an anti-conversion bill along the lines of Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act on the way?

K Bhattacharjee
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Is an anti-conversion bill along the lines of Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act on the way?

The Modi government may bring forward a bill to prevent fraudulent religious conversions in the country, Zee News has reported. While the media outlet has quoted unnamed sources in their report, there is a precedent for such a law given the history of Prime Minister Modi and his right-hand man Home Minister Amit Shah.

During their time in Gujarat, as early as 2003, the duo managed to pass the Freedom of Religion Act through the Assembly. The objective of the Act is “to provide for freedom of religion by the prohibition of conversion from one religion to another by the use of force or allurement or by fraudulent means and for the matters incidental thereto.”

The Act states clearly, “No person shall convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one religion to another by use of force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means nor shall any person abet such conversion.” It also mandates that anyone found to be in violation of this provision will be liable to a fine of Rs. 50,000 and imprisonment of up to 3 years.

If the said provision is violated with respect to a woman, minor or a person from the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, then the punishment is more stringent. The person would be liable to a fine of Rs. 1 lakh and imprisonment of up to 4 years.

According to provisions of the Act, it was also made mandatory for people to seek permission for conversion from the District Magistrate. After the conversion has taken place, the District Magistrate needs to be informed of the same. Failure to do so without adequate reason carries punishment as well.

An amendment was proposed 3 years later which withdrawn in 2008. The proposed amendment considered Jainism and Buddhism to be denominations of the Hindu faith in the same manner as Protestantism and Catholicism are sects of Christianity and Sunnis and Shias are Islamic sects. If the Assembly had passed the said amendment, then government permission would not have been required for conversion between denominations of the same faith.

Unsurprisingly, Christian missionaries weren’t very pleased with the implementation of the Act. Sajan George, President of the Bangalore-based Global Council of Indian Christians, told AsiaNews in 2007: “The Gujarat Government must withdraw this draconian freedom of religion act. This Bill -in its original form as it was passed on March 26, 2003 – violates the constitutional rights of citizens and is very divisive in nature. Article 25 of the Constitution and Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, guarantee to every single individual the right to preach, propagate and practise one’s religion and to choose the religion of one’s conscience.”

in 2015, Archbishop of Gandhinagar Stanislaus Fernandes and others sought to amend a 2009 petition challenging the Act as they wanted to challenge a rule which requires disclosure of ‘reason’ for conversion. The petition challenged the Act on the basis of freedom of religion.

With India entering a phase of a de-facto one party-state with the Bharatiya Janata Party at the helm, it appears extremely likely that a version of the Act will be implemented at the national level. The Zee News report appears to confirm that discussions are underway for the same.

It has been a longstanding demand of Hindus for the Indian state to curb the menace of Christian evangelism that threatens to destabilize the demography of the country. As is known, unstable demography is a recipe for chaos. In addition to Christian evangelism, if such an Act is passed at the national level, it could also help curb the menace of Love Jihad. The conversion of Non-Muslim girls to Islam through fraudulent means will be considered criminal as well if the national Bill is in consonance with the Act engineered by the Modi-Shah duo in Gujarat.

The criminalization of Triple Talaq but more importantly, the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, has demonstrated that the BJP is willing to upend the Nehruvian order. An anti-conversion bill along the lines of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act will be another nail in the coffin for Nehruvian Secularism.

MHA rubbishes Reuters report claiming 10,000 people had protested in Srinagar, calls it ‘fabricated and incorrect’

OpIndia Staff
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MHA rubbishes Reuters report claiming 10,000 people had protested in Srinagar, calls it ‘fabricated and incorrect’

The Ministry of Home Affairs has today dismissed the reports claiming that over 10,000 people participated in a protest in Srinagar over the stripping of Article 370 and reorganisation of the state. A statement was issued by the Ministry deeming the reports suggesting the occurrence of protests in Srinagar as “fabricated and incorrect”.


According to the Home Ministry, the report was originally published in Reuters and from whereon it was picked up by the Pakistani news daily the Dawn. The report said that more than 10,000 people gathered in Srinagar to protest against the Indian government’s decision to strip the state of Article 370.

In order to facilitate locals for the Friday prayers, the administration in Jammu and Kashmir had eased prohibitory orders and allowed people to visit mosques to offer prayers and to make arrangements for Monday’s Eid celebrations.


Slamming the reports of protest, the MHA spokesperson claimed that there have been stray incidents of protests which involved not more than 20 people.

In contrast to claims made by the Reuters, normalcy seems to be returning back to the Valley as National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval was seen ambling through the streets of Anantnag, an area considered as the hotbed of terrorist activities. Doval can be seen in the video inquiring about the goats from a local herdsman.


A couple of days back, NSA Ajit Doval was seen having lunch with local people in Shopian. Two days back, a thanksgiving function was organised by people in Ladakh expressing gratitude to the government for their decision to bifurcate the state and grant Ladakh a Union Territory status.

Rahul Gandhi joins Pakistan in spreading fake news concocted by Indian media about Haryana CM ML Khattar

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi joins Pakistan in spreading fake news concocted by Indian media about Haryana CM ML Khattar

Rahul Gandhi is a habitual liar. After multiple instances of blatantly lying and then claiming those lies were told during the ‘heat of campaigning’, the Congress president with a complicated party presidentship status has lied again today.

Using a Scroll.com article to take cheap potshots against the BJP and its leaders, Rahul Gandhi has today stated that ‘years of RSS training does this to the minds of weak and pathetic men’. Rahul’s tweet had just one issue, it was based on a lie.


Earlier today, several media outlets had published a news report about Haryana CM  ML Khattar saying that he has claimed people can now bring girls from Kashmir for marriage. However, Khattar’s remarks were to highlight the improved sex ratio of Haryana and not the way some crass jokes about Kashmiri girls made by some people that are being highlighted by a section of ‘secular liberals’ in India.

Khattar’s statement had been twisted out of context by media and was presented as if the Haryana CM has made a crass remark about Kashmiri girls now being available for marriage to men in his state.

Despite it being clear that Khattar’s statement is being twisted out of context. Congress president Rahul Gandhi saw it fit to make one of his usual cheap comments about the RSS.

Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi’s statement found many takers. Because Rahul Gandhi’s words were exactly the kind of words Pakistan has been using in its propaganda against India.

Pakistan’s army spokesperson Asif Gafoor picked up Rahul Gandhi’s line of argument too. So did many other radical Islamists who have been keen on peddling an anti-India narrative over the Kashmir issue.

Twitter user Mrityunjay Joshi highlighted the similarities in the thought process of Pakistanis and that of Rahul Gandhi.


In addition, Hamid Mir, a radical Pakistani journalist known for his anti-India propaganda, has shared the same Scroll.com story over Khattar’s statement twisted out of context.


Going even a step further, Mir implied that Article 370 was removed so powerful Indian men can have forced marriages with Kashmiri girls.

Yesterday, NDTV had found endorsement from Pakistan after Imran Khan’s political party had shared NDTV’s video to further their agenda. However, NDTV did issue an untruthful clarification over it. Will Rahul Gandhi do the same, or like his previous lies, will just claim ‘heat of dilemma over Congress presidentship’ over his lie, is yet to be seen.

Congress conundrum: Notwithstanding Rahul’s resignation, CWC workers unanimously want him to continue as party president

OpIndia Staff
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Congress conundrum: Notwithstanding Rahul’s resignation, CWC workers unanimously want him to continue as party president

The top decision-making body of Congress -Congress Working Committee (CWC) was convened today to discuss the probables for the post of Congress President after Rahul Gandhi tendered his resignation. However, while claiming that Rahul’s resignation is still under process, spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that all CWC workers unanimously wanted Rahul Gandhi to continue as party President.


The meeting was attended by party’s top brass, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and other senior members. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi left early stating that they don’t want to be part of the consultation process and hence they are leaving early.


Congress is in throes of leadership crisis as senior Congress leaders met at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi to home in on a suitable candidate for the position of party president in the wake of Rahul’s continued insistence of not withdrawing his resignation back.

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary claimed that CWC will meet again at 8:30 PM today and by 9 PM name of new party chief will be made public.


Congress is yet to decide on the party president, though senior leaders Ahmed Patel, AK Antony and KC Venugopal have discussed with Sonia Gandhi names of probables, one of whom could be made the interim president of the party.

Amidst raging floods in Maharashtra, ABP Majha and opposition join hands to spread misinformation on Fadnavis govt

OpIndia Staff
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Amidst raging floods in Maharashtra, ABP Majha and opposition join hands to spread misinformation on Fadnavis govt

Amidst ravaging floods in Maharashtra, opposition leaders and some news outlets such as ABP MajhMarathimarathi news channel under the ABP group have indulged in a smear campaign against the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government for altering a norm laid out by the previous Congress-NCP government that allowed only people from those areas that have been under water for more than 7 days to be eligible for financial and food aid.

Realising the acute sensitivity of the issue, the BJP government in Maharashtra has issued a Government Resolution (GR) on August 8 had altered the previous government’s laid norm for being eligible for financial aid by reducing the number of days from 7 to 2. Now, those affected by floods for 2 days will get governmental aid as against the Congress-NCP government’s condition of being submerged in water for 7 days to avail government’s assistance. The government has also increased the compensation provided to the flood-affected victims.


However, several media outlets in connivance with opposition exploited this unfortunate tragedy to further their nefarious agenda. ABP Majha yesterday put out a misleading tweet alleging that the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government is making a mockery of flood-inundated victims by stipulating a condition of being flooded for two days to be eligible for procuring food aid and financial assistance.


Before long, several detractors and opposition leaders lapped up the discourse and started lambasting the government for being ‘insensitive’ towards the victims of the devastating floods. Posts carrying incomplete and misleading information about the GR adopted by the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government’s decision were widely shared on Whatsapp, effectively showing the government in the bad light.

A decision which was taken to alleviate the sufferings of the flood victims was being twisted out of proportion to engender public outrage against the government and harness it to further one’s diabolical narrative. The previous government’s condition of having been flooded for 7 days to receive compensation was amended by the BJP government by bringing the days down to 2. However, this nugget of information was deliberately erased from the narrative.

Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar, and one of the remaining NCP stalwarts too joined the bandwagon to exploit the situation and slam the government for its alleged insouciance of the flood victims.


Another NCP leader Dr. Jitendra Awhad too posted a video fuelling the smear campaign against the Fadnavis government. He stated that the government is mocking the hardships of people for having them suffer for two days before providing them with food and financial aid.


Many Twitter users highlighted the inherent irony in the claims made by the NCP leaders and busted their propaganda. They pointed out that the BJP government has been considerate of the flood victims by bringing down the number of days for receiving compensation and also by increasing the compensation package.


However, with the view to tarnish the BJP government, such important facts were glossed over by the NCP politicians as well as by the media outlets outraging over the government’s decision.

The Jammu and Kashmir move is within the frameworks of India’s constitution: Russia backs India

OpIndia Staff
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The Jammu and Kashmir move is within the frameworks of India’s constitution: Russia backs India

Days after India made a significant move bifurcating the state of Jammu and Kashmir and stripping the article 370 that gave the former state a special status, Russia has come up in support of India’s decision.

As per reports, in response to questions from the media, Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs has stated that they hope India and Pakistan will not allow the aggravation of the situation after New Delhi’s decision over the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir while also stating their affirmation that the decisions over J and K are within India’s constitutional framework.


Russia has stated, “We proceed from fact that the changes associated with the change in the status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its division into two Union Territories are carried out within the framework of the constitution of the Republic of India.”

They have also added that Russia is a consistent supporter of the normalisation between the relationship between India and Pakistan.

While asserting clearly that nay decision regarding Jammu and Kashmir is India’s internal issue, Russia has also made it clear that they believe any differences between India and Pakistan are only a bilateral matter.

The Russian statement also said, “We hope that the differences between India and Pakistan will be resolved by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the Shimla Agreement in 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999.”

Russia’s statement is a significant addition to the responses by several global powers after India’s decision regarding Jammu and Kashmir. So far many nations, like the UAE and Sri Lanka have issued statements that the decision regarding J and K is India’s internal matter, sending indirect messages to Pakistan to stay out of it. The Maldives had also affirmed that it is India’s internal issue.

India has sent out a stern message to global powers that any decision regarding the governance of Jammu and Kashmir and its reorganisation is India’s internal matter and no one should try to meddle.

Pakistan’s move to call for help has been failing badly as most countries so far have either taken India’s side or have given out measured, diplomatic responses calling for peace. Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, two OIC nations have also maintained diplomatic stand over it and cited UNSC resolution to call for a bilateral solution over any differences between the nations.

Pakistan’s hopes of whining at the UN were also dashed as UNSC president Joana Wroneka had commented yesterday that any differences between India and Pakistan are a bilateral issue.

Fact-check: Haryana CM ML Khattar did not say ‘we can now bring Kashmiri girls for marriage’

OpIndia Staff
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Fact-check: Haryana CM ML Khattar did not say ‘we can now bring Kashmiri girls for marriage’

Various media outlets have reported the fake news that Chief Minister of Haryana, ML Khattar, was talking about bringing Kashmiri girls to Haryana for marriage. The Hindu reported it, so did News18. Scroll relied on The Hindu for its own report.

However, even in the reports, it’s clear that Khattar never said these words. In fact, he was talking about Haryana’s improved sex ratio. His words that have been quoted make it evident that he was only telling people that others were saying such things, not that he himself wanted to bring Kashmiri women for marriage. However, the headlines fail to reflect that.

For instance, The Hindu reported Khattar’s comments thus: “Our Minister O.P. Dhankar used to say that he will have to bring daughters-in-law from Bihar. People nowadays have started saying the route to Kashmir is cleared and now we will bring girls from Kashmir.” However, the report’s headline twists Khattar’s comments to paint him in bad light.

News18 made precisely the same error as The Hindu. Khattar’s words that were quoted in the report give one impression while the headline paints a completely different picture. “Our minister OP Dhankar used to say that he will have to bring daughters-in-law from Bihar. People nowadays have started saying the route to Kashmir has cleared and now we will bring girls from Kashmir,” Khattar was quoted as saying. Notice the headline which is completely in contrast.

India Today, too, has run an entire segment reporting that ML Khattar said ‘we can now bring Kashmiri girls for marriage’, with self-righteous indignation without bothering to care about facts.


Even ANI has twisted Khattar’s statement. While their report quotes Khattar accurately, their headline paints a completely different picture.

In reality, Khattar was speaking about the schemes his government has implemented to improve Haryana’s skewed sex ratio. He also spoke of the bad reputation his state had due. When he did bring up the comments people were making about Kashmiri women, he said, “Keeping jokes aside, fixing the sex ratio will instill a stability in society.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMbKO5aWQTg]

Thus, it’s quite clear that it’s not Khattar who is saying that Kashmiri women can now be brought for marriage. He is saying that other people were making these comments and it’s evident that he is focused on improving Haryana’s sex ratio even further and treats these remarks as a joke.

Since the mainstream media is not renowned for high intellect, it can be explained further by means of an example. For instance, if OpIndia reports, “The mainstream media is considered the propaganda wing of anti-BJP political parties by most people,” it means the average citizen considers the mainstream media to be so, not that OpIndia is leveling the accusation.

Assembly Elections are slated to occur in Haryana later this year. It appears the mainstream media has well and truly begun its election campaign, much before any political party has entered the fray.

Shekhar Gupta and The Print sell their soul, blame Yediyurappa for a Kumaraswamy era scandal that names Congress leaders

OpIndia Staff
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Shekhar Gupta and The Print sell their soul, blame Yediyurappa for a Kumaraswamy era scandal that names Congress leaders

Most people had imagined that the Media industry had already fallen as far as they possibly could deep into the abyss of irresponsibility, paid news, propaganda and just blatant lies. However, Shekhar Gupta, the chief of Editors Guild and his ‘news’ portal The Print come as a stench of the rotting soul when they manage to stoop further at every given opportunity. Now, Shekhar Gupta and The Print have managed to blame the Yediyurappa government that was recently sworn in Karnataka for a 6-month-old scandal that broke during the tenure of JDS’ Kumaraswamy and names Congress leaders like Ahmed Patel.

Bengaluru Commissioner Bhaskar Rao is now under the scanner for using power brokers close to the Congress party to get himself a job. The Print has now published the full transcript of the tapes that detail the conversations between Bhaskar Rao and JDS and Congress leaders.

In the entire transcript of the tape, nowhere does the name of BS Yediyurappa or the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) appear. However, that did not stop Shekhar Gupta and The Print from dragging Yediyurappa’s name through the mud.


While Tweeting a line from the transcript that said ‘Ahmed Patel said I will make him commissioner, Revanna will support’, Shekhar Gupta, the head of The Print and chief of Editors Guild, goes on to peddle lies and allege that this is the first scandal that has hit the newly sworn-in Yediyurappa government.

The line tweeted by Shekhar Gupta himself mentions senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel who is close to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and Revanna, who is the brother of former Karnataka Chief Minister from JDS, HD Kumaraswamy.

The Print story itself starts off by spreading lies and telling its readers that this scandal has turned the heat up on the BJP government in Karnataka.

The story reads:

“Here is the full transcript of the clips, which have also turned up the heat on the new B.S. Yediyurappa-headed BJP government in Karnataka”. 

The Print article

The tapes were recorded six months ago, according to The Print, while the Congress-JDS alliance was still ruling Karnataka. As a summary, The Print says that in these tapes the Commissioner is speaking to a broker named Faraz and the purpose of the conversation was to get appointed. The broker Faraz was purportedly close to Congress. The Print story itself says that Rao was trying to get the appointment through a ‘Congress pull’. He was trying to get picked for the job through Congress because the then Chief Minister Kumaraswamy favoured Alok Verma.

After this summary, The Print magically decides to assert that this entire scandal that involves Congress and JDS and happened 6 months ago while their government was in power is somehow putting the Yediyurappa-headed BJP government in Karnataka on the spot.

What The Print hoped to accomplish was rather simple. People often read the first few sentences of the article or even trust ‘veterans’ like Shekhar Gupta when they tweet an excerpt, even if they peddle lies. By tweeting that this had put the Yediyurappa government in a tight spot, Shekhar Gupta hoped that people would just assume that somewhere buried in that transcript, the BJP government is mentioned and are to eventually be blamed for the entire scandal.

Shekhar Gupta and The Print have often pawned their soul for propaganda and blatant lies. Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint has a history of scaremongering and spreads fake news to target Narendra Modi government. Addition to that, Shekhar Gupta and his team have also attempted to script their own history by pushing fairytales as facts.

Pakistani Twitter users get a brainwave, they want Imran Khan to ‘shut down Indian Airspace’

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani Twitter users get a brainwave, they want Imran Khan to ‘shut down Indian Airspace’

Pakistan is rightly called a parody nation. The only thing it produces in large quantities apart from terrorists desperately eager to blow themselves up is humour. Pure, unadulterated humour that they produce so unwittingly that they don’t even realise the world is laughing on their faces.

Pakistan’s PM starts loves to be a taxi driver. After being squeezed dry of their own resources by China, they try to repay China’s loan by selling donkeys. From news anchors screaming nuclear attack over tomatoes to pretty faces cutely declaring they thought Apple Inc was a fruit, Pakistani humour just has no match.

Latest in the offering is a die-hard Pakistani giving strategic advice to Imran Khan. Pakistani Twitter users have been asking Imran Khan to teach Modi a lesson by ‘shutting down Indian Airspace’


Asad Ullah has come up with a brilliant idea claiming that after Pakistan closed down its airspace following the Balakot airstrikes, India had suffered a financial loss of Rs 491 crores. He then suggested his government to do it again, by ‘shutting down Indian airspace’. He even ran a hashtag: #ShutDownIndianAirSpace.

What is more interesting that Pakistanis actually trended this hashtag, thinking they can make India suffer and they can close ‘Indian airspace’.

Ullah’s hashtag saw wide reactions on Twitter.


Interestingly, some less enlightened Pakistanis did try to point out that Pakistan can close its own airspace, not India’s airspace. But the true patriotic Pakistanis shut them down, proclaiming that ‘When Modi’s planes fly over Pakistan, it becomes Indian airspace only.’


Terminology apart, even if one assumes that our Jihadi neighbours actually meant closing their own airspace and just used the wrong term for it, Pakistani’s wishing that Indian economy will suffer if they close their airspace is a thought that is disturbingly suicidal in nature.

After the Balakot airstrikes, when Pakistan shut down its airspace for months, Indian airliners did suffer losses, but those losses were a fraction of what Pakistan had lost.

Following the airstrikes on Jaish-e-Muhammad training camp in Balakot conducted by the IAF on February 26 after the Pulwama attack, Pakistan had fully closed its airspace indefinitely. The closure of Pakistani airspace has affected almost 400 flights a day. This has cost over Rs 700 crore in loss to Pakistan until June end, which is reeling under an unprecedented economic crisis.

However, India’s losses were pegged at over Rs 400 crore. India, being a robust economy is more than capable of withstanding this loss, but Pakistan, being a smaller and much more fragile economy, the loss for them was much more severe. While the Indian economy can withstand the loss easily, airspace closure creates more significant problems for Pakistan whose economy is already in shambles.

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