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Kaushik Raj, named in court for helping Umar Khalid skew the narrative, does it again: How Islamists are lying about the withdrawl of bail plea by the Delhi riot accused

OpIndia Staff
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Kaushik Raj, named in court for helping Umar Khalid skew the narrative, does it again: How Islamists are lying about the withdrawl of bail plea by the Delhi riot accused

“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”. The Islamists and liberals seem to have been deeply influenced by this saying by the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. The Islamo-leftist ecosystem has been blatantly lying about the deferrals on the bail pleas moved by 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi Riots accused Umar Khalid since his arrest in September 2020.

In this vein, ‘Journalist’ and leftist propagandist Kaushik Raj claimed that somehow Umar Khalid was forced to withdraw his bail plea from the Supreme Court after 14 deferrals. He insinuated that even as CJI Chandrachud said that he granted bail to senior journalist Arnab Goswami to AltNews ‘fact-checker’ Mohammed Zubair, somehow Umar Khalid was deliberately denied bail.  

“While CJI Chandrachud claims he gave bails from A to Z, from Arnab to Zubair, Umar Khalid had to withdraw his bail plea from the Supreme Court after 14 deferrals. This should be a shame for the Supreme Court,” Raj said in an X post on 5th November.

Before delving into how Kaushik Raj’s claim is just another thread in the mendacious narrative, the Islamo-liberal ecosystem is weaving to project Umar Khalid as a victim of somehow a ‘biased’ and ‘incompetent’ judiciary, it is pertinent to find out Kaushik Raj’s connection with the 2020 anti-Hindu Delhi Riots.

During the bail hearing of Umar Khalid in Karkardooma Court in April this year, the public prosecutor said a false narrative is being set in media and on social media to influence the judiciary by media houses, activists and NGOs to influence the judiciary in favour of Khalid. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad revealed WhatsApp chats between Umar Khalid and several influential individuals like Swara Bhaskar, Sushant Singh, AltNews, Yogendra Yadav, Sanjukta Basu, Pooka Bhatt and others to demonstrate how he was creating a false narrative in his favour to influence the judiciary in his favour. The prosecutor took several names like Teesta Setalvad, Aakar Patel, Amnesty International, Azhar Khan, Kaushik Raj and Swati Chaturvedi who have been helping in setting the narrative. The prosecutor further mentioned that these individuals and entities run hashtags in his support and present a false narrative of the case.

The truth of 14 adjournments ‘injustice’

While the leftists claim that Umar Khalid’s bail hearing is being deliberately delayed and that he is languishing in jail for four years because the entire ‘system’ including the Judiciary and the Modi government is letting Khalid get bail, however, Umar Khalid himself is to blame for 7 out of 14 adjournments.

It was only in April 2023 that he approached the Supreme Court. Before that, Umar Khalid had got a 1-week reprieve to attend his sister’s marriage in December 2022. If Kaushik Raj and other ‘liberals’ are so concerned about Umar Khalid rotting in jail without trial, they should ask why Umar Khalid waited 6 months before moving to the Supreme Court for bail, after the rejection by the High Court. Also, while there were screeches about the delay in the hearing, there were several times when his lawyer Kapil Sibal himself wanted the case to be adjourned.

Notably, OpIndia found that out of the 14 adjournments in 2023 and 2024, 7 delays and adjournments were sought by Umar Khalid himself. It therefore becomes evident that the withdrawal was certainly not because of the famed “delay” in hearing. While the Islamo-leftist ecosystem continues to cry ‘injustice’, it is the alleged failed forum shopping attempts of the accused’s lawyer that has Khalid rotting in jail for so long.

It was on the 31st of October when a Supreme Court bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi tagged Khalid’s bail petition with other matters challenging the constitutionality of provisions in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The petitions include Khalid’s writ petition challenging the UAPA provisions, and the UAPA Charges Related to Tripura Violence where FIRs were filed against lawyers and journalists who undertook a fact-finding mission in the Tripura violence of October 2021. It is also on the 31st of October that the saga of adjournments by Kapil Sibal was triggered.

On the 29th of November, the petitioners wanted the petitions de-tagged. Prashant Bhushan said that the Tripura violence case had been heard by CJI Chandrachud 8 times and therefore, this case should be heard by him as well. Justice Bela Trivedi disagreed and said that the petitions would be heard by her and the newly appointed Justice S.C. Sharma. This exchange was even though the petitions had been tagged due to Umar Khalid’s lawyers’ request to begin with.

In this instance, it was due to the unavailability of Kapil Sibal and the ASG that the hearing was pushed to January 2024.

Interestingly, in December, Prashant Bhushan had shot off an angry letter to CJI Chandrachud over the Tripura matter, with which Umar Khalid’s plea was tagged, being listed in front of Justice Bela Trivedi instead of the CJI himself. There were other letters too complaining of irregularities in cases being listed in front of Justice Trivedi – by Dushyant Dave and Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi at the time, in a hearing related to Satyendra Jain’s bail petition mentioned the ‘irregularity’ in the case being listed in front of Justice Trivedi, which the CJI promptly shut down.

The CJI responded to an urgent oral mention made by former Delhi Minister Satyender Jain’s lawyer, represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi about the listing of his bail petition in the Delhi liquor policy case before a Bench headed by Justice Bela M. Trivedi on December 14. Singhvi said a Special Bench of Justices A.S. Bopanna and Trivedi was already hearing the case. “We have been arguing before the Special Bench. The case is already partially heard… Now, today, it has been listed before a Bench headed by Justice Trivedi. Let it continue to be heard by the earlier Special Bench,” Singhvi urged. 

Post-lunch, when the court re-convened, the Chief Justice informed Singhvi that there had been a communication from the office of Justice Bopanna that he could not resume his judicial duties after the Diwali vacations due to medical reasons. The judge’s office had asked all the part-heard matters before him to be released. Consequently, the case of Jain was shifted to the judge, Justice Trivedi, on the Bench. 

“It is very easy to fling allegations and letters,” the Chief Justice said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was present in the courtroom, said the “only way to deal with malicious letters is by ignoring them”.

The CJI had said, “If the case is listed before a judge, the judge will take a call. I will not say anything,” the Chief Justice said emphatically. This was in response to not just the issue raised by Singhvi, but also Prashant Bhushan (In the Tripura case to which Umar Khalid’s bail plea was tagged) and Dushyant Dave.

Thereafter, the hearings came up in front of the bench comprising Justice Bela Trivedi and Justice Pankaj Mithal. This time, while the unavailability of ASG promoted the bench to postpone the hearing to 17th January, Kapil Sibal asked the court to delay it further—the hearing was set for 24 January 2024 instead.

On the 24th, the case was listed before a Bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Ujjal Bhuyan. It was again the advocate of Umar Khalid who asked for an adjournment, which was granted.

On the 31st of January, a bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal were to hear the plea. However, due to Justice Mithal’s unavailability, the newly appointed Justice P.B. Varale joined Justice Trivedi instead. While the court wanted to hear the case on the 1st of February, it was against Kapil Sibal who sought the case to be listed on another day since he would be busy with the AMU matter. To this, the judges had kept it open-ended, saying “We will see”.

When the case came up for hearing on the 1st of February, as requested by Kapil Sibal – the bench adjourned the hearing to the 7th of February, however, on the 7th, the bench was occupied in another case. When the hearing came up on the 14th of February, Kapil Sibal withdrew the bail petition and the separate petition challenging the validity of certain sections of the UAPA.

As per the timeline traced by OpIndia, it is evident that after the exit of Justice Aniruddha Bose, Umar Khalid and his lawyers – Kapil Sibal to be precise – demanded adjournments ad nauseam till the petitions were withdrawn. Further, it is evident that Prashant Bhushan also attempted to ensure that the case was listed before the CJI, a proposal struck down by Justice Bela Trivedi. This poses an important question of whether Kapil Sibal was “trying his luck” at forum shopping and having failed at that, withdrew his petition from the Supreme Court. OpIndia’s analysis of the sequence of events in the Umar Khalid case suggests that there were only two “changes in circumstances” that could have led to the decision by Umar Khalid – one is the change in judge, the other is a crucial change/clarification of the law On the 7th of January 2024, in a different matter, the Supreme Court clarified that in UAPA cases, jail is the norm and bail is the exception – Umar Khalid and other accused have been arguing in court that according to the law, jail is the exception and bail is the norm as on the 7th of January 2024, in a different matter, the Supreme Court clarified that in UAPA cases, jail is the norm and bail is the exception – Umar Khalid and other accused have been arguing in court that according to the law, jail is the exception and bail is the norm.

Uttarakhand bus tragedy: Rahman celebrates death of 36 Hindu pilgrims, mocks them by wishing ‘Happy Diwali’

OpIndia Staff
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Uttarakhand bus tragedy: Rahman celebrates death of 36 Hindu pilgrims, mocks them by wishing ‘Happy Diwali’

The Uttarakhand Police on Tuesday, 5th November arrested one individual identified as Mohammad Ameer Rahman for mocking the death of around 36 Hindu pilgrims.

The Hindu pilgrims died in a bus accident after it fell into a gorge in Kupi village near Marchula in Uttarakhand’s Almora Monday morning.

Rahman shared the image of the accident on Facebook and captioned it saying “Happy Diwali,” mocking the Hindu lives. He also put up a famous Diwali song in the background from the movie ‘Home Delivery’ starring Vivek Oberoi.

Screengrab of the Facebook story

The post enraged several locals and Hindu community people who complained against Rahman to the local police station. It is believed that SP Paudi Lokeshwar Singh issued special orders to get the accused arrested.

In the complaint letter, the locals and the Hindu community persons mentioned that the post had been deliberately put up to hurt the sentiments of the Hindus.

“Around 39 people lost their lives in the disastrous accidents. We could not even perform their final rites. Amid this, Mohammed Rahman put up the image of the accident on social media and celebrated the death of Hindu pilgrims by captioning the image ‘Happy Diwali’. This incident has hurt our sentiments. This is the first of its kind incident in Uttarakhand and strict punishment against Rahman must be announced. If not, Hindus will protest and take appropriate action against him,” the complaint letter read.

Complaint by local Hindus

The local Hindus also stated that Rahman was in possession of an illegal property Vikaskhand and the same should be bulldozed off as a punishment.

As per the reports, the arrested accused is a resident of Ramnagar, Uttarakhand but was staying recently in the Paudi district. Notably, apart from the locals, Bajrang Dal also issued a letter to the police and demanded strict action against the accused.

Almora bus tragedy

At least 36 people lost their lives, and 27 others were reported injured after a bus carrying them ran out of control and plunged into a gorge in Kupi village near Marchula, Uttarakhand, on 4th November.

Officials reported that the 42-seater bus, which was carrying 63 passengers, was en route from Kirath in Nainidanda to Ramnagar. As per the reports, the crash was so intense that several passengers were thrown from the vehicle.

“The incident took place Monday morning and the district administration received information about the bus falling into a 150-meter-deep gorge around 8.45 am,” said Almora District Disaster Management Officer (DDMO) Vineet Pal.

Twenty-eight people, including eight women and one child, reportedly died at the scene, while eight others succumbed to their injuries at Ramdutt Joshi Hospital in Ramnagar.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his sorrow, calling the incident unfortunate. “The district administration has been instructed to conduct relief and rescue operations swiftly.

The local administration and SDRF teams at the site of the incident are working swiftly to evacuate the injured and take them to the nearest health center for treatment. Instructions have also been given to airlift the seriously injured passengers if required,” Dhami said in a post on X soon after the incident

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has meanwhile announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the families of each person who died in the accident, while Rs 50,000 will be provided to those injured.

Notably, the accused who mocked the death of Hindus has been arrested and booked by the police under relevant sections of the law.

Bangladesh: Police and army attack Hindus after they protest against derogatory Facebook post on ISKCON by Muslim trader

OpIndia Staff
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Bangladesh: Police and army attack Hindus after they protest against derogatory Facebook post on ISKCON by Muslim trader

On Tuesday (5th November), the Hindu community came under attack from police and law enforcement authorities in Hazari Goli in Chittagong city of Bangladesh.

According to reports, the local Hindus staged a protest against a trader named Osman Mollah, who made derogatory remarks about ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) and Sanatan Dharma.

Miffed by the actions of the accused, members of the Hindu community gathered outside his shop and expressed their anger. Instead of taking legal action against the Muslim trader, the law enforcement authorities took him into ‘safe custody.’

Sources on ground zero have shared visuals from Hazari Goli in Chittagong, where a joint team of police and army officials could be seen hunting down the Hindu community.

In order to rationalise their onslaught against the religious minority, the law enforcement authorities are alleging that the Hindus attacked them with bricks and acid.

At least 5 Hindus were injured when the joint team of army and police officials attacked them with batons.

Several members of the minority community (estimated to be around 30) were also detained.

In a disturbing video, the law enforcement authorities in Chittagong were seen destroying CCTV in the hopes of removing any evidence of their persecution of the Hindu community.

The attack on Hindus continued late into Wednesday night, with scared residents of the area recording videos of the joint police-army action.

Muslim mob accuses Hindu boy of committing ‘blasphemy’, wanted to lynch him

Last month, a frenzied Muslim mob laid siege to the Kadirdi Degree College in Boalmari in the Faridpur district of Bangladesh after accusing a Hindu boy of ‘insulting’ Prophet Muhammad.

As per reports, the victim was identified as Hridoy Pal. He is a student of Class XI. A mob comprising of madrassa students gathered outside the Kadirdi Degree College and demanded that the administration hand the victim over to them.

They accused the Hindu student of committing ‘blasphemy’ through a Facebook post. Hridoy Pal was called into the principal’s cabin and interrogated. The victim informed the college authorities that he did not own a mobile phone.

He further stated that the alleged ‘blasphemous’ Facebook post was published from an ID, which was hacked 2 years ago. The frenzied Muslim mob ghearoed the principal’s office, and vandalised motorcycles and school property.

On learning about the matter, the Officer-in-charge of Boalmari police station reached the spot. Local political leaders also rushed to the scene that pacify the radical Muslims.

Later, the army was called in to prevent any untoward situation. They took the Hindu boy into their custody. A video of a blindfolded Hridoy Pal being carried on all fours by army officials has surfaced on social media.

In the footage, Muslims could be seen slapping the victim and encouraging others to assault him. One army official was seen hitting the Hindu boy with a stick.

Reportedly, the violent mob attacked the army personnel with stones and shoes while they took Hridoy Pal to the army camp.

MP: Upper Castes face genocidal calls over viral video of a pregnant woman cleaning blood from a hospital bed; action taken against doctor, two nurses

OpIndia Staff
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MP: Upper Castes face genocidal calls over viral video of a pregnant woman cleaning blood from a hospital bed; action taken against doctor, two nurses

On 2nd November, a video of a tribal woman from Dindori, Madhya Pradesh went viral over social media platforms in which she could be seen wiping the blood of her husband after his death at a government hospital. The video garnered the attention of the activists who used it to stoke further divisions in society. They claimed that the woman, who was 5 months pregnant was made to clean the blood by the hospital staff as she belonged to the tribal community.

The incident happened in the Gadasarai Health Centre in Lalpur village in the tribal-dominated Dindori district. As per the reports, the husband of the woman identified as Shivraj had died after being shot over a land dispute. Four men, a father, and his three kids were shot in Lalpur village due to a long-standing land dispute. While the father and one of the sons died on the spot, two others, Shivraj and Ramraj, were taken to the Gadasarai Health Centre for treatment.

The video of the woman went viral over social media claiming that she was asked to clean the blood of her husband from the hospital bed after his death. The woman in the video could be seen wiping the blood with tissue while holding a blood-soaked cloth in another hand. She also could be seen crying in pain over her husband’s death.

Notably, the hospital staff stated that the woman was never asked to clean the blood but she herself did saying that she wanted the soaked blood cloth for evidence. Dr Chandrashekhar Tekam, a doctor at the Gadasarai Health Centre clarified while talking to the media saying that staff was present at the hospital when the woman was cleaning the blood.

“The men were shot at during a land dispute on Thursday and two of them were brought to our facility. The wife of the man who died asked us to let her wipe the blood from the bed with a cloth so she could use it as evidence of the extent of the bleeding. She was not asked to clean the bed. I have not received any complaint from the woman or her family,” he said. However, action by the state was taken against the doctor and the nurses seen in the video.

Meanwhile, on social media, people shared the video to claim that the woman was made to clean the hospital bed just because she belonged to the backward community. “It’s all part of a larger sinister plan of abusing the marginalized and voiceless communities. It’s nothing short of Salvery and bonded labour. Medieval era rules MP,” said one of the users while the other one said that caste discrimination was on the rise in Madhya Pradesh.

Another user further specifically added that people were just extending sympathy because the woman in the video was in grief or was pregnant, but the very primary reason why the hospital staff probably asked the woman to clean the blood was because of her lower caste.

One of the users meanwhile called for genocide against the upper caste people saying that if this continues, every Dalit would want to have a right to straight away kill at least 100 people belonging to the upper caste.

Another user meanwhile stated that the backward class people not only needed to educate themselves but also increase their physical power to protect themselves from the discrimination allegedly spread by the upper caste. He said that discrimination would continue against children belonging to the tribal and backward community unless they made themselves physically and mentally stronger.

With this, the users of social media seem to be wrongly propagating the video to spread the fake caste narrative that leads to genocidal hatred against general category people, who hardly have anything to do with the incident.

It is crucial to note that several workers at the hospital where the woman was seen cleaning the blood of her husband also belong to the tribal community. Not only that, but the doctor at the hospital, Dr Chandrashekhar Tekam who clarified that the woman was never asked to clean the blood also allegedly belongs to the Gond tribe or Kamar tribe, listed as a Scheduled Tribe. This issue was raised by an activist named Neha Das who raised her voice against fake caste-narrative leading to genocidal hatred against general category people.

“The Doctor on duty was also from the Gond tribe. In the later news reports, he stated that the woman was not asked to clean the but she had asked to collect the blood-soaked clothes as evidence. Now both stakeholders here are tribals–where is the caste angle here?” she questioned.

Notably, action has been taken against the attending doctor and two nurses after the video of the woman went viral over the internet. The Chief Medical and Health Officer (Dindori) issued orders to transfer the attending doctor and suspend the two nurses.

“In the viral video on social media dated 31.10.2024, it has been found that the deceased’s wife was made to clean the hospital bed at the Primary Health Center Gadasarai, Community Health Center. Despite arrangements for hospital cleaning being made through outsourcing in this and other health facilities of the district, it is unfortunate that the deceased’s wife was made to clean the hospital bed,” the official letter noted.

Further updates in the case are awaited.

New York Times romanticises Khalistani terrorists, wants India not to see Khalistani terrorism as a threat to Indian national security

Shraddha Pandey
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New York Times romanticises Khalistani terrorists, wants India not to see Khalistani terrorism as a threat to Indian national security

The leftist media ecosystem has long been romanticising and glorifying Islamic terrorists, and now this propaganda machinery is romanticising Khalistani terrorists as well. Days after OpIndia reported about leftist propaganda outlet TheWire’s reportage reeking of its limerence for Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the US-based newspaper cum Islamo-leftist propaganda factory The New York Times (NYT) recently published an article titled “Sikh Activists See It as Freedom. India Calls It Terrorism, authored by a brown sepoy, given that NYT has no shortage of them.   

The NYT article presents facts as per the convenience of its agenda of downplaying Khalistani terrorism and painting the Modi government as somewhat of a villain deliberately fanning the Khalistani extremism for political gains. The propaganda piece laments how the Indian government sternly deems the Khalistani secessionism and criminal activities as a terrorist threat to India’s national security.

Speaking to NYT, Gunisha Kaur, a medical director of the Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights said “The threat of terrorism is used to exploit fear and justify the suppression and silencing of minorities.”

Kaur, however, failed to elaborate on how the Modi government is ‘exploiting fear’ and silencing’ Sikh minorities. Is the concern that extremist and separatist elements in Punjab are gaining ground and poisoning the minds of Sikhs against their own country and ever-supportive Hindu community wrong?

Khalistani separatists like Amritpal Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, used the processes of the same Indian democracy they oppose, rights granted by the same constitution they ‘reject’, to fight the Lok Sabha election and emerge victorious with massive margins, but India should not be concerned?

Going by the NYT and Gunisha Kaur’s logic, while Khalistani separatists are winning elections from the votes of their radicalised supporters in Punjab, Hindu temples are vandalised by extremists, they use Canadian soil to conduct ‘referendums’, conduct anti-India and anti-Hindu protests, the Indian government should believe that the secessionist idea of Khalistan is a chimera and is not an actual threat to India’s national security.

Kaur further claimed that Sikhs in India have been targeted with ‘impunity’ which in turn gave rise to some demanding a separate Sikh nation.

This, however, is far from reality and a rather conjecture, as despite the fact that Khalistani secessionists yearn to carve out a separate nation for Sikh community governed by the Sikh religious laws, peddle hatred against the Hindus even as Hindus are in minority in Punjab, the Indian people, particularly, the Hindus do not loathe the entire Sikh community but rather only the Khalistani terrorists who want to sever the historical ties between Hindus and Sikhs. The Indian people and the government do not condemn the entire Indian Sikh community as ‘anti-national’ or extremists, in fact, the Indian Sikh community actively contributes to India’s growth and enjoy all the freedom any other community has.

There is no ‘singular approach’, the approach is to call out and take measures to end any effort to challenge and harm the territorial integrity of India, those belonging to any religious grouping driven by religious, political motives or a blend of both, would not be tolerated. This, however, applies only to the anti-India elements, be it the Khalistani terrorists who want to break away Punjab from India to form a Sikh nation, Islamic terrorists who to separate Kashmir to either merge into a hub of Islamic terror Pakistan or those attempting to carve out a separate Christian nation in the Northeast, not those loyal to India.

Shooting its gun off the shoulders of ‘analysts’, The New York Times insinuated that somehow the Khalistani terrorism is not a national security matter and is only being projected as one by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “burnish his image as a strongman protecting his country — or, more precisely, a Hindu nationalist leader protecting the Hindu majority.”

This is absolutely delusional, Narendra Modi is not a newbie in politics or someone who required relaunches after relaunches to become Prime Minister or let’s say burnish his image as a strongman. PM Modi is a seasoned politician, he was picked as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in 2014, because of his strongman image and was bestowed with a thumping victory in the 2014 General Elections, because the people of India were sick and tired of a weak government that does literally nothing to ramp up national security even after Mumbai 26/11 attacks, did nothing even as Pakistan continued to repeatedly carry out designs to “bleed India with a thousand cuts”. The people wanted a strong leader who would not dismiss threats to national security as non-existent just to appease any particular religious group.

Also, while the BJP has historically been the only political party in India that has been supportive of Hindus, the Hindu community understands very well that no politician alone can protect them or the nation against the Islamic or Khalistani threat rather it requires collective efforts of the government, the armed forces, the security agencies and the citizens, with first and foremost being acknowledging that even while it may not seem too big, the anti-India and anti-Hindu activities,  be it those of Khalistanis or Islamists, are very much a real threat to national security. In addition, India should not wait for these elements to grow more and more stronger and then act against them, just because NYT cannot stop romanticising Khalistani terrorists.

Moving the NYT lamented that the Indian government allegedly launched a campaign to ‘harass’ and kill “Sikh separatists” in Canada. It further discussed how the Trudeau government told The Washington Post that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has ordered the campaign against Khalistani terrorists in Canada, even though they did not provide any evidence for the same. It must be noted here that days after Trudeau accused Indian diplomats of involvement in ‘criminal activities’ in Canada, he himself admitted to having not a shred of evidentiary proof confirming the same. Also, the seriousness of Canada’s claims can be deciphered from the fact that it chose a US-based leftist propaganda outlet to train its gun against the Indian government which the foreign media generally projects as a Hindu nationalist,  fascist, anti-minority and whatnot regime.  

The NYT further attempts to villainise the Indian government by suggesting that the Indian government is comparatively quieter on an Indian national’s arrest in the US over his role in an alleged foiled assassination attempt against Khalistani extremist and Sikhs for Justice founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.  The same Pannun who regularly threatens to attack India and even threatens to blow up Air India flights. While the US government and leftist propaganda outlets are targeting the Indian government over an alleged attempt to eliminate Pannun, no one had a problem when the same US carried out arbitrary bombings in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, including the operation authorised by the then PM Barack Obama-led administration, to take down Al Qaeda terrorist Osama Bin Laden, who was hiding in a safe house in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The US operations destroyed nations like Iraq but no one opposed the US, the same Canada granting a safe haven to Khalistani terrorists had backed the US when Laden was hunted down in Pakistan. When the US eliminates terrorists, it is ensuring its national security, but when India allegedly does the same, all hell breaks loose.

The NYT, however, would not understand the threat India faces from Khalistani terrorists, whom it calls Khalistan ‘supporters’, ‘extremists’ and ‘separatists’ but not what they actually are­­—terrorists. While in a recent incident in Brampton, Khalistani terrorists attacked Hindus outside a temple, and have regularly been vandalising Hindu temples in Canada but India should wait for a Kanishka Bombing redux and killing of 329 or more Hindu and Sikh people to see the Khalistan problem a threat to national security.

Speaking to NYT, Canada’s ambassador to India, Cameron MacKay said that Canada was “not in a position to arrest people simply because they support a separatist movement in a foreign country,” citing its expansive protections for freedom of speech.” It is amusing, how conveniently, the Canadian ambassador and the Trudeau government invoke freedom of speech and the right to protest to let Khalistani carry out anti-India and anti-Hindu activities including violence with absolute impunity given Khalistani are a significant votebank for the Liberal Party. MacKay, however, should jog his memory and recall how Canadian truckers were denied their freedom of speech and right to protest back in 2022 with their protests violently crushed, hundreds of truckers arrested with many threatened with arrests upon failing to leave protest sites. Where was freedom of speech then?

The NYT report itself mentions that the Indian government has designated several Khalistanis including Lakhbir Singh Sandhu as “terrorists” and also has uncovered a terrorist-gangster-drug smuggler nexus, however, it wants the Indian government to not even see the Khalistani secessionism and linked crimes as a threat to national security let alone countering it. Interestingly, NYT has a knack for romanticising terrorists and those accused of masterminding anti-Hindu riots.

Towards the end of it, the NYT article says that ‘Sikh separatism’ is a sensitive issue given Pakistan’s backing to the Khalistanis. After downplaying the Khalistani threat, NYT tries to balance it out saying that there are concerns about the radicalisation of Punjabi youths. Instead of questioning the Canadian government as to why it has been sheltering those designated as terrorists by the Indian government, why the Trudeau administration allows Khalistani elements to challenge India’s sovereignty on a regular basis, why it allows Khalistanis terrorists to attack Hindus and their temples, why does it call slain Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist a Canadian citizen even as there is no clarity on whether he was even a legal citizen of Canada and destroys ties with India when elections are only a few months away, NYT wants Indian government to turn oblivious to the Khalistani threat.

While vulnerability arising from lack of jobs and drugs abuse among the Punjabi youth is a cause of concern, the spread of Khalistani secessionism and terrorism cannot be curbed by providing jobs and preventing drugs abuse, rather, complete deradicalization of those influenced by Khalistani ideology as well as total destruction of Khalistani terror nexus will save Sikh youths and preserve India’s territorial integrity.

How Khalistani extremism infiltrated Canadian politics: Examining a complex convergence of immigration, ideology, and Canada’s internal challenges

Anurag
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How Khalistani extremism infiltrated Canadian politics: Examining a complex convergence of immigration, ideology, and Canada’s internal challenges

The Sikh community in Canada now exceeds 770,000 people. Sikhs started immigrating to Canada in the late 19th century and early 20th century when they were part of the British Armed Forces.

However, in recent decades, their population has grown dramatically in the country. Most of the Sikh community is primarily concentrated in British Columbia and Ontario, specifically in cities like Brampton, Surrey, and Vancouver. Over time, Sikhs have made significant contributions in Canada, notably in sectors such as real estate, trucking, and construction. Interestingly, their economic success in the country quickly and effectively translated into political influence. However, it gave path to entry of Khalistani extremism in Canada.

Sikhs have strong representation in the political landscape of Canada, especially within the Liberal Party, which has historically garnered support from the community due to its pro-immigration policies. Sikh leaders and political figures hold key roles in the country and influence both provincial and federal policy decisions.

Notably, their influence is not limited to political representation alone. Through donations and advocacy, the community has left a strong footprint in all sectors and policies. iPolitics, in one of its reports, revealed that Sikh donors have consistently favoured the Liberal Party over the past decade, which has encouraged Liberal politicians to adopt positions that align with the interests of the Sikh community, including controversial issues tied to Khalistan, a separate Sikh nation that a handful of pro-Khalistani Sikhs seek to establish by carving out Punjab and parts of other states from India. While the economic and political ascent of Canadian Sikhs is worth celebrating for the country, it has also opened doors for extremists to gain influence.

The emergence of Khalistani influence in Canada – From legitimate advocacy to extremist footholds

The Khalistani movement originated in India as a separatist push demanding an independent Sikh nation. In the 1980s, the movement took a violent turn, and the Government of India responded with an iron fist, initiating crackdowns on Khalistani terrorists and organisations involved in terrorism. As a result, several pro-Khalistani Sikhs fled India to seek refuge in other countries where obtaining asylum was easier due to lenient policies and straightforward immigration processes, including in Canada.

In Canada, Khalistani terrorists who posed as separatist leaders were welcomed by a sympathetic political and social environment. They used “human rights” and “self-determination” narratives to advance their agenda in the country. India attempted to extradite several dangerous Khalistani terrorists from Canada; however, irrespective of the party in power, Canada has never fulfilled these extradition requests. Notably, the then-Government of India, under PM Indira Gandhi, requested the extradition of Khalistani terrorist Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind behind the 1985 Air India bombing (Kanishka bombing), but the then-Canadian government under Pierre Trudeau rejected the request.

Fast forward to 1985, Talwinder Singh Parmar, founder of the terror outfit Babbar Khalsa, orchestrated the deadliest aviation terrorist attack at that time, killing 329 people, primarily Canadians. The aim was to pressure India into conceding to the demand for Khalistan. Canadian authorities faced criticism from all directions for failing to prevent the bombing, and to this day, the families of victims feel justice remains unfulfilled. The Kanishka bombing is the most prominent example of how Canada has been lenient towards Khalistani terrorism, allowing it to flourish into a persistent diplomatic and security issue.

In recent times, figures like the slain Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar have become a thorn in the Canadian authorities’ side—something they neither can cast off nor swallow. Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist, moved to Canada in the late 1990s when he was being hunted by Punjab Police for his involvement in Khalistani terrorist activities. He moved to Canada under a false Hindu name and sought asylum. His request was rejected due to discrepancies in his application, but he continued to live in Canada. He tried to naturalise in Canada by marrying a Canadian Punjabi woman, but the request was again rejected.

Around 2015, he was granted Canadian citizenship despite multiple requests from India to extradite him. Nijjar was involved in several terrorist activities, including the formation of the Khalistani organisation Khalistan Tiger Force, running training camps to train pro-Khalistani Sikh youth in firearm usage, visiting Pakistan to meet with Khalistani terrorists, and orchestrating murders in India. He was on Canada’s no-fly list and later on the US no-fly list, yet he still obtained citizenship.

When Nijjar was assassinated in June 2023, no one would have predicted that his death would create deep diplomatic tensions between India and Canada. The incident escalated relations between the two nations to the point where Canada accused India of involvement in the murder. India firmly denied the allegations, but the episode exposed Canada’s continued tolerance for individuals openly hostile to India.

Similar cases, including those linked to the Khalistani terrorist organisation Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), illustrate how Canada’s policies categorically empower those with extremist leanings, making the country a hub for anti-India sentiments. The Nijjar episode prompted top Indian officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to call out Canada for being a safe haven for terrorists, criminals, and gangsters.

Political patronage and the growth of Khalistani extremism in Canada

The Canadian political landscape has, at many times, indirectly nurtured extremism through its response—or lack thereof—to the activities of pro-Khalistani elements. The recent attack on Hindus at the Hindu Sabha Temple and continuous threats to the Hindu community in Canada by Khalistani terrorist and SFJ founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun are prime examples of how Canada has nurtured Khalistanis. Notably, Nijjar was a close associate of Pannun.

The Liberal Party’s longstanding support from the Sikh community has led some politicians to remain silent on or even tacitly support individuals and groups aligned with Khalistani ideals. In 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited India. Shockingly, convicted Khalistani terrorist Jaspal Atwal made an appearance at a Canadian diplomatic event, igniting controversy. Although Trudeau distanced himself from the incident following criticism, it signalled the presence of sympathisers within Canada’s political circles.

At that time, voices against Canadian support for Khalistani elements were not as strong. However, times have changed, and even Canadians, who were mostly oblivious to the dangers of nurturing Khalistani sympathisers, are now expressing concerns, especially since the attack on the Hindu Sabha Temple.

Politicians, particularly those representing Sikh-majority districts, have been hesitant to address Khalistani issues directly, fearing backlash from a significant voter base. In the end, it is all about the votes. This political accommodation has extended to allowing organisations like SFJ to hold referendums and public rallies advocating for Punjab’s secession from India. During rallies, it is common for pro-Khalistani elements to raise anti-India slogans and proudly proclaim how they killed a sitting Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, on 31 October 1984.

Canada’s freedom of speech laws provide cover, enabling these groups to operate with minimal restraint. Khalistani rhetoric, often wrapped in the language of “human rights” and “self-determination,” is thus normalised, with Canadian authorities taking little action against public displays of anti-India sentiments.

Visa frauds, drug trafficking, and other criminal concerns tied to immigration

Canada’s immigration policies are designed to be inclusive and progressive. However, the lenient approach of Canadian policies has strained the system due to fraud, exploitation, and criminal activities linked to Indian-origin criminals and intermediaries. Criminals, terrorists, and gangsters in India find it safer to flee to Canada and run their enterprises from there. The most recent example is Gaganpreet Randhawa, who was arrested by police following the largest drug bust in Surrey. The lab operated by Randhawa contained enough lethal doses of drugs to kill every Canadian twice.

Furthermore, dubious immigration agencies and agents have exploited the system so well that there have been reports of IELTS exams being taken by proxies for Canadian and the US immigration aspirants. Many agencies have been raided and closed down by Indian authorities who promised visas to unqualified applicants and engaged in immigration fraud. Deportations have become more common from Canada and other countries due to such fraudulent activities.

In many cases, individuals who went to Canada on student visas have been found to become involved in criminal enterprises. One recent example is Abjeet Kingra, who went to Canada on a student visa and was arrested in connection with a shooting incident at singer and rapper AP Dhillon’s house in September 2024. Once in Canada, many individuals find themselves exploited, while others have been implicated in drug trafficking and gang-related violence.

Canada’s internal struggles – housing, healthcare, and affordability crises

Extremism is not the only concern that Canada is facing. Moreover, extremism is something Canada brought upon itself and was completely avoidable, if only Canadian leadership had shown the courage to control it. Apart from extremism, the housing market in Canada is under immense strain, and affordability is at an all-time low.

High immigration rates have placed additional pressure on the housing market, which already had a short supply, leading to a sharp rise in property values and rental rates. The government has introduced multiple housing initiatives, but the overall impact has been insufficient to accommodate the influx of new residents and address affordability. This situation in the real estate market has created a vicious circle for Canadians, who are now unable to find affordable housing.

The Canadian healthcare system was once a model of excellence. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has grappled with long wait times, staff shortages, and declining service quality. The problems existed before the pandemic but were largely pushed under the rug and, overall, under the control of the administration. However, the pandemic exposed cracks in the system, and the subsequent increase in demand due to immigration has only worsened the issues.

Hospitals in Canada are struggling to meet the needs of a growing population, leading some critics to argue that immigration rates should be adjusted to reflect the healthcare capacity of the country.

India-Canada diplomatic tensions and the challenge of Khalistani extremism

The tolerance for Khalistani extremism has caused Canada to lose a good friend, namely India. The chain of events over the past five years has severely impacted the relationship between India and Canada, with significant diplomatic repercussions. India has repeatedly raised concerns about Canada providing sanctuary to criminals, gangsters, and terrorists. However, Canada has failed to address these concerns, which has soured relations between the two countries.

This tension has resulted in a freeze on trade discussions and a re-evaluation of bilateral partnerships. The Nijjar case became the latest flashpoint, with Canada accusing India of involvement and naming Home Minister Amit Shah in the case—accusations that India has categorically denied and warned of severe consequences.

Canada’s hesitancy to act against pro-Khalistani groups under the guise of upholding freedom of speech has international consequences. India has expressed frustration over the lack of action, with Indian officials pointing out that Canada’s policies directly threaten India’s security. Canada’s recent immigration policy review, aimed at slowing the rate of incoming immigrants, has added to this complex situation, as India remains one of Canada’s largest sources of new residents.

Where does Canada go from here?

Canada has a multicultural identity and progressive policies. However, both the identity of the country and its policies have come under a new level of scrutiny. While multiculturalism has brought diversity and enrichment to the country, it has also opened doors to extremism and criminal activities that threaten national security and strain international relationships.

Khalistani extremism, operating under the guise of community advocacy, has leveraged Canada’s liberal values and protections, placing Canadian leaders in a difficult position: uphold freedoms or address growing extremism.

The balance between safeguarding freedom and confronting extremism will define Canada’s international reputation and domestic stability. Without decisive action, Canada risks becoming a centre of Khalistani extremism, a reputation that could have far-reaching consequences for its diplomatic relations and societal harmony. Not to forget, one type of extremism could invite other forms, including Islamic extremism in the country, sooner rather than later. The path forward will require a reassessment of immigration policies, stricter enforcement of laws against extremist groups, and a recalibration of Canada’s diplomatic relations with allies like India.

As Modi govt issues notice to Wikipedia, here are 6 problematic things OpIndia found about the ‘free encyclopedia’ in our dossier

OpIndia Staff
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As Modi govt issues notice to Wikipedia, here are 6 problematic things OpIndia found about the ‘free encyclopedia’ in our dossier

On Tuesday (5th November), the Modi government sent a notice to Wikipedia pointing out the biased and inaccurate information published by the ‘free encyclopedia.’

The notice was issued by the Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry. It highlighted the hegemony of a small group of editors and their control over its content.

The Modi government has asked Wikipedia why it shouldn’t be treated as a publisher instead of an intermediary. It is important to mention that OpIndia highlighted the same issue in its 187-page dossier published on 9th September 2024.

“Government of India puts Wikipedia on notice. Government writes to Wikipedia pointing out many complaints of bias and inaccuracies in Wikipedia, points out a small group having editorial control and asks why Wikipedia shouldn’t be treated as a publisher instead of an intermediary,” news agency ANI reported citing sources.

Wikipedia, which is owned by Wikimedia Foundation, is currently in the midst of legal cases in India for its inaccurate and defamatory targeting of various organisations including ANI.

The news agency had accused Wikipedia of tarnishing its reputation and discrediting its goodwill. The news agency also sought ₹2 crore in damages from Wikipedia.

During the course of preparing the dossier, OpIndia discovered 6 disturbing things about the ‘free encyclopedia’

1. Wikipedia is not neutral

Wikipedia in all its communication purports that it is a free-for-all online encyclopaedia which depends on the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ to general ‘free knowledge’ for the entire world. They essentially claim that Wikipedia is a free, fair and ‘neutral’ platform.

Wikipedia’s pronounced ideological bias has been carefully and structurally cultivated. There is existing research, including the analysis of Wikipedia’s co-founder Larry Sengar, which has detailed how Wikipedia is not neutral.

The research cites three prior researches to bolster its case. Research by the Manhattan Institute published in June 2024 by David Rozado concluded that Wikipedia heavily leans towards the Left.

The Critic Research focuses on two internet policies of Wikipedia – Neutral Point of View and Reliability. The research concludes that it is
the editors who decide which sources are reliable to be cited and which are not.

Those considered reliable lean Left and Right-leaning are blacklisted. Therefore, a Neutral Point of View merely means that ‘reliable sources’ are represented thoroughly. Not that all points of view would be represented.

Third is Larry Sengar who has widely criticized Wikipedia for being Left-leaning, unreliable and biased.

2. Wikipedia is tightly controlled

While Wikipedia claims that everyone is free to edit, the truth is that there are only a handful of people who have the ultimate say in what content is added and what isn’t.

It is also a handful of people who have the power to ban edits, ban editors, decide disputes, delete pages, lock pages, override content etc.

There are merely 435 active administrators across the world who have sweeping powers. There are only 10 active members of ArbCom.

It is also true that there are many editors and administrators who are actively paid by the Wikimedia Foundation under the ‘editor retention program’.

Further, the Wikimedia Foundation pays many of them in the name of ‘grants for projects’. Wikipedia indeed has a solid hierarchy just as any other publishing house with strict editorial control and editorial lines that the editors and administrators toe.

3. ‘Anonymised’ funding and its use by Wikimedia Foundation

The Tides Foundation and Wikimedia Foundation give money to each other, but chart it as ‘anonymous’ donations
because they are not obligated to reveal details when it’s a donor-directed fund.

The Wikimedia Foundation has enough money to keep Wikipedia alive and running for decades, even if does not earn another penny either from donations or donations from corporations.

The fact that the Wikimedia Foundation continues to get donations and grants much beyond what it needs to run Wikipedia, in the name of Wikipedia, points to a few things.

Firstly, the Wikimedia Foundation is spending millions in grants to further its own business interests. Second, it is extending grants to Left organisations with the money it collects in the name of keeping Wikipedia alive and claiming that without these donations, Wikipedia would
cease to exist (a lie).

All of this happens behind the garb of keeping ‘knowledge free’ and Wikimedia uses this trope to skirt the law of the land, especially in India, as would be demonstrated further in this paper.

According to the Wikimedia Endowment Fund page current, here are some notable patrons of the Tide Foundation run endowment fund which is noteworthy:

  1. Amazon – $5 million+
  2. Google.org – $2 million +
  3. George Soros – $2 million +
  4. Musk Foundation – $2 million+
  5. Facebook – $1 million+
  6. The Rothschild Foundation – $50,000+

4. Wikipedia supports anti-India, anti-Hindu organisations

The Tides Foundation and the Wikimedia Foundation provide donations and grants to several anti-Hindu, anti-India organisations and elements.

They have given grants to Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) which has links to Islamists and Khalistanis and was formed in 2019 by two Islamist advocacy groups, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and Organization for Minorities of India (OFMI).

The Tides Foundation has disbursed grants to the Association for India’s Development (AID) which has campaigned for Naxal Binayak Sen, funded Arvind Kejriwal’s NGO and also has connection to separatists.

Further, Tides has funded AMAN Public Charitable Trust (AMAN) – The trust lists several prominent organizations as partners, including the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Tides Foundation, Ford Foundation, Oxfam, European Commission for Humanitarian Organisations, and others.

Aman has received funding from the Tides Foundation, which has been linked to various organizations that promote left-leaning agendas, including anti-Hindu and anti-India narratives. Aman Public Charitable Trust is connected to the NewsClick-China funding scandal, where it is alleged that Chinese entities funded NewsClick to disrupt Indian sovereignty.

NewsClick’s founder, Prabir Purkayastha, was arrested on charges of receiving more than ₹80 crore from Chinese companies. Dilip Simeon,
the Chairman of Aman Public Charitable Trust, was named in the NewsClick FIR by Delhi Police for his involvement in attempts to sabotage India’s 2019 General Elections.

Tides Foundation also has worked with Alliance India, which is chaired by DY Qureshi. Links have also emerged in the research with the OCCRP, George Soros and the Adani Attack.

Wikimedia Foundation funds Arts+Feminism which spread fake news about CAA in India, leading to violence. It also funds Whose Knowledge, which in turn is connected with Equality Labs and Black Lunch Table.

It also funds Black Lunch Table separately. It is pertinent to note that Whose Knowledge, funded by the Wikimedia Foundation partners with Art+Feminism, Equality Labs and CIS – all of which receive funds from the Wikimedia Foundation among others.

It also partners with ‘Black Lunch Table’ – which is also funded by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikimedia Foundation also funds Access Now. On the Board of Access Now is Seema Chisti.

Seema Chisti, who is the wife of Communist Sitaram Yechury and editor of TheWire, is also an advisor at National Foundation for India –
which funds AMAN along with Tides Foundation, Ford Foundation and others.

Other advisors include Dhanya Rajendran of The News Minute and P Sainath. Interestingly, Dhanya Rajendran and P Sainath, both have featured prominently in the NewsClick-China funding case.

Apart from funding through CIS-India, we also found that Wikimedia pays individuals like ‘ArtWhoring’ for collaborations in promoting programs like ‘Know The Wiki’.

5. Wikipedia does not submit to Indian laws

Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, has no presence in India. It has declared in the BBC documentary controversy that it is a foreign entity and therefore, Indian courts have no jurisdiction over it.

Despite having no presence in India, it has consistently funded entities and individuals to further its own business and ideological interests in India.

Wikimedia Foundation regularly solicits donations from India. That donation, since it comes from individuals, it not against the law. However, Wikimedia not only takes donations from India, it spends millions of dollars in India as well.

All of this, while refusing to submit to Indian laws. While it continues to toe a rigid editorial line on Wikipedia, it insists that it is an intermediary and not a publisher.

6. Wikipedia is not an ‘intermediary’ but a publisher

By definition, an intermediary is not supposed to follow a specific editorial line. It is meant to merely be a platform for the public to air their own views. However, that is not the case with Wikipedia.

Firstly, not everybody can air their views on Wikipedia. Secondly, only a small group of editors and administrators have the final say on the nature of content that is added in any articles, making the articles one-sided, biased, and toeing a specific ideological line.

Thirdly, several of these so-called ‘volunteers’ are paid by the Wikimedia Foundation to further their ideological and business interests.

The sources that are allowed to be quoted in Wikipedia articles also suffer the same bias, often injected by editors and administrators who are directly paid by Wikimedia Foundation.

With all of these realities, Wikipedia does not fall under the intermediary category, but the publisher category – additionally – a publisher that is actively undermine the interest of India without following the law of India – financially or editorially.

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won Olympics gold in women’s boxing, confirmed as a man with a ‘micro-penis’ in leaked medical reports

OpIndia Staff
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Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won Olympics gold in women’s boxing, confirmed as a man with a ‘micro-penis’ in leaked medical reports

Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, made headlines during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Khelif, who was suspected to be a biological man by many, won a gold medal in the women’s 66-kilogram category even though many people questioned her eligibility for the sport. Now, a new scandal broke out months after the Paris Games concluded when a leaked medical report revealed that Khelif is, in fact, a man.

French journalist Djaffar Ait Aoudia obtained the report, which revealed that the 25-year-old has internal testicles and an XY chromosome composition, which could imply a hereditary disorder called 5-alpha reductase deficiency. This disorder affects sexual development and frequently leads to limited secondary masculine traits and ambiguous genitalia. Khelif’s anatomy, including the lack of a uterus and the existence of what was characterized as a micro-penis, was described in the report.

The report was prepared in June 2023 by medical experts from Mohamed Lamine Debaghine Hospital in Algiers and Kremlin-Bicêtre Hospital in Paris. Additionally, it suggested hormone therapy and surgical correction to match Khelif’s physical characteristics to her self-perceived gender identity.

Harbhajan Singh, the former Indian cricketer and World Cup winner, also responded to the development by tagging the Olympics on social media and asking them to take back the gold medal.

British journalist Piers Morgan also shared the report and added, “Confirmation of what some of us said at the time: Khelif is a biological man.” He demanded that the gold medal should be taken away and given to the “best actual” woman.

“Remember the man who won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing,” asked the United States swimmer Riley Gains and highlighted that Khelif has XY chromosomes, male testosterone levels, testicles, and a micropenis. “But that never mattered, they believe that words & feelings make you a woman, not biology,” she accused.

The Algerian’s involvement in women’s sports has put her in the public eye. She was not permitted to compete in the 2023 World Championship gold medal bout in New Delhi by the International Boxing Association (IBA) which sparked a lot of heated debate around the issue. It gained more attention at the Olympics in Paris, where prominent public figures voiced their opinions and demanded that Khelif’s eligibility be reviewed.

Donald Trump also used her example in an advertisement criticizing the Biden-Harris administration’s gender-ad athletics policy. When asked about their stance on transgender issues, Republican leaders, including Vivek Ramaswamy and vice presidential candidate JD Vance, similarly stated that they would not permit men to participate in female-only sports.

“I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born as a woman, I live as a woman, and I am qualified,” Imane Khelif claimed while responding to the row. Notably, J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk, among others were named in a criminal complaint filed to French authorities in August over alleged “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” against the Algerian boxer, according to her attorney Nabil Boudi. The development transpired after people expressed that “only women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.” The legal action was also initiated against X (formerly Twitter).

Interestingly, Imane Khelif had won her first Olympic boxing match after Italian opponent Angela Carini quit the bout after 46 seconds. The Italian boxer, while in tears, said, “I have always honoured my country with loyalty. This time, I didn’t win because I couldn’t fight anymore. So I ended the match. I’m used to suffering. I’ve never taken a punch like that, it’s impossible to continue. I’m nobody to say it’s illegal. I have never been hit so hard in my life. It’s up to the IOC to judge.”

Faridabad: 7 minors among 8 Hindu girls go missing, families and Hindu outfits allege involvement of Muslim men, police denies love jihad angle

OpIndia Staff
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Faridabad: 7 minors among 8 Hindu girls go missing, families and Hindu outfits allege involvement of Muslim men, police denies love jihad angle

Eight Hindu girls including seven underage have reportedly gone missing in two months in Faridabad, Haryana. The shocking occurrences have enraged their families and Hindu organisations who went to the Police Commissioner’s office and demanded appropriate action against the culprits. They have accused Muslim men of engaging in love jihad and trapping their daughters. However, the authorities have refuted their charges. More importantly, they have not been able to recover any girl or identify the perpetrators.

The complainants handed over a memorandum to the Assistant Police Commissioner (ACP) Central Vishnu Prasad and asked for the arrest of the accused. He listened to the workers of the Hindu groups who accompanied the aggrieved families and called the concerned police station in charges regarding all the incidents. He directed them to act promptly and rescue the girls as well as capture the offenders.

Hindu activists charged that Muslim youths have lured and took the girls with them. They urged the authorities to safely retrieve the girls and apprehend the offenders as soon as possible. Meanwhile, a girl’s mother and aunt unveiled that they had regularly asked the cops for assistance but had never received an adequate response. They added that the family members are tired of repeatedly visiting police stations. They revealed that the police didn’t even question anyone after the mother told them about the people she ssuspected. The cops allegedly asked her to bring a car if she wanted them to search for her daughter.

The Hindu outfits and families hoped that their concerns would now be given due consideration after meeting with the ACP. A Hindu activist named Sushil conveyed that all eight instances are from Faridabad and are lodged at various police stations in the area. One girl is an adult while the other seven are juveniles. He accused that the Muslim young men have tricked them into love jihad which led to their disappearance. He wanted them to be arrested as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, a police spokesperson claimed that love jihad has not yet been verified in any case, however, an investigation is ongoing. He added that the adult girl had voluntarily married a Hindu man.

Govt asks Wikipedia why it shouldn’t be considered a publisher: Read what it means and how OpIndia dossier had highlighted this aspect

Shraddha Pandey
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Govt asks Wikipedia why it shouldn’t be considered a publisher: Read what it means and how OpIndia dossier had highlighted this aspect

Days after OpIndia released its dossier detailing how Wikipedia is not a free, editorial intervention-free encyclopaedia, the Central government has issued a notice to Wikipedia. On Tuesday (5th November), the Modi government wrote to Wikipedia, citing multiple complaints about bias and inaccuracies on their platform. The government pointed out that a select editorial group has control over the platform and also questioned why Wikipedia should not be treated as a publisher, a demand OpIndia raised recently.

“Government of India puts Wikipedia on notice. Government writes to Wikipedia pointing out many complaints of bias and inaccuracies in Wikipedia, points out a small group having editorial control and asks why Wikipedia shouldn’t be treated as a publisher instead of an intermediary,” news agency ANI reported citing sources.

Notably, Wikipedia is embroiled in a legal battle with ANI as the news agency filed a defamation case against Wikipedia for adverse comments made on its Wiki page. The agency objected to the comment saying that ANI “has been criticized for having served as a propaganda tool for the incumbent central government, distributing materials from a vast network of fake news websites, and misreporting events.”

ANI accused Wikipedia of publishing false and defamatory content with malicious intent of tarnishing the news agency’s reputation and discrediting its goodwill. The news agency also sought Rs 2 crore in damages from Wikipedia.

Is Wikipedia an unbiased intermediary or a biased publisher? What OpIndia research found

OpIndia’s research paper revealed that the structure of Wikipedia itself gives unmitigated power to a handful of individuals who are called ‘administrators’. There are only 435 active administrators in the entire world who have the power to ban editors, blacklist sources, ban contributors and decide the edits that should be made or reverted on articles.

Soon after OpIndia released the dossier, Facebook, another Left-leaning platform that has been accused of election interference in the USA and many such instances of furthering the political interest of a certain ideology, banned the dossier to restrict its viewership.

Wikipedia claims to be an intermediary which depends on the wisdom of the crowd without content intervention and editorial line, based on ‘reliable sources’ and maintaining and neutral point of view. This, however, is far from the truth, as evidenced in OpIndia research. Wikipedia meets all the standards of publishers. They collate information on current events and historical events, they pay their editors and administrators and they are easily accessible by the people at large on the internet.

Given that Wikipedia has an editorial stand based on the personal opinions and biases of its editors and administrators, the evidence cited in the OpIndia dossier suggests that they are no longer eligible to be considered an intermediary. OpIndia recommended that once declared a publisher, Wikimedia would have to have their offices in India, set up a grievance redressal system and submit to Indian laws about illegal content which undermines the sovereignty of India or creates disaffection.

Notably, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 applies to Digital Media which includes ‘intermediaries’ and publishers of news or publishers of online curated content. Wikipedia, even as itself claims to be an ‘intermediary’ is qualified to be treated as a publisher given that despite not having any physical presence in India, it not only has a specific editorial line controlled by a small group of administrators and editors but also pays many of them through the Wikimedia Foundation.

Excerpt from the OpIndia dossier on Wikipedia

It is pertinent to recall that Wikipedia had during the controversy around the BBC propaganda documentary against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, declared that it is a foreign entity and thus, the Indian courts have no jurisdiction over it. The findings of the research paper prepared by OpIndia Editor-in-Chief Nupur J Sharma, reveal that despite not having offices or presence in India, Wikipedia has been funding entities and individuals with anti-India ideology and even links to Islamists and Khalistanis, to further its own business and ideological interests in the country. Wikipedia not only collects funds from India in the form of donations but also spends millions of dollars in India and toes an absolutely biased and rigid editorial line, all while claiming to be an intermediary and not a publisher to escape any accountability before the Indian law.

Besides, declaring Wikipedia as a publisher, OpIndia also recommended that Wikipedia’s financial transactions be scrutinised. The OpIndia dossier titled Wikipedia’s War on India can be read here.

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