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Georgetown research which claims Muslims are in the 8th stage of genocide in India is written by a Pakistani researcher, funded by Saudi Arabia

Raju Das
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Georgetown research which claims Muslims are in the 8th stage of genocide in India is written by a Pakistani researcher, funded by Saudi Arabia

In October this month, The Bridge Initiative under Georgetown University in the US published a report claiming that Muslims are in the 8th stage of genocide in India. Echoing the claims of Islamists and left-liberals alleging persecution of Muslims in India, the report titled “Is a Genocide of Muslims underway in India?” concludes that “the process of genocide of Muslims is underway in India”.

“Islamophobia is central to this process, which is occurring at both a top-down and bottom-up level, as Hindu nationalists across the country have been emboldened by the right-wing BJP-led government— both share the same goals of remaking India as a homeland exclusively for Hindus,” the report claims.

The 40-page report alleges that India has experienced a dangerous rise in Islamophobia over the past decade. “The rise in this bigotry has largely come into being with the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing Hindu nationalist party,” it says.

The report says that it has examined the situation in India using “Gregory Stanton’s 10 stages of genocide, and finds that examples of the first 8 stages of genocide are present in India.” It claims that the first 8 stages are prevalent, and the ninth stage has started to emerge.

The entire report is based on such baseless and frivolous arguments to claim that India is seeing serious genocide of Muslims, which is allegedly on the 8th stage in a 10-stage scale. According to Gregory Stanton’s 10 stages of genocide, the eighth stage includes expropriation, forced displacement, ghettos, and concentration camps. The 9th stage is mass killing, so the report claims India is entering the stage of mass killing of Muslims, which is a dangerous lie designed to trigger anti-India feelings among Muslims across the world.

Initiative run by Islamists

While anti-India reports targeting the Modi government published by left-liberal think tanks in the west is nothing new, this report by the Georgetown University groups has a particular aspect, a direct link with Pakistan and Islamists. This report seems to be authored by Pakistani and Islamist elements, not by typical left-liberals.

The Bridge Initiative is described as a “multi-year research project on Islamophobia”, and it functions under the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU) at Georgetown University in Washington DC. The ACMCU was set up with a donation of $20 million by Saudi Arabian billionaire businessman Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud in 2005.

Alwaleed has been a controversial businessman and was arrested on corruption charges.

The Bridge Initiative focuses exclusively on alleged Islamophobia and has published reports alleging that anti-Muslim hatred is on the rise in various countries. After Donald Trump became the US president, the group published several similar reports, alleging that anti-Muslim views were mainstreamed by the Trump campaign and administration. The Initiative had also hosted a panel discussion about “Islamophobia” in the Trump era.

Now coming to the report on India, the lead researcher mentioned in the report is Mobashra Tazamal, a Pakistan-origin researcher who has done her Master’s degree in Islamic Societies & Cultures. Her profile on the Georgetown University website states that “her current research centers on global Islamophobia with a particular focus on China’s campaign targeting Uighur Muslims and its use of surveillance technology, the rise of ethno-nationalism, and the financial and trans-Atlantic connections of the Islamophobia ‘industry’.” She is the associate director at the Initiative.

Other prominent members of The Bridge Initiative include Arsalan Iftikhar, another Pakistan-origin researcher. Arsalan Iftikhar is infamous for his racist comments against American politician Bobby Jindal, when Jindal was Louisiana’s governor. Appearing on MSNBC, Iftikhar had said about Jindal, “He might be trying to, you know, scrub some of the brown off his skin as he runs to the right in a Republican presidential exploratory bid.” This remark had triggered massive outrage, and MSNBC had announced that Iftikhar won’t be appearing on the channel again.

Another member of the Initiative is Farid Hafez, who was investigated by Austria for suspected terror funding and association with Muslim Brotherhood. The Austrian authorities raided his Vienna house in 2020 and questioned him after monitoring him for years under Operation Luxor.

John L. Esposito, the director of Bridge Initiate, although a Christian, has written extensively on Islam. In his books and articles, he keeps claiming that anti-Islam sentiment is rising in the world.

Another member of the group, Susan L. Douglass, is an American Muslim, who did MA in Arab Studies. Jordan Denari Duffner is the other member of the Initiative, who is “a leading Catholic voice on Muslim-Christian relations.”

The Bridge Initiative of Georgetown University is not a neutral group, it is a group of Islamists who accuse the world of Islamophobia. Among the 6 members of the initiative including the director, four are Muslims, two of them from Pakistan.

Therefore, there is no wonder that they have authored a completely Hinduphobic report accusing Hindus in India of being Islamophobic.

Baseless allegations

Moreover, the report is filled with baseless allegations against India, repeating the familiar false arguments already made by Islamists and left-liberals against the Modi government. It cites the CAA as an anti-Muslim policy of the Modi government, where the fact is that the CAA only accelerates granting citizenship to persecuted minorities in neighbouring countries. CAA does not deny citizenship to Muslims, it just does not accelerate the process for them, but foreign Muslims can become Indian citizens under normal procedure.

The report also cites NRC in Assam as another anti-Muslim step, whereas the fact is that every country has right to identify and deport illegal immigrants. In fact, the NRC of 1951 was updated in Assam on the orders of the Supreme Court.

Using another familiar anti-Hindu and anti-BJP argument, the report says the ban on hijab in schools in Karnataka is anti-Muslim. The government’s decision has been accepted by the High Court, and neither the government nor the court bans Muslim women from wearing hijabs or even Burkha. The rule is only applicable to schools where uniforms are mandatory. Only a handful of Muslim girls are fighting to break the Uniform rule, and the Georgetown University group thinks enforcing uniforms in schools, a globally accepted practice, is Islamophobic.

The report cites the Ram Janmabhoomi judgement, the ongoing case over Gyanvyapi, and other such cases as anti-Muslim. They fail to mention that it is well known that these Islamic structures were constructed after demolishing ancient Hindu temples, and Hindus are fighting to restore those heritage temples.

‘Aftab should have loved Shraddha like his sister’, ‘Islam does not allow Muslims to marry non-Muslims’: Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind cleric Maulana Qasmi

राहुल पाण्डेय
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‘Aftab should have loved Shraddha like his sister’, ‘Islam does not allow Muslims to marry non-Muslims’: Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind cleric Maulana Qasmi

Maulana Vakil Ahmed Qasmi of Darul Uloom Rahmania Madrasa located in Laharpur town of Sitapur, UP and district general secretary of Jamiat-ul-Hind said that Aftab Poonawala should have loved Shraddha Walkar like his sister and expressed disapproval against the duo’s relationship, and added that Islam forbids the same-sex relationship.

Opposing the relationship between Aftab and Shraddha, Maulana Qasmi said that Islam does not permit Muslims to marry non-Muslims.

It has been reported that Aftab made overtures to Shraddha and lured her into a relationship in the name of marriage. Shraddha left her parents and ignored the red flags raised by them. Furthermore, it has come to light that Aftab was a supporter of LGBT rights, something which is anathema in Islam and attracts harsh punishment.

Speaking about Aftab being an LGBTQ supporter, Qasmi said, “Islam has laws codified, and whatever goes against them, Islam does not allow it to be spoken or done. We cannot punish any person doing anything outside the Islamic law, but Allah punishes that person after death.”

He said that the world knows it is necessary to have a man and a woman in a marriage. “No religion in this world can justify a boy marrying a boy or a girl marrying a girl. God has created separate gender for men and women. A person can attain peace only when the system created for marriage is achieved. This [homosexual relationship] is a disgusting thing, even in terms of humanity,” he said.

“Where will children come from if a man marries a man and a woman marries a woman?”, asks Maulana Qasmi

He added, “What will a boy do by going to a boy? Two things happen after marriage. One is that the husband and wife live together and love each other. They spend the night, and as a result, children are born. However, where will the children come from if a man marries a man and a woman marries a woman?”

While describing Aftab’s acts as a shame to humanity, Qasmi said such things do not come in the religious system. “No one should do this. Furthermore, live-in relationships are also in violation of Islam, and no Muslim should indulge in it,” he added.

Regarding the live-in relationship between Aftab and Shraddha, Qasmi said, “Islamic law does not allow live-in relationships. It is not allowed for a person to get into a relationship without marriage. The foundation of friendship is different, but without marriage, if someone gets into a relationship equal to a relationship between husband and wife, it is called ‘Jeena’. Aftab has committed a crime.”

Qasmi further denied the love jihad angle in the matter. He called it propaganda to name love between two persons as love jihad.

He emphasised the fact that a Muslim should marry only a Muslim. He said, “If he had fallen in love with a non-Muslim, he should have loved her as a sister. There are many girls in the Muslim community for marriage. It is wrong to use the religious system for marriage.”

Shraddha Murder Case

On May 18, Aftab Amin Poonawala murdered his girlfriend and live-in partner, Shraddha. He chopped her body into 35 pieces and disposed of them in different areas over 18 days. The incident came to light after Shraddha’s father filed a missing report and Delhi Police interrogated Aftab. During interrogation, he broke down and confessed to the crime. The investigation into the matter is underway.

Telangana: Hyderabad Police busts fake arms licence racket, mastermind Altaf Hussain and 6 others arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Telangana: Hyderabad Police busts fake arms licence racket, mastermind Altaf Hussain and 6 others arrested

On Thursday (November 17), the Hyderabad Police task force team busted a fake arms licence racket and arrested 7 people. 

To prepare the fake arms licences and obtain real weapons, the accused persons used fake seals of license-issuing officials and forged signatures.

The west zone task force apprehended the gang and charged it for allegedly cheating, forgery, making counterfeit seals, criminal conspiracy, and illegal possession of arms, according to police.

30 single-bore weapons, three double-bore weapons, one revolver, 140 rounds of ammunition, 34 fake weapon licence documents, 29 unused weapons licence books, nine licences affixed with a phoney stamp, six rubber stamps, and one unsigned NOC were seized by police.

Hyderabad City Police Commissioner CV Anand in an official release informed that a resident of Kashmir’s Rajouri, Altaf Husain is the mastermind of the racket. He moved to the city in 2013 in search of work and joined Grace Management Security Service. He was later assigned as a gunman in the SIS cash service in West Marredpally. Prior to his employment in the city, he purchased a double-bore gun in Rajouri with a fake arms licence obtained by bribing the local magistrate office.”

Altaf, who was familiar with the process and license details, collaborated with a stamp vendor named Haeefuddin in Secunderabad and began issuing fake licenses, these fake licences were then used to procure arms.

“He entrapped unemployed youth from Jammu and Kashmir, who were working as security guards for private security firms. He obtained weapons from other states via youth for Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000,” Commissioner Anand detailed.

The Hyderabad police further informed that the accused collected Rs 20,000 from unemployed youths and later placed them in private security agencies. 

According to the police, three such firms hired security guards who were in possession of illegal weapons and deployed them to their clientele, which included VVIPs, jewellery showrooms, agencies hired to carry ATM cash, and personal guards.

“Police have the authority to issue and renew arms licenses.” Issuing fake arms licences is against the law and poses a serious threat to public safety. Private security firms must follow the Private Security Agency Regulation Act (PSARA), which governs the operation of private security agencies.

Taking to Twitter to inform about the case, Commissioner C V Anand tweeted, “HCP’s taskforce team busted a fake arms licence racket. The prime accused colluded with some private security firms and prepared fake documents and  procured real firearms through the gullible youth belonging to J&K who were lured on the promise of placement as security guards.”

In another tweet, the Commissioner wrote, “Shockingly the private security firms flouted all norms and deployed the gullible youth to their clientele as armed guards along with the illicit firearms which is a serious threat to our safety & security. Arrested 7 men & seized a cache of arms, ammunition, fake documents.”

The Hyderabad police chief also stated that a meeting would be held with all private security agencies to encourage them to voluntarily disclose the weapons in their possession.

Pakistan lifts ban on Saim Sadiq’s queer-themed film ‘Joyland’, movie to release on November 18 with some cuts

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan lifts ban on Saim Sadiq’s queer-themed film ‘Joyland’, movie to release on November 18 with some cuts

On Friday, the Pakistan government decided to lift the ban on Saim Sadiq’s critically-acclaimed film Joyland after it was reviewed for the second time by a committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The news was tweeted by the head of the Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms Salman Sufi who said that freedom of speech is a fundamental right and it should be nourished within ambits of the law. The movie will now be released on November 18 but some scenes would be cut before it opens across the country.

This is days after the government imposed a ban on the movie, claiming it contained ‘highly objectionable material. The movie reportedly got a screening certificate from the government on August 17. It was the official entry of Pakistan for the 2023 Oscars.

According to the reports, PM Shehbaz appointed an eight-member committee on Tuesday to investigate accusations that the film was against social and moral norms and make recommendations for further action. The committee was chaired by the minister for political affairs, economic affairs, and law and justice, as well as the ministers for information and broadcasting, communications, board of investment, information technology, and telecommunications, adviser to the Prime Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, PTA chairman, and PEMRA chairman.

The committee determined that some portions of the film needed to be cut. It has agreed to distribute the movie while the government has not yet removed the notification of its ‘uncertified’ status. The committee was founded in response to a significant social media protest over the withdrawal of Joyland’s censorship certificate. All censor boards in the country approved the picture, but it ran into difficulties after complaints were made to the Central Board of Film Censors by people. Objections were raised over the content after its release. Some protests and concerns allegedly pushed the authorities to ban the film to avoid a backlash.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting then issued a notification on November 11 and noted, “Written complaints were received that the film contains highly objectionable material which does not conform with the social values and moral standards of our society and is repugnant to the norms of ‘decency and morality as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979′. The story revolves around a ‘patriarchal family’ wanting to have a baby boy to continue the family line. The youngest son of the family joins an erotic dance theatre secretly. He then falls for a transgender person.

The fundamentalists in the country have deemed the movie as anti-Islam. Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami in the Pakistan Senate said in a tweet, “Pakistan is an Islamic country, and no law, ideology or activity can be allowed against.” Joyland was the first Pakistani movie to be screened at Cannes Film Festival. It won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and Queer Palm award at the festival. Further, it was screened at Toronto International Film Festival and the Busan International Film Festival.

The film has been written and directed by Saim Sadiq and has been produced by Apoorva Guru Charan, Sarmad Sultan Khoosat, and Lauren Mann. The film has been shot in Lahore and features Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gillani, Salman Peerzada, Sohail Sameer, and Sania Saeed. 

Taliban judges asked to implement Sharia in their rulings which include public executions, floggings, stoning and amputation of limbs

OpIndia Staff
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Taliban judges asked to implement Sharia in their rulings which include public executions, floggings, stoning and amputation of limbs

On Thursday, November 18, a Taliban spokesperson said that their ‘supreme leader’ Haibatullah Akhundzada has recently ordered Afghan judges to fully execute Sharia law provisions such as public executions, stoning, flogging, and amputation of limbs of persons guilty of specific offences. The spokesperson said offences such as robbery, kidnapping and sedition must be punished in line with the group’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

Taliban’s chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had also taken to Twitter on Sunday, November 13, to inform that Haibatullah Akhundzada met with Taliban judges a few days ago and instructed them to implement Sharia law in their rulings.

“Carefully examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists,” Mujahid quoted Akhundzada as saying.

The Tweet written in the Pashto language further quoted Haibatullah Akhundzada as saying, “Those files in which all the sharia (Islamic law) conditions of hudud and qisas have been fulfilled, you are obliged to implement. This is the ruling of sharia, and my command, which is obligatory.”

The Taliban has not specified the exact offences and punishments, but one religious leader in Afghanistan told the BBC that under Sharia law, penalties might include amputations, public lashings, and stoning.

Hudud offences include adultery and falsely accusing someone of it, consuming alcohol, theft, kidnapping and highway robbery, blasphemy, and insurrection, according to Islamic Sharia law. Qisas, on the other hand, includes murder and intentional injury among other things but also permits victims’ families to take compensation in lieu of punishment.

After regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban promised a softer version of the brutal rule that characterised their previous stint in power, but Taliban 2.0 has, instead, pushed down harder on the freedoms and rights of the natives of Afghanistan.

Only yesterday (November 17), in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province, a young couple were arrested and publicly lashed 39 times each for allegedly having an extramarital relationship. A local resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal revealed that he had gone to the Shaheed Mazari stadium where the punishment was administered. Hundreds of locals watched but were prohibited from taking photographs or filming, according to the resident.

Last week, the ruling Taliban banned Afghan women from entering any public parks in the country. According to a Taliban spokesperson, women have also been barred from using public pools and gyms because they violate Sharia law.

It may be recalled that soon after the forcible takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, the latter had promised to govern the country differently under Taliban 2.0, however, only a month later the Jihadi organization declared that the country will be governed by laws of ‘Holy Sharia.’

In fact, a then-released policy statement attributed to Taliban Supremo Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada read, “Based on this principle, in the future, all matters of governance and life in Afghanistan will be regulated by laws of the Holy Sharia.”

Bombay HC grants bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Anand Teltumbde, stays its own order: Read the case against him

OpIndia Staff
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Bombay HC grants bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Anand Teltumbde, stays its own order: Read the case against him

Anand Teltumbde, an accused Urban Naxal and ‘Dalit rights activist,’ was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Friday for his alleged complicity in the Bhima Koregaon incident in 2018. He has been held in Taloja Central Prison since 2020.

After hearing the matter thoroughly and reserving its judgement last week, a bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Milind Jadhav announced the verdict today. Interestingly, the high court has postponed its own ruling for a week at the request of NIA’s counsel, Advocate Sandesh Patil. The agency wanted this time to petition the Supreme Court against the order.

On 2 February 2019, Pune Cops arrested Anand Teltumbde for his suspected role in the violence that occurred in Elgar Parishad in January 2018. The inquiry was conducted by the Pune police for two years before being passed to the National Investigation Agency in January 2021. According to the agency, scathing documents and notes were discovered on the devices of several of the accused, linking them to the outlawed CPI(M) outfit.

Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case and the involvement of Anand Teltumbde

The Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case pertains to an event organised at Shaniwar Wada called Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017. The following day, i.e January 1, 2018, large-scale violence broke out at Bhima Koregaon, where lakhs of Dalits had gathered to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, won by the British Army—comprising mostly soldiers from the Dalit community—against the Peshwas in 1818.

An FIR was filed in connection with the violence on January 8, 2019, after which Pune Police kickstarted a probe into it. According to the police, arrested ‘activists’ claimed that the event was organised as part of alleged Maoist activity and the accused were members.

On 2 February 2019, Pune Police arrested Anand Teltumbde for his supposed role in the violence that occurred in Elgar Parishad in January 2018.

Prior to being turned over to the National Investigation Agency in January 2021, the Pune police conducted the investigation for two years. A special NIA court in Mumbai denied bail to Anand Teltumbde in July 2021. The court determined that the claims made against him were, at the very least, accurate.

According to Special NIA Judge Kothalikar, Anand Teltumbde was unable to provide an explanation for why his name was listed as a convener on the booklet named “Bhima Koregaon Shauryadin Prerana Abhiyan,” which was published before the event on December 31, 2017.

In its observation, the court said it did not find the accusation of Teltumbde’s involvement not “inherently improbable” or “wholly unbelievable,” and prima facie he was involved in furthering the activities of the banned organisation. The NIA had earlier claimed that Teltumbde was an active member of the proscribed group CPI(M) and propagated its activities.

Besides Teltumbde, a host of other supposed “intellectuals” including Sudha Bharadwaj, Stan Swamy, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, and Varavara Rao were arrested for inciteful speeches and their involvement in furthering activities of a banned organisation. Stan Swamy, one of the accused in the case died in July 2021.

Islamic cult leader Adnan Oktar of Turkey sentenced to 8,658 years in prison: Surrounded by scantily clad women he called ‘kittens’, child abuse and hate

OpIndia Staff
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Islamic cult leader Adnan Oktar of Turkey sentenced to 8,658 years in prison: Surrounded by scantily clad women he called ‘kittens’, child abuse and hate

On November 16 (local time), a Turkish court sentenced 66-year-old Islamic sex cult leader Adnan Oktar to 8,658 years in prison. Oktar, a televangelist, used to lead television programmes with women dressed in scanty clothes and a lot of makeup. He is also accused of abuse of minors. He promoted conservative rules and creationism in his programmes. Reports suggest he addressed the women around him as “kittens”.

The Istanbul court sentenced Oktar to 891 years in prison for running a criminal organisation, denial of education rights, sexual abuse and illegal storage of personal data. In total, he has been sentenced to 8,658 years. Other ten suspects in cases related to him were also awarded similar sentences. The original sentence was of 1,075 years. Reportedly, the cases involve around 215 defendants. Many defendants have been awarded shorter prison terms.

Reports suggest that the first verdict against the Islamic leader Oktar and his associates came in January 2021. However, an upper court overruled the verdict citing legal proof. The court ordered a retrial. In September, he was presented in court over allegations of running an armed organisation and exploiting the religious sentiments of the people.

In 2018, Oktar and hundreds of his followers were arrested by the Turkish police from his house. During his arrest, he called the allegations against him ‘lies’ and said the action against him was taken on the behest of the ‘British deep state’.

He was accused of collecting private information about high-profile individuals, including actors, politicians and journalists. Oktar faces criticism from religious leaders in Turkey over his online programs that gained popularity on online A9 television channels.

As per BBC, he was also charged for alleged links with exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. He was the mastermind behind a failed military coup that took place in 2016, resulting in the death of 251 people. The incident left over 2,000 people injured.

Before 2018, Oktar was arrested multiple times over different charges. He spent time both in prison and in the psychiatric unit over the years.

The life of Adnan Oktar

Oktar began his career in the 80s as an orator. He spoke extensively against Jews, Freemasons and Charles Darwin. Later, he started discussing Islamic principles while his “kittens” dressed in provocative dresses danced around him. His popularity was at its peak after he began denouncing evolution. He became the first Islamic thinker to bring Christian evangelical Creationism into the Islamic world.

Oktar, under the pen name Harun Yahya, “debunked” evolution in his controversial 800-page book named Atlas of Creation. The copies of the book were sent across the world to universities and libraries allegedly without consent.

Oktar grew up in a relatively affluent secular family in the 70s. He got involved in religious activism in the late 70s. During the 80s, be built Adnancilar, a circle of devotees or followers of Muslim scholar Said Nursi. Reportedly, Nursi talked about combining traditional Islamic beliefs with scientific ideas. Later, Nursi became one of the most influential people in the Islamic revival movement in Turkey. Fethullah Gulen, the accused of the 2016 coup, was also a follower of Nursi.

1,000 girlfriends and 69,000 contraceptive pills

As per reports, Oktar claimed in court that he has over “1,000 girlfriends”. He further claimed in his defence that he never abused them. During the search, the investigating agencies recovered over 69,000 contraceptive pills. One of his alleged girlfriends had said he sexually assaulted her and other women and forced them to take the pills. On the contrary, Oktar claimed those pills were used to “treat skin disorders and menstrual problems”.

300 defamation suits against a former member of the cult

A former member of Oktar’s cult, identified as Ebru Simsek, told Turkish media in 2021 that she was subjected to abuse. Oktar came across her in 1994 after seeing her in a beauty contest. He invited her to his “wonderful mansion” and asked her to “take off her pyjamas” and live with him. He told her, “Come here, I will offer you the best conditions, you will wear the best brands, and your life will be luxurious”.

Later, she left the cult. However, she was allegedly subjected to over 300 defamation lawsuits following her escape. Simsek has to shift to the United States to end the harassment.

Oktar was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia

In 1986, he was arrested for “making propaganda to weaken or destroy national sentiments”. Following his arrest, he was subjected to psychiatric evaluation at Bakirkoy Hospital, where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Atlas of Creation

Started in the 90s with the formation of the Science Research Foundation (BAV), his group extensively traded in designer Islamic garments. They called themselves followers of the secularist founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Simultaneously, Oktar’s concentration shifted towards Charles Darwin.

In 2007, Oktar published Atlas of Creation and attempted to “debunk” the theory of evolution. Tens of thousands of copies of his books reached schools, colleges, universities and researchers across the US and Europe. No consent was taken before sending the books.

Oktar’s ‘Kittens’

Oktar founded A9 TV station in 2011. It was broadcasted over the internet and on Turkish cable networks. He used the platform to host documentaries based on his works and televangelism. Young women on his shows would discuss current affairs and religious issues and also dance to pop music in between the shows.

Oktar was against the hijab and said there was no mention of hijab in holy texts. At one point, he said, “At that time, I said that the headscarf doesn’t exist in the Quran. I made a compelling argument based on the verses of the Quran… for Islamists in Turkey, half of their religion is about the hair of women.” The women on her show were labelled as Kittens.

Oktar was a Holocaust denier but had a shift in thoughts

In the 90s, he formulated links with Christian Creationists. It was an attempt to provide strength to his anti-Darwin propaganda. In 1996, he released ‘The holocaust Deception’ under BAV and denied Holocaust. He claimed the Nazis did not have any plan to mass murder the Jews.

Ten years down the line, he changed his tone and released a book in 2006 titled ‘The Holocaust Violence’ which acknowledged the Holocaust. In 2007, he claimed he never denied Holocaust. Notably, while his first theory denying Holocaust was in circulation, he had reportedly formed a bond with right-wing Jews in Israel.

Furthermore, over time he made several appearances and wrote columns in Israeli media calling for Jew-Muslim unity. His vocal support to allow Jews to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque made it easier for him to form good relationships with famous Jew personalities. Oktar had said, “the protests by some Muslims against Jews worshipping there are in no way compatible with the spirit of peace in the Quran and Islam.” He had suggested the solution to the struggle over the holy site is with “love and reconciliation and the construction of the Third Temple on some empty land on the Temple Mount without damaging the existing Islamic sites there”.

Punjabi singer Babbu Maan receives death threat from Bambiha gang, security tightened after threat call

OpIndia Staff
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Punjabi singer Babbu Maan receives death threat from Bambiha gang, security tightened after threat call

Punjabi singer Babbu Maan on Thursday received a death threat over a phone call from the Bambiha gangster group. Police have tightened security outside Babbu Maan’s residences in Mohali. 

As per the intelligence inputs received by the Punjab Police, the Bambiha gang is planning to use people with no criminal record especially minor boys in their plot to kill singer Babbu Maan. Maan has lodged a complaint.

The security arrangements for the singer have been tightened.

A police official has told that previously, 4 police officers were deployed for his security, but now 16 officers have been deployed for the singer’s protection. 

In a recent stage show of the singer in Mohali’s Kubaheri village, over 300 police personnel were deployed.

Another controversy involving Mankirt Aulakh arose when he shared an old video of himself performing a show in Ropar Jail. Singer described gangster Lawrence as a close ally in the 7-year-old post.

Mankirt Aulakh is now being accused by the Bambiha Gang of being involved in the plot to murder Sidhu Moosewala. However, the singer denied all of these allegations, calling them baseless.

This comes months after Punjabi rap singer Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead in the board daylight in May by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The firing continued for about 10 minutes, with unknown gunmen firing approximately 30 bullets. Shortly after the murder, Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility, calling it an act of retaliation for the killing of Youth Akali Dal leader Vicky Middukhera in Mohali.

The 47-year-old Babbu Maan had expressed grief over Sidhu Moosewala’s death and also demanded the state government to take strict action against the killers.

Notably, on May 29, controversial singer and Congress leader Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead. Multiple rounds were fired at his vehicle in Mansa district, Punjab. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead. Lawrence Bishnoi gang took responsibility for the murder, alleging that Moosewala was involved in the murder of one of their gang member, but Police did not take any action against him.

Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar writes 5th letter, says ‘AAP leaders demanded kickbacks for supply of tablets in 2016 for Delhi School Model’

OpIndia Staff
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Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar writes 5th letter, says ‘AAP leaders demanded kickbacks for supply of tablets in 2016 for Delhi School Model’

On Thursday, Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who was arrested by Delhi Police in the 200 crore extortion case again wrote a letter against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. He alleged that the AAP leaders including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia requested illegal payments during a 2016 agreement for the supply of tablets ‘for the Delhi school model.’

Sukesh Chandrashekhar stated that he introduced Shine Lau from DOS Electronics in China and that several video calls were conducted between Shine, Satyenderji, Manish Sisodia, and him on the matters of supply and lastly when specifications and other aspects were to be negotiated.” He stated he was later told not to pursue the transaction.

He alleged that the only concern of AAP leader Satyendra Jain in this regard was that he wanted kickback to reach him and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. “Satyendraji had no concerns regarding the quantity or the warranty of the product, which was being purchased,” the letter read.

“In mid of 2016 when a meeting was organised at Kailash Gahlot farm, where myself Jain and Manish Sisodia and a representative of Shine, Arnav Malodia from Mumbai had attended, and the deal was finalised for the supply and Satyenderji and Manishji had told Arnav that a shell company will be created in the name of Manish Sisodia`s relative, Pankaj who is based in Pune and the margin amount kickback had to be transferred as a loan to the newly created company,” he said in the letter he wrote through his lawyer Anant Malik.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar further said that the deal could not be materialized as AAP leaders had raised the kickback margins. Satyendra Jain and Manish Sisodia had forced him to convince Lau and also Delhi CM Kejriwal had asked him to convince the company to agree to the terms of Jain and Sisodia. “But after my convincing attempt failed, Satyender ji and Manish ji had asked me not to pursue further as Manishji relative, Pankaj had found someone else for this contract with a better proposal,” the letter stated.

Chandrashekhar also added that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was lying and that he must face a polygraph test (lie detector test). “Don’t waste your time calling me a ‘thug’ or ‘Conman’ and ill talk about me. Instead, you first show you are truthful in accordance to the law, and prove me wrong by agreeing to a polygraph test and a detailed CBI enquiry, if it is false according to you,” he said in the letter.

Notably, this is the fifth letter written by Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who was arrested by Delhi Police in the 200 crore extortion case alleging Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders. In the previous letters, Chandrashekhar had said that he had been facing constant threats and stress to withdraw complaints filed with the Lieutenant Governor’s office against the Aam Aadmi Party, Satyendar Jain, Arvind Kejriwal, and Kailash Gahlot, as well as to retract from disclosure statements made to the Economic Offences Wing and ED during the investigation of the case.

Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who is facing corruption charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Money Laundering Act, had previously written a few letters to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi from Tihar, alleging threats and pressure from Minister Satyender Jain and Sandeep Goel, former DG Prisons, Delhi.

Jammu Kashmir: Turkey-based Pakistan-funded terrorist Mukhtar Baba found to be the mastermind behind terror threats to journalists

OpIndia Staff
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Jammu Kashmir: Turkey-based Pakistan-funded terrorist Mukhtar Baba found to be the mastermind behind terror threats to journalists

Mukhtar Baba, a Pakistan-funded terror operative who had earlier worked as a journalist in Jammu and Kashmir is found to be the mastermind behind the plot to issue threats to local journalists, and then highlight their resignations to peddle an anti-India narrative.

As per a report by Times of India, Mukhtar Baba was in touch with 6 persons based in Jammu and Kashmir, two of whom are government employees. Together with his associates, and with funding from the ISI, Baba had tried to propagate fear in the valley with the threat messages, and subsequent resignations of the journalists that followed.

An FIR has been filed under UAPA and other relevant sections of the IPC and an investigation has been launched to probe the terror plot.

It is notable here that several Kashmir-based journalists had resigned after a so-called ‘hitlist’ with their names was circulated on several social media channels. The threats had come from Pakistan-funded terror groups The Resistance Front (TRF) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). 11 journalists were named as ‘collaborators’ and ‘traitors’ in the hit list.

A dossier accessed by CNN News 18 says that the Over Ground Workers (OGW)s associated with Mukhtar Baba have been identified. As per reports, Mukhtar Baba’s goal was to make Kashmir-based journalists spread Pakistan’s narrative of fear and unrest in the Kashmir region.

The dossier shows that Mukhar Baba and his associate Sajjad Gul had even discussed the murder of journalist Shujat Bukhari in the past.

Who is Mukhtar Baba

Mukhtar Baba used to be a journalist working in Kashmir. He is from Shaheed Gunj in Srinagar and has eventually worked from SK Bagh, BK Pora and Nowgam. Working with Pakistan’s ISI, and pretending to be a journalist, Mukhtar Baba had created a network of informers and pro-Pakistan operatives in the media.

Mukhtar Baba went to Pakistan from India and later was installed in Turkey by ISI’s deep penetration spy Carin Jodha Fischer, a German-American woman who had come to India under the guise of a tourist and had stayed and worked for ISI till 2016. In 2016, Fischer’s cover was blown and she was deported from India. She has since been working with Pakistan-hired lobby groups against India.

Mukhtar worked for Hizbul Mujahideen while he stayed in Kashmir. However, he was shunned by Hizbul after he sold 40 AK 47 guns to another terrorist outfit, in exchange for huge sums of money. He was arrested in 1990, but he managed to get released within a few months and started working with Masharat Alam’s Muslim League, the outfit that was behind violent stone peltings in Kashmir. As a journalist, Mukhtar Baba worked with major news outlets like Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Observer and CNS.

Baba, though based in Ankara, Turkey, visits Pakistan frequently and works with TRF and LeT to groom, recruit Kashmiri youth and use them against India.

Govt employees and media persons working with Mukhtar Baba

As per reports, the hitlist was made and propagated with the express intention of threatening journalists, and eventually creating an atmosphere of fear by killing some of them. TOI has stated quoting govt sources that it does not matter which terror outfit would have eventually been used to pull the trigger, but the intention was to create an atmosphere of fear and make local journalists toe Pakistan’s line.

4 of the 6 persons identified so far in the investigations are media persons working with Mukhtar Baba, and 2 of them are government employees, as per reports. Investigators are now probing the extent of their links and operation by mapping their digital communications and associations.

The probe agencies say that apart from Baba and his direct associates, there are a number of media outlets that have tried to aid the terror plot by openly discussing the names mentioned in the hitlist and fanning the narrative of fear in the valley. The Srinagar Police have requested media organisations to not fall for sensationalism and behave in a responsible manner.

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