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A tale of two indelible ink removals – TRPs for someone, matter of life for others

OpIndia Staff
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A tale of two indelible ink removals – TRPs for someone, matter of life for others

The first phase of the voting for the Lok Sabha elections concluded today. The voting was largely peaceful, apart from some reports EVM problems which is usual in the large-scale elections that take place in India. Few dozen EVMs among the thousands used in the elections show problems, which are promptly replaced by poll officials. But those reports are used to attack the EVM by anti-EVM lobby, which includes a section of media, activists and some political parties. Now, another issue has emerged in respect of the elections.

Today reports emerged that some people were successful in removing the indelible ink applied on their fingers after voting. This semi-permanent ink is used to prevent multiple voting by the same person. During voting, this ink is applied on the finger of the voter, which lasts for several weeks.

Executive Editor of CNN-News18 Bhupendra Chaube said that he was successful in removing the ink from his finger by using nail polish remover. He also said that using a nail file, he was successful in removing the ink from his finger entirely. He also showed a tweet by Quint CEO Ritu Kapur, who also tried the same experiment, as proof that many other people were tweeting that the ink is removable.


Another woman, Sameeksha Khare also reported that she had removed her indelible ink, and coincidently she also works for the Quint. Soon, many people tried nail polish remover, and reported that the ink was removed.

Some media houses reported this phenomenon by saying that indelible ink was coming off from the fingers of voters, but the fact is it was not coming off automatically, it happened only after rubbing it with nail polish remover.

While for some the ability to remove the indelible ink became a source to gain TRP and attack the current government, for others it became a question of life and death. After casting their votes, voters in Bastar in Chhattisgarh were seen removing the ink from their fingers. They were doing this not to vote again, but to save their own lives. Maoist terrorists have called for boycott of the general elections, and people in Maoist dominated areas fear that the terrorist will target them if they are seen with the mark of voting on their fingers.


Before Chhattisgarh assembly elections last year, Maoists had warned that if anyone is seen with indelible ink on their fingers, that finger will be chopped off. That time also people had removed the ink marks for the same reason.

Naxal terrorists had triggered a powerful IED blast on 9th April, killing five people including BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi. Therefore, the threat of the left-wing terrorists are real, and people were removing the ink as a precautionary measure. This also shows how people in Maoist affected areas are committed to the Indian democracy, despite the campaign against it by both the Maoists and their overground supporters.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has ordered a probe into the reports that the ink is getting removed, and ordered district election officer to furnish a report.

YouTube restores OpIndia video that exposed how media whitewashes terrorists, but now places age restriction on viewership

OpIndia Staff
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YouTube restores OpIndia video that exposed how media whitewashes terrorists, but now places age restriction on viewership

Two weeks back, OpIndia had published a series of three videos by Comedian Rivaldo on the Kashmir issue. In the series, Rivaldo had explained how the discourse around the Kashmir issue is flawed mostly due to the excuses provided by the ‘liberals’.

The videos seem to have offended lots of people, as they are being attacked relentlessly by complaining about the same to YouTube. A few days ago, the video 1 of the series was made age-restricted by YouTube, saying it was done based on Community guidelines. The video can be watched only after confirming that the user is adult by signing into the site. Then, yesterday YouTube decided to take down the third video in the series where Rivaldo exposed the media and how they whitewash Islamic terrorists.

OpIndia had got in touch with YouTube and submitted a request for review of the third video that had been removed by YouTube in a shocking incident of censorship. YouTube has now restored the OpIndia video, however, it has been put behind an age restriction. Interestingly, YouTube has not provided any reason for deleting the video earlier or offered an apology for deleting the video.

Email from YouTube

Initially, when the OpIndia video was deleted, an email sent from YouTube says that the video was flagged by someone for review. After review, YouTube determined that it violates the guidelines of the site, and they removed it from YouTube.

The video focuses on how Media personalities like Barkha Dutt and other members of the intelligentsia whitewash Islamic terrorists regularly thereby giving them intellectual cover for the heinous acts of terror committed by them. The video contained commentary by Rivaldo, with only a few clips from publicly available videos of news media used. Such clips are routinely shown on TV News channels, many of whom also live stream their programs on YouTube. Therefore, it can be assumed with a reasonable amount of certainty that the videos were particularly targeted for the commentary in them, and the violent graphic content is just an excuse to censor them from the Internet.

The video that has now been restored by YouTube can be watched here:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTDGymh0Rjs]

If Modi comes back to power ‘Tukde Tukde gang’ will get fragmented and fall apart: PM Modi in Bhagalpur, Bihar

OpIndia Staff
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If Modi comes back to power ‘Tukde Tukde gang’ will get fragmented and fall apart: PM Modi in Bhagalpur, Bihar

While India entered the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi enthralled the Bhagalpur, Bihar crowd with his potent speech today. Thanking people for giving him an opportunity to serve them for the last 5 years, Modi said that the NDA government has made the impossible possible in these years.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbNjUHc5Eqs]

In the last 70 years, the people of India has witnessed the ‘lal bati culture’ (red-light, in other words, the VVIP culture). He said his government made sure that the country gets rid of the VVIP culture and instead his government has in the last 5 years worked toward electrifying the small towns and villages in India. “Aapke is Chowkidar ne lal bati hatakar, ghar ghar mein safed bati pahuchane ka kaam kiya hain” (Your Chowkidar has got rid of the red-light culture and instead provided every household with white lights), said Modi.


Talking about the various schemes launched by the NDA government, he said that his government has provided the poor with ‘pukka makaan’ and gas connections, which seemed to be an impossible task before Modi came to power.

Describing the key schemes initiated by the BJP government for the poor, Prime Minister Modi said, “While the previous governments ensured proper roads to their own homes, this ‘Chowkidar’ ensured that proper roads reach every village of Bihar.


Although tall promises were made about farmer welfare before 2014, it was the NDA government that increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to one-and-half times the cost. We have taken several transformative steps to genuinely empowering our farmers.”


We have pledged and declared in our election manifesto (Sankalp Patra) that after the results of the Lok Sabha elections are declared on May 23 and NDA comes back to power the present rule of providing benefits to farmers with minimum 5 acres of land will be removed and every big/small farmer will be benefited by the government schemes.

Modi promised that all small and weak farmers above the age of 60 will be provided with a pension. This, he said, has never ever happened before under any other government.

He further added that the NDA government is also actively strengthening the silk weaving community of Bhagalpur and the recently established Mega Handloom Cluster will greatly empower the weavers and traders of Bhagalpur.

PM Modi also spoke at length about the radical shift in India’s national security strategy under the BJP saying, “The whole nation remembers the times when the Congress was in power and terrorist attacks had become very common across the country. Yet despite all this, India took a soft approach against the terror sponsored by Pakistan under the Congress rule. I changed this policy and decided that any attack against us will be responded back in the same language.”


He reiterated that his government has given a free hand to the army to deal with terrorists and Maoists. India will not keep quiet, he said. Modi furthered that because of zero tolerance attitude of the present government, be it the terrorists in Pakistan or the people supporting them, all have started fearing India.

Attacking the Congress, Modi said that the Congress party is scared and are in turn trying to scare the people of the country. Congress wants to initiate talks with the people who support terrorism, unlike his government which believes in paying them back in their own coin.

Modi in a blistering attack said that corruption is Congress’ family business. “When I come back to power Congress’ family business will be gridlocked”. Dynasty politics will see its end, said Modi.

If Modi comes back to power, “Tukde Tukde gang hi tukde tukde hokar bikhar jayenge” (Tukde Tukde gang will get fragmented and fall apart) Modi said, sounding confident that the Nation will bring the NDA government back to power.

The Lok Sabha elections which commenced today will be concluded in seven phases spread over a month. 91 Lok Sabha seats are voting today as part of Phase 1 of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. A total of 18 states and two union territories – Andaman & Nicobar Island and Lakshadweep – will be covered in this phase.

Results of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 will be announced on May 23.

Leaked audio clip: TMC leader asks party workers to capture election booths in Cooch Behar

OpIndia Staff
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Leaked audio clip: TMC leader asks party workers to capture election booths in Cooch Behar

As the first phase of elections starts today an alleged audio clip of a TMC leader named Khokon Miyan, President Cooch Behar Block No 1, has gone viral in which he is instructing his cadres to ensure 100% votes in favour of the party, as reported by DNA India. Miyan is heard warning the voters not to vote for any other party. The clip has been submitted by the BJP to the Election Commission demanding appropriate action.

“It is clear what Khokon Miyan wants in the instructions given in their party meeting. But such ploys will not be successful as people will stop them”, said BJP leader Utpal Kumar Deb.

Miyan is heard saying in the alleged leaked audio that the party has directed that no other party should get any votes and that those trying to vote for any other party will be identified. “TMC has to get 100% votes, no other parties should get a vote. He says that if someone tries to vote for any other party, they will be identified. This is the party’s direction”, he said.

He further added that Central Forces will be present only on 40 booths out of a total of 100 and that all the government employees are under his control. He said, “From police to BDO, all are under our control. They may be government employees, but they are under me”. Calling the elections a tough battle in the Cooch Behar constituency, he urged the booth workers to do some “setting” with the presiding officers if required but make sure that all the booths are covered. He also advised the workers on rigging the votes.

There were reports of rampant poll malpractice and violence in West Bengal earlier in the day. People were also reportedly scared of voting remembering the violence that was carried out by the TMC goons during last year’s Assembly elections. The BJP had alleged that TMC agents were present on polling booths in violation of the rules and that BJP agents were threatened and their houses were attacked the previous night.

Shockingly, a few days ago TMC leader Anubrata Monal had openly appealed to the Election Commission officials to allow people to rig the polls by managing 500-600 votes per booth.

Facebook page called ‘Aligarh Muslim University’ promotes Rahul Gandhi, AMU distances itself from the page

OpIndia Staff
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Facebook page called ‘Aligarh Muslim University’ promotes Rahul Gandhi, AMU distances itself from the page

A Facebook page called ‘Aligarh Muslim University’, was caught promoting the Congress party when the polling for the first phase of Lok Sabha election is going on. Today, the Facebook page posted a message urging everyone to vote. They appealed “all the voters to participate in the biggest festival of democracy and vote in huge numbers”.

They had posted two images along with the message. One of them is a photograph of the Indian national flag. The other image contained the word ‘vote’, and inside the letter o in the word, the Congress party’s symbol is seen.


Later, the Facebook page deleted the image with Congress symbol, but no before alert social media users taking a screenshot of the post. They retained the post with the image of the flag.

According to Election Commission rules, educational institutions can’t be used by politicians, therefore Facebook page of AMU promoting the Congress party amounts to violations of model code of conduct for the elections.

Although it is not certain whether this is an official page of the university on Facebook, the page has over 63,000 likes and over 62,000 followers. Moreover, the website of the university does not mention any official Facebook account or page, which makes it difficult to determine the authenticity of the page.

Update: Aligarh Muslim University has posted a message on another Facebook page called ‘Aligarh Muslim University News’ that the University does not appeal or support any political party or own any Facebook page or Twitter account or webpage that makes such appeals. The post says that they promote only academic, cultural activity news etc from their pages. They also said they are not responsible or accountable for any misleading posts using the names and logos of AMU. 

 

In the first phase of polling itself, Congress rides the ‘EVM glitch’ bogey

OpIndia Staff
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In the first phase of polling itself, Congress rides the ‘EVM glitch’ bogey

On the first day of the Lok Sabha elections 2019, Congress has already started casting aspersions on the EVMs alleging them to be faulty. The party has sent 39 complaints to the Election Commission about glitches in the functioning of some polling booths in the six Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra where the polling was underway.

In a statement issued by Maharashtra state Congress unit, the party said that it had registered 12 complaints to the Election Commission via e-mail, drawing their attention to the snags in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) experienced at some of the booths in Nagpur, eight such complaints in Chandrapur, six in Wardha and five in Ramtek.

Complaints of glitches were also sent from Yavatmal-Wasim and Gadchiroli-Chimur seats. Apart from these six constituencies, polling was also ongoing in the Bhandara-Gondia seat in Vidarbha region during the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.

Congress also sent a separate letter to apprise the state’s chief election officer about the malfunctioning of an EVM at a booth in Nagpur constituency, alleging that it was an “interference” in the conduct of free and fair polls. “You are requested to take cognisance of the matter and instruct the returning officer to address the matter immediately and take corrective steps,” state Congress legal cell’s vice chairman Vijay Pandey said in the letter.

After witnessing a string of defeats in the past, the Congress and the opposition parties have been usually coming up with the ‘EVM malfunctioning/hacking’ theory to defend their disgraceful defeats and attack the Modi government. A couple of months back, a dubious individual was seen making claims of ‘hacking’ into EVMs while Congress’ Kapil Sibal watched.

His claims were decisively dismissed and Congress had hastily covered up the embarrassment of Sibal’s presence at the presser of the person who had made tall claims without any proof.

It is also notable here that the Election Commission had invited all the political parties for an open hacking challenge to show the EVMs can be rigged. Not a single party had taken the challenge.

Congress has been blaming faults in the EVMs in order to escape the accountability of their leaders for their defeats. As soon as Congress leaders sense an imminent defeat, they start raising the familiar cry of EVM malfunctioning so that they can avoid taking up the responsibility of the loss and blame the opponents of wrongdoing.

Narendra Modi is no Vajpayee: Here is why Sonia Gandhi is wrong and why BJP’s defeat in 2019 is extremely unlikely

K Bhattacharjee
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Narendra Modi is no Vajpayee: Here is why Sonia Gandhi is wrong and why BJP’s defeat in 2019 is extremely unlikely

Sonia Gandhi, former Congress President and mother to the current one, in response to a question on Prime Minister Modi’s invincibility, has remarked that people assumed the Atal Bihari Vajpayee was invincible in 2004 as well but the UPA managed to secure a win.


While the Opposition would be looking back to 2004 to give themselves hope, they are acutely aware that there are intrinsic differences between the BJP of today and the party under the late Vajpayee.

The Vajpayee regime for all its positive aspects was not half as ruthless as the BJP under the Modi-Shah duo. Under the able leadership of Amit Shah, the BJP has developed a well oiled machine that has established its authority all over India and is continuing to expand. The kind of expansion of the BJP that we are witnessing today simply didn’t happen under Vajpayee.

From the very outset, the Modi-Shah duo set out to establish a BJP hegemony over Indian polity, a hegemony it has largely succeeded in creating while suffering a few hiccups along the way.

The policies of the Vajpayee government contributed to its fall as well. The government went ahead with its policy of disinvestment at a time when the Indian electorate was not very sympathetic towards it. As a consequence, there was significant disenchantment with the ruling dispensation. In contrast, Narendra Modi has adopted several populist policies to ensure that every section of the electorate remains in the fold.

The BJP under Vajpayee did not try to break the Establishment monopoly over the mainstream media as well. On the other hand, Narendra Modi over the past 5 years has succeeded in engineering a situation where the mainstream media is not as heavily slanted towards Congress as it used to be.

Most importantly, there were no social media back in 2004. Therefore, the establishment had a near monopoly on narratives. Now, the mainstream media stands discredited and Narendra Modu has a huge presence on social media. With the rise of social media, a massive cultural shift has occurred within the country. There has been a great Hindu awakening that wouldn’t have been possible during the Vajpayee years. And needless to say, it favours Narendra Modi.

The Congress party itself has undergone a remarkable shift since its victory Sonia Gandhi, for all her faults, was an extremely able president of the Congress party. Her son is anything but. Sonia Gandhi in 2004 had the same ruthlessness that Amit Shah has now. Moreover, the second term of Manmohan Singh’s tenure sealed the fate of the Congress party. The series of scams that unfolded during the period damaged Congress’ credibility beyond repair. And the party is now in terminal decline.

Thus, we have a situation where the leadership of the BJP is far more ruthless than it was in 2004 and the leadership of the Congress party appears to be totally unaware of Indian ground realities and has as its President perhaps the most incompetent high profile politician.

Also, in 2004 the battle between the BJP and the Congress was largely ideological. In 2019, as it was in 2014, the battle is extremely personal. The Lok Sabha elections of 2019 revolve around personalities. And when one party has Narendra Modi on its side while the other has the likes of Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, it’s not very hard to imagine which party has the edge.

The BJP of today is a completely different beast than it was in 2004. Narendra Modi is no Vajpayee and the Opposition is well aware of that. The astute politician that she is, Sonia Gandhi surely knows that even if the Opposition somehow succeeds in defeating the BJP, the Congress will nowhere nearly have the power that it had back in 2004. She may be putting on a brave face but deep inside, she is aware that the prospect of her party returning to power looks extremely dim.

Too many things have changed between 2004 and 2019. The Indian polity is much more polarized today than it was 15 years ago. Until such a time when more Hindutva political parties arrive on the frame, such polarization will only benefit the BJP. Although the Congress party has been trying hard to present a more ‘Hindu’ face, it’s often a case of one step forward and two steps back.

While the defeat of 2004 is forever etched into the memory of BJP voters as well, India of 2019 is not the country it was in 2004. Therefore, chances of a monumental collapse, and it would require a monumental collapse for the BJP here on, are extremely minimal.

Sadhguru clarifies what he meant when he called Pakistani student ‘Talibani’. Did the Media do a hit job on the Guru?

OpIndia Staff
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Sadhguru clarifies what he meant when he called Pakistani student ‘Talibani’. Did the Media do a hit job on the Guru?

On 1st April 2019, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev delivered a talk at an event titled ‘Youth and Truth: Unplug with Sadhguru’ in the London School of Economics. The event, which was introduced by the Pakistani student Bilal Bin Saqib who later became the subject of left-liberal propaganda as they claimed that Sadhguru was an Islamophobe as he had called the student ‘Taliban”.

Leftist propaganda website The Wire and several others ran stories after stories of how Sadhguru was an Islamophobe because he had called Saqib ‘Taliban’ and ‘Talibani’ during a private conversation with him after the event. The London School of Economics Students’ Union too issued a statement condemning Sadhguru’s comments and calling it blatant Islamophobia. Their contention was simple: Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a Hindu guru, called a Muslim student ‘Talibani’ because of his religion.

The London School of Economics Students’ Union’s statement read, “The LSESU confirms that such comments do not have a place on campus and are to be condemned. If the comments were made in jest, this does not lessen their impact – the words still offend. Such incidents, if not duly denounced, aggregate to create a culture where casual Islamophobia becomes acceptable and, as such, we implore Sadhguru to release a formal apology to the student body with regards to the statements made”. 

LSESU demanded an apology and asserted that even if it was said in jest, it would aggregate casual Islamophobia. The Student Body demanded that the apology is made to the student body. Not Saqib.

This begged an important question: What was the context of the conversation and was Saqib as offended as the entire Students Body was?

Soon, Jaggi Vasudev released a statement explaining himself and his followers released a video rebutting the claims of publications like The Wire that were bent on calling him an Islamophobe.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCCVgoO2mHM]

The short clip where Jaggi Vasudev was heard calling the Pakistani student a ‘Talibani’, starts with the student seemingly discussing something spiritual with Sadhguru. He says “the night you are meant to be spending in the grave, you won’t be spending it outside anyway”. After that, Sadhguru is heard saying “this guy is a proper Taliban here”.

When Sadhguru says that, one can hear the sound of laughter coming from others present in the room and Saqib too doesn’t seem offended. He retorts not with outrage or wonders why Sadhguru is referring to him as a terrorist, as claimed by left-liberals, but he simply mentions his name. He says, “Oh Taliban, ya my name is Bilal Bin Saqib”.

The video that has been released by Sadhguru’s team to rebut these charges, says that the meaning of the word ‘Talibani’ literally means ‘student or seeker’. In his statement, Sadhguru too says that when he called Saqib a Talibani, that is what he meant. He meant to call him an ‘ardent student or a seeker’.

The video goes on to talk about how even the student was not offended by what Sadhguru said and in fact, proceeded to tell him that his name is Bilal Bin Saqib. In the video, the voice over claims that Saqib been “keen” and hence the meaning of his name is similar to ‘Taliban’ which means ‘ardent student or seeker’.

The video claims that this hitjob against Sadhguru has happened because, during the event at London School of Economics, Sadhguru was categoric while speaking to Pakistani students too that Pakistan is a bad neighbour to India and there is no point lying about it, however, even so, he would want the best for them. He says, “I dont have to lie and say you are a fantastic neighbour, you are not, but I want you well”. The video claims that his openness and truthfulness of Sadhguru has offended the sensibilities of certain elements and hence, they want to maliciously paint Sadhguru as someone who is ‘anti-Muslim’. The news was first picked up by Pakistan media and then, was followed by portals like The Wire.

Despite these comments, the London School of Economics Students’ Body has not budged and maintained that this statement by Sadhguru is Islamophobic.

LSESU has said, “LSESU stands firmly on our above stance and deem the comments to be Islamophobic. We do not believe the video was “mischievously edited” and have heard no reports supporting the common use of ‘Taliban’ in India as meaning over-enthusiastic”.

It is true that neither Saqib nor the other students in the private interaction appeared offended. It is also true that since the entire video is not available, we will never know what the context of the conversation was. It is also true that during the event, Sadhguru did make the remarks about Pakistan to a panel of three students in which Saqib was included and a vast audience. However, the truth, at this point, is a matter of who one thinks is more credible – The Wire and Pakistan Media or Sadhguru?

Before claiming ‘assassination attempt by sniper rifle’, Congress should have at least understood it could not have been a sniper rifle at all

Raju Das
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Before claiming ‘assassination attempt by sniper rifle’, Congress should have at least understood it could not have been a sniper rifle at all

Today the Congress party complained to Home Minister Rajnath Singh that there is a threat to the life of Rahul Gandhi. In a letter written to the home minister, the party said that during Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Amethi, a green laser was pointed at the Congress president at least seven times. The party is alleging that this could be a laser emanating from a potential weapon such as a sniper gun. They have said that they are “deeply shocked and distressed at the possibility of the Congress president being targeted by a potential assassin”, and asked to “probe and neutralize the threat, if any”.

A video of the incident is also available, which shows that a dot of green light was pointed at Rahul Gandhi a couple of times when he was talking to media.

There is no doubt that security of political leaders is a serious issue, and if an SPG protectee was indeed the target of an assassin with a sniper rifle, it should be probed. If it was actually a sniper, it would have to be located hundreds of meters away from Rahul Gandhi, because the area around him is always sanitised by multiple layers of security. But basic facts about how sniper rifles work raises questions about this apprehension.

The Congress party seems to have taken its gun lessons from Hollywood action movies, because, in reality, snipers don’t use any laser pointer like shown in movies. The basic purpose of using a sniper rifle to kill someone is to do it without the target knowing about it. Therefore, using a laser pointer does not make any sense while shooting someone with a sniper, as it defeats the very purpose of using a sniper rifle. It will immediately alert the target or people nearby, and the target will be able to avoid the attack.

But the more important fact with guns is, gun bullets don’t travel in a straight line like a beam of light, especially snipper rifle bullets which may travel hundreds of meters before hitting the target. At that distance, a lot of things affect the path of the bullet. While shooting with a sniper rifle, snipers have to account for a lot of things, like wind speed and direction, gravitation, temperature etc. The bullet faces resistance from the air, the wind changes its direction, and the bullet continues to drop due to gravitation. As snipers use considerably large bullets, the drag on them is more. Even the rotation of the earth has an effect on the path of the bullet, or even whether the gun is aimed at east or west.

Therefore, if a sniper rifle is fired from a distance at a direction based on a laser guide, it is certain to miss. The bullet will go right or left, and fall to the ground much before reaching the target. Real sniping is less about focusing on someone on the crosshair through the viewfinder, and more about understanding complex physics, taking readings and solving university grade mathematical equations on the spot, to determine the trajectory of the bullet before pulling the trigger. A sniper is generally assisted by the marksman in doing such things.

For example, when Welsh Royal Marine sniper Matt Hughes shot one Iraqi gunman around a kilometre away, he had pointed it 56 feet to the left and 38 feet high, to account for wind and gravitation. He and his marksman had arrived at these numbers by analysing the movement of heat haze and dust. Similarly, when Craig Harrison fired three consecutive successful shots at three different targets a distance of 2.5 km, he had to aim it 400 feet above the targets.

Laser pointers work when used with short range guns, where the path of the bullet remains largely straight. But one will have to be very bad at aiming to need laser guides for short distances, and not a professional assassin hired to take out a high-value target. Laser guides may be useful while intimidating someone at gunpoint, as the light beam falling on the body of the target adds to the scare factor. They are not practical when targeting someone from a distance.

Therefore, it is likely that the green dot of light on Rahul Gandhi came from some other source, and not a sniper rifle. Maybe someone was playing a prank using a laser pointer available in the market, or it may come from a camera or mobile phone, or maybe it was the reflection of some bright object. In fact, the home ministry has already analysed the incident and ruled out the possibility of a sniper rifle. They have said that it may come from a mobile phone used by an AICC photograph to record the event.

Two Hindu girls who were abducted and forcefully converted to Islam sent back to their husbands by the Islamabad High Court

OpIndia Staff
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Two Hindu girls who were abducted and forcefully converted to Islam sent back to their husbands by the Islamabad High Court

Two Hindu girls, Reena, and Raveena from Ghotki in Sindh, Pakistan who were allegedly abducted, forcefully converted to Islam and married off, have been ordered by the Islamabad High Court to return to live with their Muslim husbands.

According to reports, the Islamabad High Court ordered the Ghotki sisters to return back to their Muslim husbands Safdar Ali and Barkat Ali after two girls allegedly confessed in front of the court that they had willingly converted to Islam given they were impressed by the Islamic teachings.

A High Court bench led by Chief Justice of IHC Athar Minallah made the decision after a five-member commission had submitted the report, which was tasked to probe whether the conversion of the Hindu sisters to Islam was forced or otherwise. The High Court had also ordered earlier that the two sisters be shifted to a shelter home in Islamabad until the hearing was completed.

The commission had informed the court that alleged medical tests had proven that the girls were aged 18 and 19, and therefore not minors.

On March 20, two underage Hindu girls Raveena (13) and Reena (15) were abducted from their home in Pakistan’s Sindh on the eve of Holi. The girls were later forcefully converted and married off to older Muslim men. The case had generated widespread outrage among the minority Hindus of Pakistan who have been struggling for their rights under apathetic governments in Pakistan.

Within days of this deplorable incident, another Hindu minor girl belonging to the Meghwar community was also allegedly kidnapped from Tando Bagho in Badin district in Pakistan’s Sindh province.

Following the incident, Sushma Swaraj, India’s Union Minister of External Affairs had sought details on the abduction of two Hindu girls on the eve of Holi in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Sushma Swaraj had asked the Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan to send a report on the incident.

After receiving severe backlash for being apathetic towards the rights of minorities, the Pakistan police finally arrested seven accused in connection to the alleged abduction, forced religious conversion and illegal marriage of the two minor Hindu girls.

The severe outrage had compelled the Islamabad High Court to order the state to ensure that the two girls who were abducted and forcefully married to Muslim men following forced religious conversion are taken into protective custody.

The case of the organised abductions and forceful conversions of Hindu girls by a politically influential Mosque in the area had generated widespread condemnation among many human rights activists, Hindu rights groups and journalists in the country.

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