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Zakir Naik seeking Malaysian citizenship: Intelligence report

OpIndia Staff
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Zakir Naik seeking Malaysian citizenship: Intelligence report

Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who wages jihad through his poisonous speeches, has reportedly applied for citizenship of Malaysia and a decision in this regard is pending with the Malaysian authorities. Naik believed to be having permanent residence status in Malaysia.

According to reports, after the NIA approached the Interpol for issuance of a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against Naik, he has changing his base quite frequently. The NIA had approached the Interpol against Naik following a year-long probe during which the agency had gathered evidence of his NGO Islamic Research Foundation and his Peace TV being used to promote religious hatred. The Government of India banned his NGO and taken his TV channel off air.

Intelligence sources say Naik’s present place of stay is unknown. He keeps on moving between Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, African and Southeast Asian countries. Naik had fled India on 1 July, 2016 after an investigation against him was initiated.

Intelligence sources suggest that Government of India is planning to use its diplomatic channels to block Zakir Naik’s attempts to get citizenship in any country. Malaysian authorities are aware about terror cases pending against Naik.

Back home in India, Zakir Naik is being probed for terror and money laundering charges. Naik has been promoting religious hatred through his poisonous speeches and lectures and inciting Muslim youths to join the jihad. He has been funding terrorists and laundering several crores over the past years.

During the investigation, the NIA found 37 properties owned by Naik and companies run by him, which are estimated to be worth more than Rs 100 crore. The Enforcement Directorate had attached properties of Zakir Naik-led Islamic Research Foundation worth Rs. 18.37 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

Naik is said to have been the “inspiration” behind July 2016 terror attack on an upscale cafe in Dhaka. Bangladeshi terrorists claim that they were inspired by his speeches on jihad.

Babri demolition case: Criminal conspiracy charges framed against Advani, Joshi and 9 others

OpIndia Staff
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Babri demolition case: Criminal conspiracy charges framed against Advani, Joshi and 9 others

A special CBI court framed charges of criminal conspiracy against BJP stalwarts LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, senior BJP leader Uma Bharti and eight others under section 120B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code today.

The Supreme Court, on 19 April, had called the destruction of the mosque a “crime” which shook the “secular fabric of the Constitution” while allowing the CBI’s plea seeking restoration of the criminal conspiracy charges. On 6 December, 1992, the disputed structure in Ayodhya was pulled down by kar sevaks.

It could be noted that the conspiracy charges against Advani and others were dropped by the special CBI Court in 2001, which sought to distinguish between the main demolition case and the case related to hate speeches. The decision was endorsed by the Allahabad High Court in 2010.

“I was present in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, which is no secret. Crores of BJP workers, lakhs of officials and thousands of political leaders participated. It was an open movement like the movement against the Emergency. I don’t see any conspiracy,” Union Minister Uma Bharti told reporters.

BJP leader Vinay Katiyar reiterated that there was no conspiracy. “Whatever happened that day took place in front of lakhs of people. Nothing took place in a closed room. When something happened in front of lakhs of people, how come only 10-20 people are being charged”

Earlier in the day, the court granted bail to Advani and Joshi. Apart from Advani and Joshi, senior BJP leaders Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, senior VHP leader Vishnu Hari Dalmia and well-known social worker and one-time Hindutva Sadhvi Ritambara were granted bail. They all appeared before the court in connection with the framing of charges, in the 25-year-old case, in the light of a Supreme Court order.

The Apex Court had transferred the case against Advani, Joshi and Bharti among others from a Raebareli court to Lucknow for a joint trial in the demolition case.

Historically, the razing of the Ram temple — built in the honour of Lord Ram on Ramkot hill, which happens to be the Janmasthan (birthplace) of the revered Hindu deity — dates back to 1528. Mir Baqi, a general in the army of invader Babar demolished the temple on his order and erected a “mosque” on its ruins. The “mosque” came to be known as “Babri Masjid”. The so-called mosque was originally called Masjid-e-Janmasthan, thus establishing the fact that it was built over the birth place of Lord Ram.

BJD’s internal feud grows; Eggs, chhapals, stones thrown at Jay Panda

OpIndia Staff
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BJD’s internal feud grows; Eggs, chhapals, stones thrown at Jay Panda

The internal battle in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) reached a new low with some supporters of Odisha Health Minister Pratap Jena hurling eggs, chhapals and stones at party’s Lok Sabha MP from Kendrapara Baijayant Panda earlier today.

The ugly incident took place at Jatiparilo village of Cuttack’s Mahanga, which comes under Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency. Panda was there to launch a project for 5.2 million litres of drinking water. Odisha Health Minister Pratap Jena is an MLA from Mahanga.

The water tank was built from Panda’s Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD) fund. Pratap Jena’s supporters allege that the MLA was “not personally invited” to the function.

“The allegations against me are false. The plaque which was broken had names of local MLA and officials. I have always ensured they are invited,” said Panda. Jena is considered as detractor of Panda.

“Forget stones and eggs, they can’t cow me down even if they use bullets. Jai Jagannatha,” he tweeted.

In another tweet, Panda demonstrated that the public was with him:


Yesterday, after the miscreants threw stones at the project site, Panda had tweeted:


Panda was hinting at the November 2016 incident at Mahakalpada in Kendrapara district when he faced protests from a section of BJD workers.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has condemned the incident calling it “undemocratic”.

Recently, Panda was removed from his post of BJD Parliamentary Party spokesperson, months after he wrote an Op-Ed in Odia daily Samaj asking the party to do a “soul searching”.

Youth Congress leader who slaughtered cow claims he had approval of state President

OpIndia Staff
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Youth Congress leader who slaughtered cow claims he had approval of state President

On Saturday, people were horrified after news had broken that the members of the Youth Congress in Kannur, Kerala had slaughtered a cow in full public view in order to protest against the government’s notification to restrict the sale of cattle in the markets for slaughter purposes.

This led to a huge public outcry and the Congress party had to swing into desperate damage control mode with the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi too condemning the incident on Twitter. The party looked like quickly distancing itself from the act and also suspended three Congress youth leaders in this regard.

Now reports are emerging that claim that this action of the Kannur Youth Congress leaders was not carried out in isolation as some act of indiscipline, but had the approval of the top state leadership.

Rijil Makkutty, the Youth Congress’s Kannur mandal president, who had led this ‘protest’ has claimed that he had informed about this decision to the Youth Congress state president Dean Kuriakose. Makkutty has claimed that he had informed Kuriakose on Saturday morning that he was planning to kill a calf. Makkutty further claimed that the President had not only raised no objection in this regard but had also wanted the youth Congress to strongly protest against the notification.

Makkutty also claimed that even though there were reports of him and two others getting suspended, the youth Congress had yet not received any notification in that regard. He has also stated that they had specifically chosen Kannur as it apparently had more space for slaughtering.

The State President Dean Kuriakose though is singing a completely different tune. Kuriakose claims that he had given no such specific instruction to Makkutty on how to carry out the protest.

It might be true that Dean Kuriakose had not give any special attention to Makkutty’s protest method as neither he nor his fellow Congress leaders might have anticipated the huge public anger which the issue managed to generate.

In Kerala, RSS workers are regularly killed by criminals and terrorists affiliated to leftist ideology, and those incidents neither get extensively reported in the media nor face a lot of public outrage. So the Congress leaders too might have assumed that the cow slaughter incident would go down this route.

Possibly after they realized the amount of damage it had caused, all including Rahul Gandhi spun into action in order to somehow diffuse the fire. They in this regard  were aided by a section of media, which in its reports magically turned the slaughtered cow into an ox.

Air India deals worth Rs 70,000 crores initiated by the UPA govt come under CBI scrutiny

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Air India deals worth Rs 70,000 crores initiated by the UPA govt come under CBI scrutiny

In a possible blow to both the beleaguered Air India and the infamous UPA government, the CBI has reportedly registered three FIRs against unknown individuals regarding irregularities, including the UPA government’s purchase of 111 aircraft worth Rs 70,000 crores for Air India and erstwhile Indian Airlines.

Other decisions like leasing of a large number of aircraft without due consideration, alleged decision to surrender the airline’s profit making routes in order to benefit the private players are also under scrutiny.

The CBI, on the directions of the Supreme Court, has booked officials of the civil aviation ministry, Air India and some private persons under the prevention of corruption act, and under sections involving criminal conspiracy and cheating. The Supreme Court had given the directives as a response to a PIL.

The report claims that initially the debt ridden carrier had only agreed to buy 28 planes from Boeing but the government incremented the order to 68 Boeings for Air India and 43 Airbuses for Indian Airlines even though agencies including the CAG had raised an alarm that the decision was a recipe for disaster. The CBI’s FIR reportedly alleges that this deal was carried out to benefit certain private companies.

The FIR regarding the leasing of aircraft claims that the it was done irregularly without any proper marketing or price strategy. Both these decisions reportedly took place in the 2004-2008 time frame when the UPA was in power. The CBI would also investigate Air India’s decision to give up profit making routes and timings in favor of private airlines.

The CBI has also focused its attention on the merger of Air India and Indian airlines which it claims has resulted in the loss of thousands of crores to the state exchequer. The merger was initiated in 2006 by Praful Patel the then Civil Aviation Minister. This was cleared by a group of ministers including Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram before it was formerly approved by the Manmohan Singh led cabinet.

It remains to be seen whether this scrutiny finally reveals the individuals who were responsible in aggravating the debt situation of Air India whose accumulated debt in 2017 stood at a whooping 46,000 crores. It has long been reported how the airline has has to deal with the added pressure of high government interference and it would raise the question as to was this interference responsible for these irregular deals.

Why restrict sale of cattle for slaughter before Ramzan? Mamata questions new notification

OpIndia Staff
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Why restrict sale of cattle for slaughter before Ramzan? Mamata questions new notification

The Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government has again decided to continue with its trend of not cooperating with the Center’s directives and schemes. According to reports, Mamata government has openly stated that it won’t follow the Center’s recent notification regarding restricting the practice of cattle slaughter.

As per a recent notification by the center titled Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules – 2017, those wishing to sell cows, buffaloes, bulls etc. in a cattle market, can only do so after its formally stated that they are not being bought for slaughter purposes.

Mamata has justified her decision to by claiming that it was a deliberate attempt to encroach upon the state’s powers and also called the notification unconstitutional. She also claimed that cattle markets fall under the state purview and that after issuing such a notification, the center was encroaching into state subjects.

Mamata also in the same breath floated a possible conspiracy theory after asking as to why was the notification issued so close to the month of Ramzan.

According to the report, the Mamata government is also looking for possible legal recourse against the notification and has also consulted with their attorney general.

In the past as well there have been various instances of the Mamata government not seeing eye to eye with the center.

We had reported how West Bengal had emerge as the only state which had not participate in the government’s cleanliness survey and had also not shown any interest in the pilot Direct Benefit Transfer scheme in fertilizers. The state government has in the past also lagged behind in the Direct Benefit Transfer in the Public Distribution System.

Mamata’s ministers and Imams in the state have also refused to obey the Red Beacon ban after stating that they had received no such order from the State Government.

This new notification by the Center has also opened a Pandora’s box of sorts with various groups controversially protesting against it to further their own agendas. The Youth Congress members of Kerala were widely condemned after they, while protesting against this notification, decided to sink to new lows by openly slaughtering a poor cow in full public view.

‘Arnab runs a Kangaroo court’, high drama at the Tharoor vs Arnab defamation hearing

Hemant Bijapurkar
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‘Arnab runs a Kangaroo court’, high drama at the Tharoor vs Arnab defamation hearing

After Arnab Goswami’s new channel Republic TV hit the screens on 6th May, he and his team has put out numerous exclusive stories to boost their initial ratings. This largely has paid off after Republic TV enjoyed about 52% viewership share in its first weekly TV viewership ratings released after its launch.

All this high octane reporting though has come at a price. One of the exclusive stories which Republic TV ran was about the death of Sunanda Puskhar – third wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor – who had died in Delhi on 17th January 2014 under mysterious circumstances.

During his coverage, Republic TV had put forth claims that furthered the ‘murder angle’ in the case. Arnab, during the telecast, was also hurling various questions at Shashi Tharoor, which had initially prompted Tharoor to respond with his ‘farrago’ tweet.

As Arnab refused to relent under pressure of heavy words, Tharoor probably decided that offense was the best defense and proceeded to file a defamation case against him and Republic TV at the Delhi High Court on 26th May.

Tharoor reportedly demanded Rs 2 crores in damages for the ‘defamatory’ statements against him which aired from 8th to 13th May. Tharoor had apparently also demanded that Republic TV should not report anything related to Sunanda Pushkar’s death until the investigation is completed by the Delhi police.

The plea by Tharoor reportedly claimed that it was not out of place to suggest that the Republic TV’s reports were meant to possibly lead the viewers to believe that Sunanda Pushkar was murdered either by Tharoor or at the instance of Tharoor.

This led to the High Court issuing a notice to Arnab to respond to Tharoor’s lawsuit, the hearing for which took place earlier today.

The hearing resulted in high drama with both the sides not holding back when it came to pulling punches. As reported here, Tharoor’s lawyer had begun their argument by claiming that Arnab’s Republic TV was nothing but a banana Republic and that it runs its own Kangaroo court. The plaintiff also claimed that Republic TV had carried out the reporting with an agenda in mind. They also claimed that the whole reporting was one sided.

To this the High Court responded that they couldn’t curb Republic TV’s right to investigate and that there was no chargesheet regarding that matter for 3.5 years. The plaintiff then interestingly acknowledged that there were some  unanswered questions which should remain so and police should be allowed to do their job. They stated that they weren’t looking for a gag order but wanted protection from the onslaught. They then challenged Arnab to prove his findings in court and followed it up by claiming that they were certain that Arnab and his team had no shred of evidence.

The Arnab’s side too countered strongly. They claimed that they would justify each and every statement made by Arnab and his team. They further claimed that there has been 3.5 years since the death the matter has been in the public domain for long. Plus they claimed they were only stating hard facts.

The High Court then responded by stating that Arnab and co could not resort to name calling like Arnab proclaiming Tharoor was running away from him and was not coming to an interview. The High Court also stated that they couldn’t call Tharoor a criminal and can just put out facts. The Arnab’s legal team accepted that argument and claimed they would advice his client to cut the rhetoric, though they pointed out that Tharoor too had used rhetorical and condescending language in his ‘farrago’ tweet.

The court then affixed 16th August as the next date of the hearing and asked for a written submission within two weeks.

It remains to be seen if Arnab continues with his reporting of the matter or that the both parties end up with a mutual ‘gag’ agreement.

Akshay Kumar, Saina Nehwal receive Maoist threat for helping Sukma martyrs’ families

OpIndia Staff
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Akshay Kumar, Saina Nehwal receive Maoist threat for helping Sukma martyrs’ families

The Maoists have issued threats to Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar and international badminton player Saina Nehwal for extending financial assistance to the families of 11 March Sukma attack martyrs.

It is pertinent to mention that Akshay and Saina are among the handful of celebrities who have extended support to the families of jawans martyred in Maoist attack. Vivek Oberoi, Gautam Gambhir and Baba Ramdev are some of the other names.

In pamphlets found in Chattisgarh’s South Bastar, written in Hindi and local Gondi language, the South Sub-Zonal Bureau of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) warned Akshay and Saina condemning their humanitarian deeds.

“We condemn the financial assistance given to the families of CRPF jawans killed in PLGA attacks,” reads the pamphlets. The pamphlets, issued by the Maoists, suggest that the national personalities should not have stood by the CRPF jawans. In the pamphlets, the Maoists argue that the jawans didn’t die for the country.

“They were deployed to safeguard the interest of corporate houses and political patrons,” the Maoists say. The Left-wing terrorist further says that the jawans were punished for “their relentless exploitation of the local population, mostly tribal”.

Akshay Kumar had donated Rs 9 lakh each to the family of 12 CRPF jawans killed in the Maoist ambush in Bhejji area of Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on 11 March. Kumar, subsequently, launched a portal called bharatkeveer.com to facilitate monetary contribution to the families of martyred jawans of Army and paramilitary forces. Saina Nehwal had donated Rs 50,000 each to the families of 12 jawans martyred in 11 March Sukma attack.

Hundreds of Kashmiri youth appear for Army exam defying terrorists’ threat

OpIndia Staff
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Hundreds of Kashmiri youth appear for Army exam defying terrorists’ threat

Rejecting the bandh call given by the separatists and defying the threat call by the terrorists, hundreds of Kashmiri youth appeared for the ongoing Army recruitment test in Kashmir.

On Sunday, around 1300 youth took the common entrance written examination for junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and other ranks of Indian Army at two centres – Srinagar’s Light Infantry Regimental Centre and Baramulla’s Pattan Army camp.

According to reports, while 799 out of the 815 registered candidates took the common entrance written examination in Baramulla, 493 out of 500 candidates wrote the test in Srinagar.

On Saturday, the Army had gunned down Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhat – the successor to Burhan Wani – along with one more terrorists in an encounter at Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Soon after the killings of the terrorists, stone-pelting and protests started in Pulwama, Khanabal and Anamtnag districts. Curfew was imposed at several places of South Kashmir, internet connection was suspended and prepaid mobile connections were blocked to thwart the protests following the killing of Sabzar. Yasin Malik, leader of the separatist organisation Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) gave a call for a complete shutdown in the valley following the encounter killing of Sabzar. Malik was arrested on Sunday from his home at Maisuma. He is currently locked in Central Jail.

It could be noted that two weeks ago, around 67,000 candidates from the Kashmir valley had appeared for the tests for recruitment of sub inspectors in Jammu & Kashmir police.

The overwhelming response to the Amry recruitment test is a fitting riposte to the terrorists in Kashmir who warn Kashmiri youth against joining the security forces. In a cowardice act, the terrorists had kidnapped and killed 22-year-old Amry Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz earlier this month. Lieutenant Fayaz was kidnapped from his relative’s place when he was unarmed and a day after his bullet riddled body was found in Harmain area of Shopian. The Army called Lt Ummer Fayaz’s brutal killing a “watershed moment” in Kashmir.

NDTV changes Cow to a Buffalo to finally an Ox in its news reports, here is the truth

Hemant Bijapurkar
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NDTV changes Cow to a Buffalo to finally an Ox in its news reports, here is the truth

On Saturday, news had broken from Kerala that some  members of the youth wing of the Congress party had slaughtered a cow in full public view and then had proceeded to cook and eat its meat. The apparent motive behind them doing so was to protest against the Modi Government’s decision to to ban sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter.

After people were horrified by the incident the Congress High Command sprung into damage control mode and Rahul Gandhi ‘strongly condemned’ what he called a barbaric, thoughtless and completely unacceptable act. Rahul Gandhi though did not mention either Youth Congress or the cow in his statement, but it was assumed that he was referring to the same.

Now the police have proceeded to book the Congress activists under the IPC Section 428 and section (ii) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.

What also made news in relation to this incident is NDTV’s decision to first report this incident as a ‘buffalo’ slaughter and then further tone it down as an ‘Ox’ slaughter which was possibly its way of carrying out the ‘damage control’:

Here’s the transformation in serial order:

  • First there was a buffalo, thus the cow was given a new identity:

  • Then the buffalo started exhibiting wave particle like duality by existing both as a buffalo and ox at the same time:

  • And finally the buffalo completely morphed into an ox:

The most plausible reason behind this transformation could be that cow slaughter evokes a very passionate response from the public, while buffalo and ox generate a mellowed response thus this was NDTV’s way of downplaying the whole incident. Or maybe it was a general incompetence that the Indian mainstream media is well known for.

Also, the reported video of the incident (graphic images are censored) clearly shows a calf getting slaughtered and almost all the media houses reported the incident as either calf or cow slaughter [1][2][3][4]:


//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThis reporting of NDTV soon caught the eye of the people who then proceeded to react with anger, amusement, and disgust:

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