Aam Aadmi Party MLA Alka Lamba, who has earlier taken to Twitter to express her displeasure at being unfollowed by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal followed by removal from WhatsApp group, today took to the social media platform to be casually racist against Nepalis.
In a bid to take a dig on Prime Minister Modi and toeing the Congress President line of referring to PM Modi as ‘chowkidar’ (watchman), Lamba said, “Dear Indians, this time, please elect a Prime Minister. You can get a watchman to Nepal also. Watchmen from Nepal are not theives.” She then added a winking emoji as if she has said the wittiest thing ever.
Her casually racist tweet, however, has not gone down well with people. She was criticised for her condescending remarks insulting an entire community.
Are you seriously that racist and unhinged?! Or that tone deaf and condescending and ignorant?!
You can make the exact same point without dragging another people, another country into this..
— Lavanya ಲಾವಣ್ಯ লাৱণ্যা (@TheSignOfFive) March 12, 2019
Some thought of returning in kind.
सही कहां दिल्ली वाले सीएम चुनिए गधा तो पाकिस्तान से भी मंगवा लेंगे
People from Nepal, too, didn’t take it lightly and were upset, rightly so.
Thanks for your appreciation but “Chaukidar” not found only in Nepal. Its racist comment. Dont link your politics for our country. https://t.co/QUCBLVEpEx
Didn’t see? the military from Nepal to protect India by sacrificing theirs every life as well many field involving ! FYI several Indian also working many kind job in Nepal every day. https://t.co/TQWbTm9CUL
Her casual racism and blatant stereotyping has not gone down well and has received severe backlash even on other platforms.
Darjeeling Chronicle Facebook post
This is not the first time Lamba has displayed her insensitivity. In November last year, she made a crass comment on Goa Chief Minister Parrikar’s health to spread canards about Rafale deal. Once, when a fire broke out in Chandni Chowk, the constituency she represents in the state assembly, she climbed the ladder of the fire brigade, delaying the rescue operations. Furthering her insensitivity, she later laughed on Twitter while sharing the news.
For a long time now, Rahul Gandhi has been asking questions on the Rafale deal. He has been asking why Modi has given Anil Ambani a ton of money. The figures range from Rs 1,30,000 crore to Rs1,00,000 crore to Rs30,000 crore, depending on his mood. These figures are obviously false as Reliance share in offset business in Rafale deal is only around Rs800 crore. He asks repeatedly why Reliance with no experience in aviation has got the Rafale deal. This assertion is also wrong because Reliance is not making the jet or any of its parts. All the questions the Congress president is asking the government are based on pure fiction, with no basis in truth. But now the time has come to reverse the table, and for Rahul Gandhi to answer some questions himself.
In the parliament, Arun Jaitley had hinted that while the bidding process for the MMRCA was going on during the Congress regime, a parallel backroom deal was going on with Eurofighter for probable bribes. Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon had entered the final round of bidding, among the initial 6 contenders, but eventually, Rafale was selected in 2012 on technical parameters.
Not only had rumours surfaced that Rahul Gandhi had met Eurofighter officials in Germany, but once the Sanjay Bhandari link surfaced, the unanswered questions only took on mammoth proportions. Sanjay Bhandari is a close friend of Robert Vadra and an arms dealer. From 2012 to 2015, Sanjay Bhandari was lobbying to become the offset partner in the Rafale deal and Dassault had refused to indulge him. In fact, a file related to the purchase of 126 Rafale jets had gone missing from the defence ministry and it was later found on the road. It is alleged that Bhandari had stolen the file. It is alleged that Bhandari used to photocopy crucial files and passed on to defence contractors that he had links with.
So far, the link had only been established between Robert Vadra and Sanjay Bhandari. However, now, OpIndia has accessed information that links Rahul Gandhi to Sanjay Bhandari, through some dubious land deals, thickening the cloud of questions.
These papers relate to the ED search conducted on one H L Pahwa on 3rd May 2017 and 4th May 2017. The land dealings are between Rahul Gandhi and H L Pahwa who was funded by one C C Thampi, who has close financial links to Sanjay Bhandari.
Rahul Gandhi’s land deal with HL Pahwa
According to the files seized by the Enforcement Directorate from HL Pahwa, Rahul Gandhi had purchased 6.5 acres of land located at Hassanpur, Palwal vide registration deed 4780 dated 3rd March 2008 from HL Pahwa for a measly Rs. 26,47,000. The land was purchased by making a cheque payment of Rs. 24,00,000 dated 12th January 2008 and Rs. 2,47,000 dated 17th March 2008.
Page 1 of Sale DeedSale deed with signatures of Rahul Gandhi and HL Pahwa
But, File C page 57 of the seized ED files reveals that the stamp duty on this transaction was paid in cash and was not withdrawn by Pahwa. It thus becomes obvious that it was the buyer, in this case, Rahul Gandhi who paid the stamp duty.
Another revelation in the file (Page 60 of File C) is that Pahwa wanted to sell the land at Rs. 33,22,003 but agreed to sell only at Rs. 26,47,000 to Rahul Gandhi.
Other dubious dealings with HL Pahwa
In 2009 Haryana elections, Congress fielded a first-time candidate, realtor Lalit Nagar, in Faridabad’s newly-created constituency of Tigaon. A Times of India report from 2012 reads:
“Lalit Nagar’s brother, Mahesh Nagar, purchased land on behalf of Robert Vadra, not just in Haryana but also in Rajasthan.
A sale deed dated 3 March 2008, shows nine acres of land in Hasanpur village in Haryana’s Palwal district was sold by Gurgaon resident H L Pahwa to Robert Vadra for Rs 36.9 lakh. At the bottom of the deed, Pahwa has signed as the seller. But the buyer’s signature is not Vadra’s, it is Mahesh Nagar’s. The buyer is named as ‘Robert Vadra through Mahesh Nagar’, which shows Vadra has vested authority/power of attorney in Mahesh Nagar.
Robert Vadra sale deed page 1Robert Vadra sale deed
Similarly, a sale deed from Rajasthan’s Bikaner district shows 4.63 acres of land in Basti village in Ganganagar tehsil was sold for Rs 8.5 lakh in April 2009, by 42-year-old Sarita Devi Bothra to Real Earth Estate Private Limited, a company based in New Delhi. The company’s director is Robert Vadra. The purchase is done on his behalf by Mahesh Nagar”.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too had purchased land from HL Pahwa. We had earlier reported how Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had purchased land and sold it back for an inflated price, 4 years later to the same person. That person was also HL Pahwa. On 28th April 2006, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had purchased land by paying Rs. 15,00,000 in 2 cheques from HL Pahwa, and then, on 17th February 2010, sold it back to HL Pahwa for Rs. 84,15,006 via several cheques.
What is to be noted here is that HL Pahwa paid Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in five instalments between 22nd May 2009 and 11th September 2009 “due to non-availability of funds”. One wonders why a businessman who sells a land, then purchases the same land at almost 5 times the price right when he doesn’t have the funds to spare.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sale deed
It is pertinent to note that HL Pahwa had often purchased these lands in cash and instances have also been noticed where he purchased the land even with negative cash balance.
One wonders then, how did HL Pahwa purchase these lands when he had a negative cash balance? The ED files reveal that HL Pahwa had received Rs. 54,00,00,000 (Rs 54 crores) from CC Thampi.
Who is CC Thampi?
Recently, Robert Vadra was grilled for over 5 hours for his alleged links to CC Thampi. The Enforcement Directorate suspects kickbacks for a petroleum deal in 2009 were routed through the Sharjah-based company, allegedly controlled by a UAE-based NRI businessman, CC Thampi. Vadra was also questioned about owning benami property in London along with CC Thampi and Sanjay Bhandari. Thampi has a company in UAE called Sky Light and in India, Skylight Hospitality Private Limited is allegedly linked to Vadra and is under the ED scanner for suspect land deals in Bikaner, Rajasthan.
CC Thampi is being probed by Indian authorities over violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act worth several hundreds of crores of rupees. ED had served him a show-cause notice last year for violation of laws in the acquisition of agricultural and other lands in and around Delhi-NCR in deals amounting to over Rs 288 crore. CC Thampi, Robert Vadra and Sanjay Bhandari are ‘close friends’.
Link Between CC Thampi and Sanjay Bhandari
1. The company, Syntac, where Sanjay Bhandari has majority shareholding is under the scanner for one Petroleum Contract and one Defence deal. While the Petroleum contract was granted by the UPA-I government in 2009, the Defence deal was sanctioned in the year 2005.
2. There are 4 properties which are also under the scanner, purchased in London with ill-gotten wealth emanating from the ‘kickbacks’ received by the UK company from the two deals.
3. The amount of kickback is said to be $49,99,969 and an amount of GBP 19,22,262.44 was transferred to the UK on 10/12/2009, right after the petroleum deal was okayed, to the bank account of Syntac. This was the money that was used to purchase the house in London through shares of Vertex.
4. In fact, investigation agencies have found that soon after the house was purchased, Vadra started corresponding with a relative of Bhandari for the renovation of the house and Bhandari financed the renovation, amounting to GBP 60,000.
5. After the renovation, Sanjay Bhandari sold the property which was held by him through Vertex to SkyLight FZE owned by CC Thampi. The sale consideration received by Vertex was transferred back to Syntac on 30/06/2010 and allegedly, the same was syphoned off by making payment to Future Key Trading Company, Choice Point Trading and Jain Trading.
6. Skylight Investment does not have any business activity and its bank account was opened on 31/3/2009. However, the company had disclosed Villa E-74 and Flat 12 Ellerton House, London, as an investment in December 2010.
7. Even though Skylight Investment had no business activity, huge deposits were made in its account before the purchase of Villa E 74 in Dubai and that of Ellerton House, London.
Conclusion
The facts that emerge are these:
1. Rahul Gandhi purchased land from HL Pahwa at allegedly, a reduced price.
2. The land was also purchased from HL Pahwa by Robert Vadra and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. In several cases, the land was bought back by HL Pahwa at an inflated price even though his cash balance was negative.
3. To make good on the purchase, HL Pahwa took money from CC Thampi
4. CC Thampi and Sanjay Bhandari are close friends. As demonstrated, they had several financial transactions amongst themselves.
5. Sanjay Bhandari is an arms dealer and close friend of Robert Vadra. He had received kickbacks in Defence deal and in Petroleum deal.
6. It is through this kickback that Sanjay Bhandari purchased benami properties from Robert Vadra, even paid for the renovation.
7. The property was them sold to CC Thampi, and the proceeds syphoned off.
8. The ED is currently probing proximity of Robert Vadra with Thampi.
9. All of these deals happened during the Congress government.
10. Sanjay Bhandari is an armed dealer. From 2012 to 2015, Sanjay Bhandari was lobbying to become the offset partner in the Rafale deal and Dassault had refused to indulge him
11. File related to the purchase of 126 Rafale jets had gone missing from the defence ministry and it was later found on the road. It is alleged that Bhandari had stolen the file. It is alleged that Bhandari used to photocopy crucial files and passed on to defence contractors that he had links with.
12. Arun Jaitley had alleged that while Rafale was being finalised during the Congress government, there were backroom talks about the Eurofighter.
13. There are rumours that Rahul Gandhi had met Eurofighter representatives in Germany.
Link between Rahul Gandhi and arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari
From these points, it is safe to draw the conclusion that Rahul Gandhi, just like Robert Vadra, is inextricably linked to Sanjay Bhandari, an arms dealer who is not only close to the Gandhi family but was also rebuked by Dassault in the Rafale deal. Sanjay Bhandari is also said to have received kickbacks in defence and petroleum deals during the Congress regime.
Allegations that Rahul Gandhi is attacking the Rafale deal today because there were backroom discussions with Eurofighter gather even more steam when a direct link between arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and Rahul Gandhi coming to the fore. Recently, it was also revealed that Christian Michel, the middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam was lobbying for Eurofighter and against Rafale. With the links deepening and the questions regarding why Rahul Gandhi is attacking the Rafale deal growing louder, it would only behove the Congress party to explain Rahul Gandhi’s association with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.
New York Times, which was earlier caught peddling anti-India narrative with half-truths and whole-lies regarding the Pulwama terror attack, was caught downplaying the terror attack which claimed lives of 40 CRPF personnel by referring to it as “one explosion”.
NYTimes referring to the suicide bombing as an ‘explosion’
The article was reshared with an equally tone-deaf insensitive headline.
NYTimes’ tone-deaf tweet, now deleted
NYTimes even changed the headline, following a backlash on social media.
‘Explosion’ is replaced by ‘bombing’
However, it still referred to it as ‘bombing’ even though it was terror attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammad, a terror organisation thriving on Pakistani soil.
In an article published yesterday, NY Times mentions that as the 2019 general elections were closing in, Modi’s popularity was on a low and the “rejuvenated opposition was landing punch after punch with corruption allegations. But one bombing in Kashmir, and weeks of military brinkmanship with Pakistan afterward, appears to have interrupted Mr. Modi’s slump.” Not surprisingly, one of the co-authors of this bigoted piece is Maria Abi-Habib, who wrote the March 3 article peddling pro-Pakistan narrative.
The article further mentions, “Mr. Modi ordered airstrikes on Pakistan, which he blamed for the attack, and Pakistan struck back.” This is also factually incorrect. The Indian Air Force did not ‘strike’ Pakistan, but terror camps based in Pakistan. No civilians or army installations were targeted. Modi did not ‘blame’ Pakistan for the Pulwama terror attack. Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based terror organisation claimed responsibility of the attack. Thirdly, Pakistan did not ‘strike back’. Pakistan actually went aggressive and attacked India’s military installations while retaliating the destruction of terror camps thriving on their soil. Essentially, Pakistan tried to avenge the destruction of terror camps on their soil.
NYTimes then goes on to undermine the terror attack and analyse how the air strikes would work as a political gain for Modi. One wonders if such thoughts crossed their minds when the US Marines killed Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, again in Pakistan.
With its incomplete, flawed and heavily biased reports, the New York Times has often tried to discredit the Indian government led by Narendra Modi. Recently, it had caused a huge controversy after it had peddled a fake narrative on ‘violent cow protection’ based on the data of self-proclaimed defenders of human rights, Human Rights Watch.
In the past, too, NYTimes has exploited children’s deaths to malign Yogi Government’s crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh. In an op-ed about India that was centred around the CBI raids at the residences of Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, the founder promoters of NDTV, the NYT also had tried to take the similar path. The editorial was titled ‘India’s Battered Free Press’ which read like a textbook case of how it has been distorting the truth.
NYTimes’ former Delhi bureau chief Ellen Barry had also indulged in white-washing the 2002 Godhra carnage where as many as 59 people were burnt alive in a train. She had also spread lies to insult the victims of Godhra carnage in her report on the Gulbarg Society verdict. NYTimes also encourages troll-like behaviour while reporting on democratically elected public representatives by attempting to trivialise the personal lives of female politicians.
Sharad Pawar, one of the senior most Indian politician who was the chief minister of Maharashtra during the 1993 bomb blasts of Mumbai, had done the unthinkable, apparently to promote secularism and protect harmony between Hindus and Muslims. He had invented a bomb blast.
Unbelievable as it may sound, this is the truth. On 12 March 1993, the city of Mumbai plunged into chaos and commotion by a series of 12 bomb blasts. The 12 blasts were all precisely planned, immaculately orchestrated and perfectly coordinated.
The blasts were the first time the RDX was used on Indian soil. Apart from the 26/11 attacks, the 1993 attacks were the most well-planned and coordinated attacks to have happened in India. More than 300 people were reportedly killed and over 1400 were injured. That makes it the deadliest terror attack so far.
As per a report in India Today, Sharad Pawar, the then CM of Maharashtra, had rushed to the Doordarshan studio soon after the attacks and had announced that there were 13 blasts in total. He had invented another blast out of thin air. Pawar had stated that a 13th blast had taken place in Masjid Bunder.
He had invented a blast to balance out the victimhood. Because all 12 blasts that actually happened had happened in Hindu dominated areas. So Pawar had added a blast out of his imagination to portray that Muslims were the victim too. He had admitted it himself and even claimed that he was praised for it.
Here is a video where he narrates how he lied.
SHOCKING- Sharad Pawar ADMITS that he “DELIBERATELY MISLED” people during 1993 bоmbings. “Instead of 11 bоmbings I said 12- one in Masjid Bandar- a minority area- JUST TO SHOW that bоmbings are not only in Hindu Areas but also in MusIim areas”#SharadPawarpic.twitter.com/Damx7y4zNO
22 years later, Sharad Pawar, speaking at an event during the 89th Marathi Literary Meet near Pune, Pawar admitted that he had invented a bomb blast because all actual ones had happened in Hindu areas and he feared there will be communal tension as “That is what Pakistan wanted”. So he rushed to a TV studio and stated that Muslims were the victims of the blasts too. As per a report in DNA, Pawar also claimed that he was praised by the Justice Srikrishna Commission for his crafty invention.
He claimed that his lie could have saved lives because Hindus thought that Muslims were the victims too and hence communal violence was avoided. Testifying before the Srikrishna Commission, Pawar had even tried to pin the bomb blasts on LTTE. This lie also, he claimed, was told to avoid Hindu-Muslim clashes. In the video, Sharad Pawar had also saiid that during the time, he had lied that the material used in the bombing is used by terrorists from the south to mislead people.
The actual locations where blasts had actually occurred were Shiv Sena Bhawan, Zaveri Bazar, Bombay Stock Exchange, Corporation Bank branch in Mandvi, Air India Building, Mahim Causeway, Century Bazar, Hotel Sea Rock in Bandra, Plaza Cinema, Juhu Centaur Hotel, Sahar Airport, and Airport Centaur Hotel.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is known for extending help to the needy on social media. She has aided a huge number of people who were suffering abroad and helped them get back to India.
On Monday, External Affair Minister Sushma Swaraj yet again displayed her wit after she took to Twitter to address grievance of an Indian citizen who has been facing issues with Malaysian immigration authorities.
A social media user Gavy, who claimed to be from Punjab but currently staying in Malaysia had tweeted a post in broken-English to put forward his grievance regarding immigration issues he has been facing there. Gavy had tweeted that one of his friends was suffering from a mental condition and wanted to return to India. However, he claimed that Malaysian authorities are not allowing him to travel and forcing the patient to get his treatment in Malaysia. The social media had user tagged the EAM Sushma Swaraj, along with BBC.
@SushmaSwaraj@BBCNews@BBCBreaking
I from India in Punjab but I’m now in Malaysia here one my friend mental I want send go back to India but immigration say we are cannot help you first here treatment your friend after can I send India your friend can you ask immigration
Sushma Swaraj, upon received the message, assured the aggrieved person that the matter will be resolved as she has asked the Indian High Commissioner in Malaysia to help him.
However, Sushma Swaraj replied stating that it was not a problem for her as she has learnt to follow English of all accents and grammar since she became the country’s Foreign Minister.
There is no problem. After becoming Foreign Minister, I have learnt to follow English of all accents and grammar. https://t.co/2339A1Fea2
This is not the first that EAM Sushma Swaraj has displayed her sagacity and wit while dealing with a tough situation. In the past, a Twitter user had sought Swaraj’s intervention in a refrigerator related problem. Interestingly, Sushma Swaraj not only read the tweet but even responded to it.
Similarly, in another incident, a Twitter user Karan Saini had tweeted to Sushma Swaraj saying he was stuck on mars and the food sent via Mangalyaan is running out. He asked when Mangalyaan-II would be sent. Sushma Swaraj had replied to this tongue-in-cheek tweet with some wit, saying “Even if you are stuck on the Mars, Indian Embassy there will help you.”
Swaraj is one of Modi government’s most prominent ministers on Twitter. She is praised regularly for her being prompt and helpful when people share issues of their friends or family stuck in difficult situations in foreign countries.
Last week, Punjab Province Information and Culture Minister Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan in Pakistan was forced to resign for his anti-Hindu comments. In the aftermath of increased tension between India and Pakistan following India’s air strike on terror camps in Pakistan, the PTI leader had made derogatory comments against Hindus. After the video of his comment went viral on social media, it had attracted widespread criticism from within and outside Pakistan. Soon after that, he had resigned from his post as a minister in Punjab province.
Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan (on the left) was forced to resign after calling #Hindus ‘cow urine-drinking people’https://t.co/rdYJA68VZt
This incident of Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan has prompted journalist and filmmaker Reham Khan, who was briefly married to Pakistan PM Imran Khan, to write about how Chohan’s comments were not isolated, but such anti-Hindu feelings run deep in the entire political leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. In an article titled Imran Khan, the closet bigot published by Firstpost, Reham writes she is very much familiar with the former minister, and she was not surprised when he made the controversial remarks for Hindus.
Reham Khan writes that her first ugly encounter with Chohan was on a talk show on Capital TV in 2014 where he was bullying fellow women panellists. As there was public outrage at his behaviour, and she had snubbed him firmly, the transcript of the show was sent to the party leadership. This episode had started a series of arguments between Imran Khan and Reham Khan before he proposed her for marriage. During her encounters with him, she had learnt that Imran Khan liked the TV appearances of Hassan Chohan where he regularly makes obnoxious comments. After Chohan appears in such TV shows, Imran Khan calls him to appreciate him, she writes.
Reham Khan writes that she first met Imran Khan in January 2013, when she had briefed him about the Nirbhaya gang-rape case on Delhi in 2012. The Cricketer turned politician had no idea about the case before Reham told him about it, even though the case had grabbed global headlines. After listening about the case, Imran Khan had blamed Bollywood for the case, saying that because Bollywood shows women in skimpy clothes, masses get frustrated and commit such crimes.
Imran Khan, the liberal icon who famously flaunted his playboy image, had the same thoughts about women and rape like orthodox Mullahs, which came as a big surprise for Reham. She writes, “How could a man who had an Oxford degree, albeit in 3rd class, played most of his life in the West and partied hard with the media elite of the world say something like that?”
“How could he associate the length of a woman’s skirt with rape?”, she asks. She then writes this was just a glimpse of many contradictions in Imran Khan’s private life and public comments which she witnessed later in her life.
She informs that after six months of persistent wooing by Imran Khan, she married him in October 2014. Although they didn’t have any personal disagreements, she certainly didn’t approve his frequent racist jokes and clichés. Reham Khan says that Imran Khan routinely uses derogatory words for Hindus and Christians. She and her children were never used to such words being used in family, and Imran Khan derived great pleasure from torturing her once he learnt that she feels uncomfortable with his language, she writes.
Liberal icon Imran Khan’s thoughts about women and the world of entertainment are highly conservative. Reham’s youngest daughter wants to pursue a career in acting, but her stepfather frequently lectured her saying acting is not a respectable career. “His choice of words to describe Bollywood stars cannot be repeated”, Reham writes.
“So, I am not in the least bit surprised when I hear his ministers routinely make identical remarks in public about Hindus or film stars. The direct calls made to Imran to remove these racist, bigoted loudmouths make me smile”, she says, emphasising how his partymen reflect his views only.
Talking about hatred for each other in India and Pakistan, Reham says that the Kashmir issue gives politicians ample ammunition to drive up anti-Hindu agenda. She also thinks that bigotry and suspicion against Muslims seem to be deeply ingrained in India, depending on versions she heard from her friends in India. She also has been told by her Indian friends that Modi government hasn’t been the best advertisement for a secular, democratic India.
Reham Khan grew up in the jihad environment of Zia era, and children of her generation were encouraged via school textbooks and “old uncles like Imran” to hate everything Indian, she says. According to her, Imran Khan comes from such a family background where it is considered funny to be rude to others.
She also says that Imran Khan has the superiority complex of being a light-skinned Pathan. Like many people in Pakistan, Imran Khan also suffers from fairness-cream syndrome. He used to tell Reham, “I can spot you in a crowd because you glow like a light bulb because of your pale complexion against the ‘darkies’”, mocking the dark-skinned people.
Reham Khan writes that although sacking Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan for his anti-Hindu comments is important, it should not be forgotten that he is a typical product of Pakistani government schools, where children are taught a curriculum of hate and after that brainwashed by deep state’s narrative through media.
After ending her brief marriage with Imran Khan, Reham Khan has emerged as a very vocal critic of the Pakistani Prime Minister. In her memoir titled Reham Khan published last year, she described him as womaniser, drug addict, corrupt politician. She gave a detailed account of sexual behaviour of her husband in her book, saying he had gay partners. She had revealed that Imran Khan had sexual relations with many women leaders of the party. According to the book, Imran Khan had said that he had five other illegitimate children that he knew of, other than Tyrian White, his alleged daughter with Sita White, for which he is facing a disqualification case in Lahore High Court.
In a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has accused BJP of using air strikes on Pakistan based terror camps for political gains. Khan said that this is happening for the first time that soldiers’ lives are being used to gain votes.
Azam Khan, SP: Pehli baar aisa hua hai ki surgical strikes ke naam par vote maange ja rahe hain, yaani faujiyon ki zindagi par vote gine ja rahe hain, ki sarhadon ka bhi sauda hogya hai, khoon ka sauda hogya hai, vardiyon ka sauda hogya hai, saron ka sauda hogya hai. pic.twitter.com/OkTpIbT1JH
Khan attacked the BJP without clearly naming it. He said that the party is selling the borders, the blood and the uniforms of our soldiers to gain votes. Although Khan is expressing concerns about soldiers’ blood being used for political gains, earlier he had himself accused the Indian Army of raping women. He later said that his remarks were misinterpreted.
This is not the first time that Khan has made such controversial comments. Khan had made derogatory remarks against Baba Saheb Ambedkar saying that the statue (Khan referred to the statue of Ambedkar without naming it) is pointing its finger into a distance, as if saying that not only does it own the land on which it stands but also the land towards which it points. An FIR was registered against him for making such remarks.
In February this year, former SP Leader Jaya Prada had accused Azam Khan of harassing her and attempting an acid attack on her.
In an exclusive, India Today TV’s special investigation team exposed Pakistan’s deceit in response to the IAF Balakot airstrike which India carried out as a befitting reply to the ghastly Pulwama attack executed by Pakistan backed terror organisation JeM and also Pakistani false claims to crack down on Pakistan-based terrorist groups.
India Today’s undercover reporters caught residents of Balakot and police officials in PoK admitting on tape that the Indian strikes not just caused destructions of terror infrastructure and militants but also caused military casualties.
The investigative team also found that Jaish-e-Mohammed is continuing with its fundraising activities in various other areas in Pakistan, despite Islamabad’s claims of cracking down on terror groups post the Pulwama attack.
India Today TV has found that Jaish-e-Mohammed is still brazenly collecting funds from its foreign donors, through its weekly ‘al Qalam’, published from Peshawar by Talha Saif, the head of the terror group’s propaganda wing. The team narrowed done on an advertisement seeking funds on behalf of Jaish-e-Mohammed.
To further confirm, the investigative reporters called up the people named in the advertisement, posing as Dubai businessmen of Pakistani origin. Mohammad Riyaz, a fundraiser to whom the call was made, first asked the reporter to call on a different number belonging to some Abdulla Nadeem Sahab. After being contacted again Riyaz acknowledged on call that “Jaish does not have its own account. But I can give you my personal account number. If you deposit the money into it, I’ll hand it over to someone close here, Inshallah,” he said.
Recently, Pakistan had claimed that as a part of a massive crackdown on terrorists more than 120 people had been taken into administrative detention and at least 200 schools, seminaries and hospitals had been seized by the government this week as part of a campaign against banned Islamist organisations.
India which is quite familiar with Pakistan’s impulse to mislead and double-cross saw this as a cosmetic move.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar asserting that Pakistan’s claim to act against terrorism were confined to paper, said, “We are seeing the same script that has been played out earlier after the terrorist attacks on our Parliament in December 2001, the Mumbai terrorist attack in November 2008 and the attack on the Pathankot airbase in January 2016.”
Pakistan has been on the denial mode and taken several U-turns, post the Pulwama attack. On international media, Pakistan first owned up harbouring Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar but a week later took a U-turn over the outfit’s presence on Pakistani soil.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had confirmed that “Azhar is in Pakistan and very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he cannot leave his house.” Soon Pakistan’s military spokesman, Major General Asif Ghafoor, rebutted the claim by saying in another interview that “Jaish-e-Mohammad does not exist in Pakistan. It’s been proscribed by the United Nations as well as Pakistan.”
Pakistan trying to create a hogwash every time a massive attack is executed by its supported terror organisation has become its principle of behaviour and Pakistan has somehow started feeling that it can get away with such dirty gimmicks.
But this time India has stood up against its deceitful neighbour and is set to keep paying back Pakistan in its own coin until it genuinely stops breeding terrorism on its soil, which as off now seems unthinkable.
Congress MLC Haribhau Rathod was heard making crass comments on PM Narendra Modi in vernacular Marathi while addressing a gathering in the Yavatmal district of Maharashtra.
#WATCH Yavatmal(Maharashtra): Congress MLC Haribhau Rathod gesticulates abusively towards PM Narendra Modi while talking about IAF #airstrikes (10.3.19) pic.twitter.com/MDVA9XRb5V
Alleging that not even an ant was killed in the air strikes in Balakot, Rathod asserted that these are all emotional gimmicks espoused by the BJP to once again get Modi in the power. “They claim 350 terrorists were killed but not even an ant has died in the air strikes. These are all psychological games played by the BJP to get Modi back in power. Modi! Modi! Shove Modi in your backside,” Rathod said in vernacular language Marathi while gesturing with his hand.
Rathod’s utterances also point towards the general feeling pervading throughout Congress. The feeling that Modi ought to be ridiculed by discrediting the air strikes carried out by the Indian Air Force. Earlier, senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Digvijay Singh had questioned the veracity of the air strikes. Even Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath had called upon the government to release evidence proving the authenticity of the air strikes in Balakot.
However, this is not the first time that Congress ministers have resorted to using innuendos and hurled obscenities at Modi. From calling him a ‘Maut ka Saudagar’ to using such unseemly vulgar phrases against PM Modi, Congress has truly devolved from a National political party to a bunch of frustrated abusive ranters. Last year, a Congress MLA from Rajasthan had used filthy language against PM Modi. With Lok Sabha assembly polls 2019 just a month away, Congress appears to have shed the last vestiges of public civility in its desperation to depose Modi.
A Supreme Court bench hearing a petition challenging the 10% reservation for Economically Backward Section of the General category in jobs and admissions to educational institutions, refused to pass an order today regarding the question of the consideration of the matter by a Constitution Bench.
The three-judge Bench comprising of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, was hearing the petitions listed before it which included a string of petitions challenging the 103rd Constitution Amendment Act 2019 which provided an additional 10% reservation to people under Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) not covered under existing reservations, apart from the existing 50% reservation. Fixing March 28 as the next date of hearing in the matter, the bench said that it will decide the question whether the matter shall be referred to a Constitution Bench on the next hearing.
Senior Advocate Rajiv Dhavan appearing for Businessman and Congress supporter Tehseen Poonawalla submitted before the Court that his challenge to the petition is based on the premise that the amendment exceeds the 50% base limit for reservation upheld in previous two Constitution Bench judgements.
“It is now clear from two Constitution bench judgements that this 50% limit goes to the Basic Structure. At least our challenge is based on this premise…Certain connected issues also have been settled by M. Nagaraj in 2006 and in Jarnail Singh in 2018…” Senior Advocate Dhavan said.
The amendment has been challenged on the ground that it breaches the 50% cap on the reservation which was held by a nine-judge Bench in the Indira Sawhney case. Another ground of challenge is that Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution do not envisage reservation on the ground of economic backwardness and provide reservation only to socially and educationally backward classes of citizens.
The Apex court had earlier refused to put a stay on the decision of the Central government to provide 10% reservation to the economically backward class but had agreed to examine the validity of the law.
