On 3rd December Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, accused Muhammad Yunus, the leader of the country’s interim government, of mass murders and targeting minorities in the midst of increased turmoil and escalating anti-Hindu violence in the country. She slammed him for the series of attacks on temples, churches and the religious organization Iskcon during a fierce virtual address at an Awami League event in New York.
She directly attributed the unrest, especially the vicious attacks on religious minorities, to Yunus and his associates, including student activists. “Today, I have been accused of mass killings. In reality, it is Muhammad Yunus who is responsible for mass killings through a meticulously designed plan along with the student co-ordinators. They are the masterminds. Even Tarique Rahman (Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader and Khaleda Zia’s son) from London has said that if the deaths continue, then the government won’t last,” she charged.
Hasina had to leave the country in August as her Awami League government collapsed due to widespread anti-quota protests which soon turned into a regime change colour revolution and then devolved into rape and massacre of Hindus and destruction of their temples, homes and properties. “Today, teachers, police are all being attacked and killed. Hindus, Buddhists, Christians are being targeted. Churches and several temples have been attacked. Why are minorities being targeted in Bangladesh now,” she asked.
The violent demonstrations that eventually forced her to leave Bangladesh were also the subject of the accusations. She disclosed that there had been a plot to kill her, akin to the 1975 assassination of her father and founder of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. “There was a plan to assassinate me, just like my father,” she mentioned.
She described how an armed mob encircled Gana Bhavan, her home, with the intention of murdering her and noted, “When people were being killed indiscriminately, I decided I shall leave, I don’t need to be in power. Had security men opened fire, so many would have died at Gana Bhavan. I did not want that. It was a matter of 25-30 minutes, but I told my security not to open fire. I did not want a massacre.”
Her close advisers unveiled that she decided to resign because she wanted to put an end to any further chaos. She stepped down as premier to prevent the violence, which had already taken over 200 lives, from becoming more severe, an aide told the media. Hasina had previously implied that the protests were being orchestrated by outside parties, such as the United States, with the intention of overthrowing her administration.
“I resigned so I did not have to see the procession of dead bodies. They wanted to come to power over the dead bodies of students, but I did not allow it,” she confided in her associates. In an emotional moment, Hasina expressed that she felt that even more people would have died and resources would have been destroyed if she had stayed in power. She urged her supporters to maintain their hope and stated, “If I had remained in the country, more lives would have been lost, more resources would have been destroyed. I made the extremely difficult decision to exit. I became your leader because you chose me, you were my strength.”
“Don’t lose hope. I will return soon. I have lost, but the people of Bangladesh have won, the people for whom my father, my family died,” she declared. Hasina arrived in India on 5th August after escaping from Bangladesh, where she was first granted a short stay. However, since the United Kingdom rejected her asylum request, her stay has been extended.
In Uttar Pradesh, Badaun’s Jama Masjid (mosque) Shamsi vs Neelkanth Mahadev temple was scheduled to be heard by the district court on 3rd December. The case came up amid the controversy surrounding the survey of Sambhal’s Shahi Jama Masjid which the Hindus refer to as Hari Har temple. However, it was postponed to 10th December because the Muslim side’s arguments were not completed. On 30th November, the Intezamia Committee (body that manages mosque) had explained its position.
Hindu activist Mukesh Patel highlighted that the structure has a Lord Shiva temple. The court was scheduled to review if the matter’s merits a hearing. A fast track court has been formed to hear this case. The Muslim side had to put forward its case in the Civil Judge Senior Division Fast Track Court. Afterward, the Hindu side was set to present its argument. The Archaeological Department has declared it to be its property in court after the government’s argument was concluded. Tight security measures were implemented on the court grounds due to the gravity of the situation.
The Hindus assert that Badaun’s Jama Masjid Shamsi was built by demolishing the Neelkanth Mahadev temple which was at the site earlier. On the other hand, the Muslims allege that there is no evidence that the Shamsi Masjid was constructed over a temple and it was built by Sufi ‘saint’ Badshah Shamshuddin Altamash. They claimed that when Altamash came to Badaun, he erected the mosque to worship Allah and there is no evidence of a temple or idol in this mosque. The Muslim side contended that the claims being made about this mosque are false.
“The Jama Masjid in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh has also been targeted. A case was filed in the court in 2022 and its next hearing will be on 3rd December. ASI (which works under the Government of India) and the UP government are also parties to the case. Both governments will have to present their views according to the 1991 Act. Extremist Hindutva organizations can go to any extent, stopping them is very important for the peace and unity of India. The coming generations are being busy digging into ASI instead of studying AI,” AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi posted on X.
बदायूं उत्तर प्रदेश की जामा मस्जिद को भी निशाना बनाया गया है । अदालत में 2022 में केस किया गया था और उसकी अगली सुनवाई 3 दिसंबर को होगी। ASI (जो भारत सरकार के तहत काम करती है) और उ.प्र सरकार भी केस में पार्टी हैं । दोनों सरकारों को 1991 एक्ट के अनुसार अपनी बात रखनी होगी।शर पसंद…
The conflict has led to tensions in the area. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Uttar Pradesh and center governments have been made parties in this case. The Places of Worship Act of 1991 will serve as the foundation for the court case. A case was filed in the court in the year 2022 concerning the matter. Meanwhile, the survey of Sambhal’s mosque on 24th November resulted in violence as Muslim mobs pelted stones on the authorities which led to four deaths as dozens of police personnel received injuries and property was also damaged.
In a rather embarrassing turn of events for the US-based Newsweek magazine, it cited a joke by a popular parody account Parik Patel, as an actual quote from the father of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director Kash Patel. The ‘quote’ citing the tweet from the parody account was published in one of its reports titled How Republicans And Democrats Reacted to Surprise Hunter Biden Pardon on 1st December.
The publication, however, soon became a subject of ridicule as it turned out that the “surprising voice” it quoted was not that of Kash Patel’s father, but a parody account on X that was sharing memes calling Kash Patel his son.
“A surprising voice to weigh in on the pardon is Dr. Parik Patel, father of FBI Director nominee Kash Patel. The elder Patel wrote on X that Biden made the decision to pardon Hunter because he was “so worried about MY SON Kashu becoming director of the FBI that he decided to pardon his son … of all crimes,” the Newsweek’s now-removed paragraph read.
An archived version of the Newsweek report
The original X post published by the parody account Parik Patel stated, “Joe Biden was so worried about MY SON Kashu becoming director of the FBI that he decided to pardon his son Hunter Biden of all of his crimes.”
Joe Biden was so worried about MY SON Kashu becoming director of the FBI that he decided to pardon his son Hunter Biden of all of his crimes pic.twitter.com/N0pD7D48mn
— Dr. Parik Patel, BA, CFA, ACCA Esq. (@ParikPatelCFA) December 2, 2024
Adding to Newsweek’s embarrassment, the parody account thanked Newsweek for his message. “Thank you @Newsweek for amplifying my message – Hunter Biden was pardoned just in time before my son Kashu could prosecute him for his crimes.”
While the netizens were left in splits over this hilarious episode, Newsweek quietly removed the paragraph in question, without acknowledging its mistake.
As reported earlier, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, issued a full and unconditional pardon for his son, Hunter Biden on 1st December 2024. Notably, Biden has only a few weeks days left in office as President-elect Donald Trump will resume office on 20th January. He claimed that the prosecution of Hunter was politically motivated and described it as a miscarriage of justice.
The pardon absolves Hunter of offences committed between 2014 and 2024, including the charges brought by Special Counsel David C. Weiss.
In a detailed statement issued from the White House, President Biden defended his decision and emphasised that Hunter was unfairly targeted due to his familial connections. “No reasonable person can conclude otherwise,” Biden stated, alleging that political adversaries had instigated charges to undermine his presidency and electoral prospects. The charges against Hunter stemmed from allegations of tax irregularities and a disputed firearm application. Biden argued that such cases are generally resolved without criminal trials, especially when defendants have addressed outstanding taxes with interest and penalties. President Biden further criticised the “collapse” of a plea deal Hunter had negotiated with the Department of Justice, attributing it to political interference.
A Dalit family in Indore, Madhya Pradesh’s Bagiche Colony has stated that members of the Muslim community including a person named Shadab are continuously threatening them and their lives are in danger. On 17th November, the family members displayed a poster of ‘house for sale’ outside their home. The police had earlier taken action and sent the accused to jail. However, they were given bail and the family is now in terror. The authorities though claimed that the victim and his family were safe.
According to Dainik Bhaskar, Rajesh Kalmoiya, the head of the Dalit family, disclosed that Shadab’s family members have been glaring at the former’s family members. We feel as though anything dreadful might happen to us ever since these individuals were released from prison. “The perpetrator was not subjected to the National Security Act (NSA), despite the police’s earlier assurances to the contrary,” he voiced.
The family mentioned that they are relentlessly being threatened. Rajesh stated that previously cops used to come to his house regularly, but now they have not been seen spotted in his street in many days. The family expressed that they have only two options including suicide or fleeing in such a situation. On the other hand, the police argued that Rajesh was safe. The local SHO (Station House Officer) alleged that he did not submit a written complaint about his new grievances.
On 17th November, Rajesh put up posters regarding leaving his home after he charged Shadab and others with harassing him and his family members. The matter escalated when Hindu organizations demanded action. Afterwards, the police registered an FIR (First Information Report) against 7 people including the main accused Shadab under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and other sections.
Rajesh unveiled that he was under constant pressure from Shadab and the other offenders to drop the complaint. Women from the latter’s family were also involved in this. He stated that an explosion was set off outside his home when he refused to comply. Another person named Raees was also named in this case. The victim’s family questioned the police response, noting that while they had first promised harsh action, they are currently nowhere to be found. They referred to their migration as a compulsion and warned that they could have to end their lives if their safety were not guaranteed.
Wikipedia, the so-called “encyclopaedia,” has created a dedicated page on the Sambhal violence that took place on 24th November 2024 during the court-ordered survey of Jama Masjid. In its description of the events, Wikipedia claimed that “some people accompanying the court-appointed survey commission at the mosque chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ to provoke Muslims,” and that the video of the incident went viral on social media. The claims were attributed to opposition MPs.
The page on Wikipedia read, “While the opposition MPs have made allegations that some people accompanying the court-appointed survey commission at the mosque chanted “Jai Shri Ram” to provoke Muslims, in the presence of senior police and district officials, with a video of the incident going viral.”
Source: Wikipedia
Interestingly, Wikipedia initially used an opinion piece written by controversial columnist Apoorvanand Jha for the leftist propaganda outlet ‘The Wire’, which claimed that Muslims were provoked by the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans. However, the link was later removed, and another link from The Telegraph became the main source of the same claim.
An older version of the page mentioned “Jai Shri Ram” slogan in the first paragraph linking it to Apoorvanand’s op-ed.
Source: Wikipedia
Later, the reference to The Wire op-ed was removed.
Source: Wikipedia
The latest version removed the mention of “Jai Shri Ram” slogan in the first paragraph.
Source: Wikipedia
In his op-ed, Apoorvanand made several unsubstantiated claims. First, he claimed that the second survey was conducted “two days after” the initial survey, which took place on the night of 19th November. This is factually incorrect, an oversight by The Wire’s editorial team as well. The second survey was conducted five days later, on 24th November.
Source: The Wire
He also claimed that the survey was carried out without prior notice. This is again incorrect. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain shared on X that the mosque committee had been informed with proper documentation about the second round of the survey a day prior, on 23rd November 2024. Interestingly, the op-ed was published on 26th November while Advocate Jain already shared the information on 25th November that the mosque committee was indeed informed.
This is the notice by advocate commissioner on 23rd nov which was duly received by lawyer for sambhal masjid committee at 630 pm on 23rd November. They were duly informed and were present in survey. pic.twitter.com/GGuC5gPwkA
The Telegraph report quoted Samajwadi Party leader and Sambhal MP Ziaur Rahman Barq as saying, “Some people who were with the commission were chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram.’ As the local people opposed this, the police opened fire and killed four people.” Barq further demanded that the police officials be identified and booked for the incident.
Source: Telegraph
It is worth noting that Barq has been named as the main accused in one of the seven FIRs registered in the Sambhal violence case. He has been accused of instigating the Muslims living in the area during his visits two days prior to the incident. Interestingly, Wikipedia did not specify which “opposition leader” claimed that the violence occurred after the chants of “Jai Shri Ram,” even though this was mentioned on the page. Moreover, the information about Barq being booked was included only in a different section.
Interestingly, in the talk section, there is a dicussion between two editors, Xoocit and Cerium4B where the latter insisted that the claims that “Jai Shri Ram” slogans led to the violence should be kept. The status quo on blaming the slogan remained intact as “claims” despite the fact that there was ample evidence stating the slogans were raised after 11 AM though the violence erupted before 9:30 AM.
Source: Wikipecia
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya shared a video of advocate Vishnu Jain and administration officials entering the disputed site for the survey. In the three-minute-long video, there was no indication of any chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram.’
Wikipedia wants to burn down India! Contrary to their claim that slogans of Jai Shri Ram led to violence in Sambhal, the video footage of advocate Vishnu Jain and administration officials, entering the disputed site, for survey, on Court orders, shows no sloganeering, communally… pic.twitter.com/w5IQYxoYIB
Journalist Swati Goel Sharma also shared evidence suggesting that the slogans were not raised while the team was entering the disputed site but were chanted only after 11 AM, by which time Advocate Jain had already exited the property.
But here’s the truth:
Slogans were raised only after 11 am, when advocate Vishnu Jain had already exited the disputed property. This is confirmed by TV channels (see video)
Yet, footage recovered by police shows masked rioters breaking CCTV cameras as early as 9:30 am (See… pic.twitter.com/yZg1RUn63f
Furthermore, she shared CCTV footage recovered by Sambhal police showing mobsters destroying a CCTV camera at around 9:30 AM, much before the slogans were raised.
The not-so-true fact-check in reference links of Wikipedia about conflict between AMASR Act and PoW Act
Another notable aspect of the Wikipedia page on the Sambhal violence was its use of a “fact-check” by a lesser-known website, Timeline Daily, which claimed that the argument stating Jama Masjid is not covered under the Places of Worship Act, 1991, was false. The article referred by Wikipedia cited CNN-News 18 anchor Rahul Shivshankar’s post, where he stated that the Places of Worship (PoW) Act, 1991, does not apply to Jama Masjid as it is an ASI-protected monument. The author of the so-called fact-check argued that Section 16 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958, basically nullifies Section 3 of the PoW Act.
It read, “However, perhaps before tweeting and quoting the particular subsection of the PoW Act, if the news anchor had researched a bit more, he would have found that Section 16 of the AMASR Act provides that a protected monument, which is a place of worship, cannot be used for any purpose inconsistent with its character.”
Analysis of Section 16 of the Ancient Monuments Act and Section 4(3) of the Places of Worship Act
Section 16 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, focuses on the protection of places of worship classified as protected monuments. It prohibits misuse, pollution, or desecration of such sites and mandates their maintenance in accordance with their religious or historical character.
Section 4(3) of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, provides exemptions to the general prohibition on altering the religious character of places of worship as they existed on 15 August 1947. It explicitly states that the provisions do not apply to ancient and historical monuments or archaeological sites covered under the Ancient Monuments Act.
Section 4(3)(a) of the Places of Worship Act exempts ancient monuments governed by the Ancient Monuments Act from its ambit. This exemption recognises that protected monuments may have their governance rules under the Ancient Monuments Act, which includes the preservation of their religious character as detailed in Section 16.
Jurisdictional Overlap
Section 16 of the Ancient Monuments Act provides a framework for managing religious sites classified as protected monuments. On the other hand, Section 4(3)(a) of the Places of Worship Act avoids conflict by excluding such sites from its purview. This avoids the overlap where both Acts could theoretically apply.
Practical Interpretation
Section 16 does not nullify Section 4(3) of the Places of Worship Act. In fact, Section 4(3) accommodates Section 16 by exempting certain sites from the broader restrictions of the Places of Worship Act. The legislative intent appears to be harmonious, ensuring that religious sites classified as protected monuments are preserved under the more specific framework of the Ancient Monuments Act without contradicting the communal harmony goals of the Places of Worship Act. Section 16 of the AMASR Act rather complements than nullifies Section 4(3) of the PoW Act. The exemption in the latter explicitly acknowledges that the AMASR Act has authority over specific protected sites, indicating a clear legislative intent to allow both Acts to function within their respective domains without raising any conflict.
OpIndia’s dossier on Wikipedia
OpIndia’s 187-page dossier, released on 9th September, 2024, detailed how Wikipedia operates more like a publisher than a neutral intermediary. It highlighted how a select group of 435 administrators globally have significant control, including banning editors, blacklisting sources, and reversing edits, often reflecting editorial bias. The report also revealed financial ties between the Wikimedia Foundation and certain editors, suggesting conflicts of interest. Additionally, its collaboration with Google raises concerns about undue influence from big tech in shaping information narratives.
Arguing that these editorial interventions align Wikipedia closer to a publisher than a neutral platform, the dossier called for regulatory oversight under India’s Competition Act, 2002. Responding to the allegations, the Indian government issued a notice to Wikipedia on 5th November, 2024, challenging its intermediary status. OpIndia’s dossier on Wikipedia can be checked here.
On Monday, December 2nd, Vedanta Copper International, a 100% subsidiary of Vedanta Ltd, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investments and Ministry of Industries and Mineral Resources. As per the reports, this arrangement aims to invest $2 billion in major copper projects, encompassing a 400 KTPA greenfield copper smelter and refinery and a 300 KTPA copper rod project. Notably, these projects are scheduled to be established in Ras Al Khair, an industrial city in the Kingdom.
“These initiatives support Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030, which endeavors to unlock an estimated $1.3 trillion in mineral resources and elevate the minerals sector’s GDP contribution from $17 billion to $64 billion by 2030. Currently, the Kingdom’s copper demand is around 365 KTPA, a figure anticipated to more than double by 2035, primarily met by imports at present,” the official statement by Vedanta Copper International read.
It further added that the recent visits by senior officials from the Kingdom’s Ministry of Mines and the National Industrial Development Centre to Vedanta’s operations in India have laid a solid foundation for further high-level discussions, progressing as planned.
Chris Griffith, the Chief Executive Officer of the Base Metals at Vedanta Limited commented on the matter and stated that the projects would enhance the Kingdom’s self-reliance in the copper supply chain. “We are thrilled and truly honored to collaborate with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its Vision 2030 initiative. Our projects will enhance the Kingdom’s self-reliance in the copper supply chain. Saudi Arabia has been a leader in oil exploration and hydrocarbons for decades. Now, under visionary leadership, it is poised to tap into its vast, unexplored mineral potential, as it embraces the 4th Industrial Revolution,” he was quoted as saying.
The said agreement is also slated to provide employment for thousands of people and facilitate development for hundreds of downstream industries. However, it is crucial to note that the said agreement seems to be a strategic move from the company’s point of view. But from the point of view of the national development, it marks a downgrade.
Vedanta’s copper plant was shut down in India’s Thoothukudi
In the year 2018, the Vedanta-owned Sterlite copper plant had been shut in the Thoothukudi region of Tamil Nadu. The plant was shut after massive protests erupted in the region claiming that the project was disturbing the environment in the region. However, later in the year 2021, the workers led another protest demanding the reopening of the plant claiming that their only source of livelihood was taken away by the stoppage of the plant.
Some of the locals claimed that a few strangers entered their village and began planned propaganda against the Sterlite plant. They claimed that the project was causing harm to the environment and that it needed to be closed at any cost. They stated that they were played by strangers in the name of protests. The protests were reportedly organized by an NGO named The Other Media which has been accused of misusing foreign funds to organize protests around the Vedanta Sterlite copper plant in Thoohtukudi district of Tamil Nadu. The NGO since then has been placed under the scanner by the Home Ministry.
The shutdown of the Sterlite Copper plant dealt a huge blow to the country’s copper trade and India slipped from being one of the top five exporters of the copper cathodes in 2017-2018 to become a net importer since 2018-2019.
Recently, in March this year it was reported that over the last five years since the plant’s closure, India has lost nearly $1 billion per year in net foreign exchange inflows from copper exports, while also spending nearly $1.2 billion per year on copper imports to fill the supply gap. Furthermore, at the corporate level, it is a significant loss for Vedanta too.
Notably, India’s copper demand has grown significantly, rising from 1.31 million tonnes (mt) in 2021-22 to 1.52 mt in 2022-23. India’s copper demand has grown by 16% in the fiscal year 2023. Industry experts say that Sterlite’s vacuum is being compensated through imports, causing a huge outflow of foreign exchange. Prior to the closure of the Sterlite Copper manufacturing plant in Tuticorin, India was a net copper exporter for nearly two decades. For the first time in 2018, India became a net copper importer, and new trade partners for India include Southeast Asia, Japan, and West Asia.
“For India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, strength is everything.” A hit job on Indian PM Modi was published by American magazine The Atlantic on the 29th of November. From the outset, author Daniel Block makes it clear, that for him, and The Atlantic, propaganda is everything and the imperative to peddle anti-Modi propaganda easily takes precedence over balanced journalism.
The hit job titled “How a Strongman Made Himself Look Weak”claims that PM Modi responds to criticism within India by ‘co-opting’ the media and ‘repressing’ the religious minorities [read Muslims]. And, on foreign soil, the Modi government responds to criticism with anger and laughably, even ‘political assassinations’.
The Atlantic’s propaganda piece against PM Modi
In the context of the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, The Atlantic piece downplayed the anti-India activities of wanted terrorist Nijjar and another Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun by calling them Sikh nationalists.
The piece stops short of labeling the US a rogue nation for carrying out arbitrary bombings in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, including the operation authorised by the then PM Barack Obama-led administration, to take down Al Qaeda terrorist Osama Bin Laden, who was hiding in a safe house in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The US eliminating threats to its national security on foreign soil is good, but if India supposedly does the same, The Atlantic suffers a meltdown, even when it is not proven. Pannun in the US and Khalistanis in Canada carry out anti-India and anti-Hindu activities on almost daily basis, Hindu temples are attacked and defaced every now and then, Indian flags are burnt, India’s territorial integrity is challenged.
Recently, consular camps in Canada were cancelled due to Khalistani threats and Canadian police’s incompetence in providing minimum security to Hindu Canadians, but for The Atlantic, Khalistanis are ‘Sikh nationalists’ who are ‘critics’ of PM Modi.
The hit job against PM Modi further insinuated that while PM Modi’s supporters may see India’s response to Canadian allegations of ‘political assassinations’ as evidence of his courage, India is not that independent to strain ties with the US and Canada.
The Atlantic, however, fails to see that it is the Canadian government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau which has single-handedly destroyed ties with India by not only pandering to the Khalistani elements, providing them safe haven and freedom to challenge India’s sovereignty, but also accusing the Indian government and diplomats of extra-territorial killings without a shred of evidence.
It must be recalled that just days after accusing Indian diplomats of involvement in ‘criminal activities’ on Canadian soil in October, Trudeau had admitted Canada had no evidence before accusing the Indian government of involvement in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Contrary to The Atlantic’s expectations that India genuflects before Canada and the US, India’s foreign policy is governed by strategic autonomy and there is no question of the Indian foreign ministry “scrambling with damage control”. Also, India’s reputation is ‘undermined’ only in the eyes of the left-liberal media ecosystem, which is perennially devoted to painting India in a bad light. Moreover, Narendra Modi is a strongman and it was his strongman image that played a significant role in his selection as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and a historic election to power in 2014.
What is leftist propaganda if it doesn’t play the tried and tested Muslim victim-hood card? Daniel Block, who previously wrote for leftist propaganda magazine “The Caravan”, claimed that Narendra Modi rose to power by “polarising the country’s Hindu majority against its Muslim minority, suggesting that Muslims stand in the way of restoring Hindu greatness.”
2002 Godhra carnage wherein 59 Hindu pilgrims were killed as a rampaging Islamist mob set on fire the S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station in Gujarat. Much like the most leftist propaganda outlets do, The Atlantic also emphasised the 2002 Gujarat riots as an anti-Muslim pogrom while conveniently skipping the part where they should tell their readers what led to the riots.
Godhra riots, Modi-Shah and Muslim victimhood: The Atlantic passes off Godhra riots as anti-Muslim ‘pogrom’
It was on 27th February 2002 when 59 innocent Hindu pilgrims were killed as the Islamic jihadis set on fire the S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station in Gujarat.
The Sabarmati Express was scheduled to reach Godhra station at about 3:30 am. On that day, the train was running four hours late. It arrived at Godhra by 7:40 am. 8 minutes later, a mob of 2000 Islamists set 59 Hindus, including 25 women and 15 children, in the coach S6 of the train on fire in Godhra’s predominantly Muslim area – Signal Falia.
31 Islamists were found guilty of the Godhra massacre on February 22, 2011, by the trial court (with only 11 receiving the death penalty and 20 receiving life in prison), and all 31 convictions were affirmed by the Gujarat High Court in October 2017, resulting in everyone receiving a life sentence. Prior to that, based on the testimony of witnesses and survivors, it was established that it was not an accident rather the Islamists had set the train on fire.
While over the years, the Islamo-leftist ecosystem has been trying to whitewash the Islamist crime as a “train burning incident”, or “accident”, The Atlantic’s columnist went a step ahead and completely skipped mentioning Godhra carnage altogether. Probably, because the burning alive of Hindus doesn’t matter to the propaganda outlet or simply because reporting the truth of Godhra will prove counterproductive in Daniel Block’s attempt to establish the apocryphal narrative of persistent persecution of an ‘innocent Muslim minority’.
“When he governed the Indian state of Gujarat, he stood by as a pogrom killed at least 790 Muslims. His party won more seats in elections right after this,” the propaganda piece reads.
The very usage of the word ‘pogrom’ in the context of the Godhra riots is infuriating given the fact that the violence erupted only after 59 innocent Hindus were burnt alive by the Islamist mob. Perhaps Daniel Block needs to get his hands on a dictionary and learn the meaning of the word “pogrom” before randomly throwing such words in the context of riots which erupted in response to the killing of Hindus.
Further, while The Atlantic specifically mentioned the number of Muslims who died in the riots caused by the brutal killing of 59 Hindus, the leftist propaganda outlet did not mention that around 254 Hindus were also killed in those riots. Evidently, killings of Hindus at the hands of Islamists are of not much importance to Daniel Block. It is, however, not shocking given Block was associated with The Caravan, which has thrived on peddling propaganda against Narendra Modi and continues to trivialise the Islamist violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.
The Atlantic’s propaganda piece is stuffed with lies and innuendos with a clear intent to project a democratically elected four-time Chief Minister and three-time Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a despot in a democracy, who is ‘creating’ disputes with countries like the US and Canada to strengthen his “strongman” image.
The Atlantic villainises Modi-Shah using allegations dismissed by the Supreme Court of India
Funnily, The Atlantic claims that the BJP has tolerated little dissent since coming to power. This is when an entire anti-Modi ecosystem literally earns its bread and butter, fame and recognition solely by slandering PM Modi and the BJP. It further talked about criminal cases against PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and that “a judge dismissed the cases”. However, it did not elaborate that the Supreme Court of India has absolved Modi and Shah in these cases. Supreme Court upheld the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) clean chit to Modi who was Gujarat Chief Minister when the Godhra riots unfolded in 2002. Similarly, in the case against Amit Shah, the Supreme Court upheld clean chit to Shah.
Both Modi and Shah were hounded for years by the ruling Congress governments and their propaganda machinery [read mainstream media] also worked its fingers to the bone to establish a false narrative that the Modi-Shah duo was involved in criminal activities including their alleged role in the Godhra riots.
However, despite having resources and machinery at their disposal, the Congress government failed to convince the courts against Modi-Shah indicating that those cases were absolutely baseless and devoid of merit. In fact, the special CBI court judgement acquitting all 22 accused in the “fake” encounter of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his associate Tulsiram Prajapati, and the murder of his wife, Kauser Bi, revealed that a larger conspiracy hatched by the CBI under the then Congress government to implicate political leaders in these cases. But then, The Atlantic would not dare to mention these details since it would defeat the very purpose their hit job against PM Modi and would expose to its readers how the Congress governments used probe agencies against its political nemesis.
The Atlantic views the Modi government’s stern stand against Khalistani secessionism and terrorism as ‘Hindu nationalism’
Exposing the extent of his delusion, Daniel Block claimed that the “Modi government’s frustration with Sikhs goes back to at least 2020. That year, the government attempted to deregulate India’s agricultural sector, and Sikh farmers protested the legislation for months, until New Delhi withdrew it.” The propaganda piece further claims that while repealing the three farm laws, the Modi government argued that “the protests were the work of Sikh separatists bent on breaking up the state,” and tried to establish how this supposed contention was “patently false”.
OpIndia, however, reported back then how Khalistani elements had indeed hijacked the farmers‘ protest and managed to maintain secular overtones while retaining the communal undertones of the protests. Also, contrary to The Atlantic’s assertion that “Sikh separatism” has not been a force in India since the 1990s, thanks to the relentless efforts of IPS KPS Gill, there was always an undercurrent even though the focal point of the Khalistani movement shifted to the West.
It is also interesting how The Atlantic wants India not to supposedly try to eliminate Khalistani terrorists on foreign soil but not once did it question why Canada allows Khalistani terrorists to thrive on Canadian soil and why Justin Trudeau wants to burnish his image as a ‘liberal hero’ at the cost of destroying ties with India. Further, will The Atlantic ask why does Trudeau government call slain Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist a Canadian citizen even though there is no clarity on whether he was even a legal citizen of Canada? Interestingly, OpIndia had earlier reported that Trudeau’s allegations against India were possibly a smokescreen to China’s interference in Canadian elections and legislation.
Notably, The Atlantic’s disdain for PM Modi and “Hindu nationalism” is not surprising given it has a history of peddling anti-Hindu propaganda and platforming people who have links with anti-India and anti-Hindu entities.
The Atlantic blindly places its faith in the allegations levelled by the Trudeau government in the Nijjar killing even though it has not furnished a single piece of evidence to back its claim. Trudeau ‘expelling’ Indian diplomats was no act of bravery on Trudeau’s end. In fact, it was the Indian government that called back the Indian High Commissioner and dismissed Canada’s “preposterous” allegations.
Towards the conclusion of the hit job, The Atlantic claims that the Indian government routinely crosses the line between necessary arguments and wanton confrontation, however, it failed to question even once why the Trudeau and Biden administrations allow the anti-India Khalistan elements in their respective nations to challenge India’s territorial integrity and poison the minds of Sikh youths in Punjab.
On Monday (2nd December), the Ahmedabad city crime branch arrested Mohammed Aminoor Pathan alias Bhayankar Mannankhan Pathan and Yasin Kalam Shaikh, for stealing traditional five-metal alloy idols and silver idols from the Shantinath Jain Derasar in Nemnagar, Bilimora. Both the accused are residents of Shah-e-Alam and originally from West Bengal.
The police said that during the initial interrogation, the accused Aminoor and Yasin admitted to involvement in seven such thefts from temples and Derasars across Gujarat. It also turned out that their accomplice, Ahesamuddin Shaikh, had escaped to Kolkata. Acting on this information, crime branch authorities notified the Kolkata Railway Protection Force (RPF), and the accused were arrested.
According to ACP Bharat Patel, the accused was found in possession of stolen things valued at around Rs 7.01 lakh, which included two silver bricks, cash, a religious idol, and silver lamps. Pathan and Shaikh had 16 complaints filed against them between 2018 and 2013. Patel added that the accused committed thefts in other areas, including the Jain temple in Bilimora wherein the accused stole cash, silver and panchdhatu (five-metal) idols. Meanwhile, investigations are underway to ascertain whether any of the accused crossed the border from Kolkata into Bangladesh to sell the stolen idols.
“The crime branch had been working on the case and apprehended two accused, originally hailing from West Bengal. They used to target temples because, at night, fewer people were present. They would disguise themselves while conducting recce. One of the suspects fled Ahmedabad with a statue but was apprehended by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Kolkata,” ACP Patel said.
The accused were apprehended near Chandola, Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad crime branch seized many things, including two silver idols weighing 4.785 kg and priced at Rs 3.65 lakh, one panchdhatu idol weighing roughly 1 kg and valued at Rs 4,000, a German silver aarti worth Rs 1,000, and Rs 3.21 lakh cash.
The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which published a hit piece on the Adani Group last year, is now under the scanner over its funding from the US government agencies.
Founded in 2007, OCCRP claims to have a network of journalists across 6 continents who ‘specialise in reporting on organised crime and corruption.’
Although it brands itself as an independent organisation, in reality, OCCRP receives a huge share of funding from the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Screengrab of the investigative piece by Mediapart
The disturbing revelations about its ties with the US government were made by the French newspaper ‘Mediapart’ in an investigative piece published on Monday (2nd December).
Titled ‘The hidden links between a giant of investigative journalism and the US government’, Mediapart delves into the overwhelming influence of the US government on the working of OCCRP.
“While the OCCRP presents itself as being totally independent, its management have placed it in a position of structural dependence upon the US government, as revealed in this investigation,” it stated.
OCCRP and its financial dependence on US govt agencies
According to Mediapart, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project was created due to the financial support extended by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
“Still today, Washington provides around half of the budget of the OCCRP, and has the power to veto the nomination of “key personnel” in the NGO, including Drew Sullivan,” it added.
The French newspaper emphasised, “While the OCCRP does indicate on its website that it receives funding from the US Department of State, and notably from the US Agency for International Development, USAID, it conceals the extent of the funding and the strings attached to it from its media partners, journalists and the wider public. The US government financing is never mentioned in OCCRP-produced articles.”
Senior adviser with USAID’s Europe and Eurasia Office, Mike Henning, has even dubbed OCCRP as ‘one of the best achievements’ made by the US govt agency.
“The OCCRP has omitted from its official history the role played by the US government in its creation, only mentioning the funding by the UN. Sullivan responds to that by underlining that the UN Democracy Fund payment was indeed the first that the NGO received,” Mediapart stated.
Since its inception, OCCRP has received at least $47 million from the US government, $14 million from European countries (Britiain, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia and France) and 1.1 million from the European Union.
“The OCCRP appears uncomfortable about the scale of US funding, as the amounts are not published on the NGO’s website,” Mediapart noted.
Influence of US govt on reporting by OCCRP
According to Mediapart, OCCRP has funded a programme which uses investigations by OCCRP to prompt sanction procedures and judicial probes.
Interestingly, the so-called ‘independent organisation’ does not report critically about the US government but foreign powers such as Russia, Malta, Cyprus and Venezuela which are antagonistic to the American interests.
“The Department of State also gave 173,324 dollars to the OCCRP for a mission of “uncovering and combatting Venezuelan corruption” – Venezuela’s autocratic president Nicolás Maduro is a high-profile enemy of the US,” the French newspaper revealed.
Mediapart stated, “For a journalistic organisation to lead such activities upon the initiative and with the funding of the US, even for a just cause, raises important ethical questions.”
OCCRP and hit piece on Adani Group
In August 2023, OpIndia had predicted that the OCCRP was planning a shakedown of India’s financial markets, following the footsteps of US-based short seller ‘Hindenburg Research’.
We had revealed that OCCRP is funded by the likes of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF), the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation.
OSF even gave a grant of $8,00,000 (~ ₹6.61 crores) to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project for ‘strengthening’ the organisation’s cross-border reporting and increasing the wider impact.
The ‘network of journalists’ published two hit pieces so far – one in August 2023 and another in May 2024. The baseless claims were junked by the Adani Group and also by the Mauritius-based fund ‘360 One.’
Even the Supreme Court of India had ruled that the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) report could not be used to cast doubt on the ongoing probe by SEBI.
It stated that reliance on a third-party organisation report without any verification cannot be relied on as proof.
The revelations made by Mediapart come at a time when Gautam Adani is being hounded in the US over dubious allegations of bribery.
The notoriety of USAID
OpIndia had previously reported how USAID, which funds OCCRP, had been at the helm of ‘regime change’ operation in India’s neighbouring country of Bangladesh.
According to a research report published by the Council of Hemispheric Affairs, USAID interference led to the 2018 uprising in Nicaragua. An extraordinary leaked document revealed the US government’s plan to interfere with the internal affairs in Nicaragua before and after the 2021 presidential election.
The 14-page extract of a much longer document outlined a contract of USAID to create “the environment for Nicaragua’s transition to democracy.” William Grigsby from Radio La Primerisima revealed the plan in the document that described how USAID worked with various NGOs, think tanks, media organisations and human rights bodies to support opposition to the Ortega government.
To support and justify the interference by the US body, the document misrepresented historical events such as claims that the Sandinista party manipulated the elections even though the Organization of American States (OAS) acknowledged there were only minor irregularities. Furthermore, it also rewrote the 2018 uprising narrative ignoring the fact that the opposition indulged in violence and economic disruption.
The US has a long history of interventions in Nicaragua dating back to 1856. The existence of such documents that revealed the plan of the US’s intervention was not surprising. Notably, Ben Waddell’s article in Global Americans points out that “US support has helped play a role in nurturing the current uprisings,” highlighting the role of US-funded groups in fostering opposition.
USAID has a long history of meddling with Venezuela’s internal affairs as well. According to a 2019 report in People’s World, USAID aligned closely with the National Endowment of Democracy in “Transition Initiatives” to promote the foreign policy goals of the US. The organisation has been an integral part of US efforts to organise humanitarian aid convoys to Venezuela which aligned with the political agenda of the US administration and then-interim president Guaido.
USAID’s Venezuela program supports civil society and democratic governance, echoing the principles of the UN Human Rights Convention. Wikileaks revealed a five-point strategy by the U.S. embassy in Caracas to undermine Chávez.
USAID and NED funded opposition groups extensively and the former’s operations often blended humanitarian aid with political motives. The State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources also works to reduce Latin American reliance on Venezuelan energy.
Five years after the first case of COVID-19 was detected in China and the whole world suffered from botched lockdowns, panic and millions of deaths, a US House subcommittee has confirmed what has been suppressed by most Western governments, the mainstream media, and even leading scientific publications and medical bodies of our times.
A 520-page report released by a select subcommittee in the House of Representatives in the US Congress has clearly stated that the ‘lab leak’ hypothesis was not a conspiracy theory and there is significant reason to argue that the coronavirus pandemic was indeed originated from a laboratory accident.
?FINAL REPORT?
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic’s final report is the most thorough review of the pandemic conducted to date.
This report ensures COVID-19 accountability and serves as a roadmap for the U.S. to prepare for and respond to future pandemics. pic.twitter.com/4JMGCzx9w1
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) December 2, 2024
The report also confirms that the US government’s National Institute of Health carried out gain-of-function research on coronaviruses in the BS4 laboratory at Wuhan Institute of Virology, China. It is notable here that Dr Anthony Fauci, who was the face of the US government’s COVID response and had dismissed the lab leak theories as propaganda, was the head of the NIH.
Dr Fauci, during a senate hearing on May 11, 2021, had told under oath that the NIH never carried out gain-of-function research in Wuhan.
The select subcommittee headed by Brad Wenstrup has summarised their report in some key points where they have consensus:
The possibility that COVID-19 emerged because of a laboratory or research-related accident is not a conspiracy theory.
EcoHealth Alliance Inc, and Dr Peter Daszak should never again receive US taxpayer dollars
Scientific messaging must be clear and concise, backed by evidentiary support, and come from trusted messengers, such as front-line doctors treating patients.
Public health officials must work to regain America’s trust. Americans want to be educated, not indoctrinated.
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo participated in medical malpractice and publicly covered up the total number of nursing home fatalities in New York.
Additionally, the subcommittee has listed their extensive findings on certain topics.
The US National Institute of Health funded gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology
The Chinese government, agencies within the US government and some members of the international scientific community sought to cover up facts concerning the origins of the pandemic.
Operation Warp Speed (initiated by former US President Trump when he was in office) was a success. It provided a model to build upon in the future. The vaccines worked and they saved millions of lives.
Rampant fraud, waste and abuse plagued the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Pandemic-era school closure will have an enduring impact on generations of schoolchildren.
The constitution cannot be suspended in times of crisis and restrictions on freedom sow distrust in public health.
The prescription cannot be worse than the disease, such as strict and overly broad lockdowns that led to predictable anguish and avoidable consequences.
Dr Peter Daszak and his attempts to mislead
Dr Peter Daszak, the head of EcoHealth Alliance, was actively involved in the research of SARS-Cov virus. Dr Daszak had also received NIH funding to carry out gain-of-function research into coronaviruses in Wuhan. Interestingly, Dr Daszak was the foremost and one of the most powerful voices who tried his best to dismiss the lab leak theory as propaganda when people started asking questions about the origin of the virus.
Dr Daszak had got a ‘letter’ published in Lancet that dismissed the lab leak theory. The letter was signed by several other scientists apart from Daszak himself and was then touted by others as evidence that there was no way SARS-COV-2 could have leaked from a lab.
At the time, Daszak had failed to disclose his conflict of interest when signing the letter. Daszak’s organization, the EcoHealth Alliance, funneled $3.4 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study bat coronaviruses between 2014 and 2019.
Further, Daszak had also included himself in the UN-backed Lancet Commission to look into the origins of SARS-COV-2. When his involvement was questioned, he had to recuse himself.
FBI, US Department of Energy had stated that Covid leaked from a lab in Wuhan
A number of independent researchers and journalists have worked to uncover the links and question the glaring conflicts of interest in the COVID response and messaging. It is notable here that the lab leak theory has been termed as the most likely scenario even in FBI communications, many scientists and even the US Department of Energy. There were also credible claims that suggested the SRS-Cov-2 virus may have been engineered.
#FBI Director Wray confirmed that the Bureau has assessed that the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic likely originated from a lab incident in Wuhan, China. pic.twitter.com/LcBVNU7vmO
