Journalist-turned-filmmaker Pritish Nandy, who is actually born on 15th January, was being wished birthday wishes yesterday, on 21st February. Among others, media personality Raj Nayak took to Twitter to wish him as well.
Many many happy returns of the day dear @PritishNandy ! Have a splendid one ! Cheers ?
However, actor Neena Gupta was not too happy to see the wishes.
U don’t know raj what horrible thing pritish nandi did to me and i have a proof so do not wish him happy anything if u r my friend https://t.co/Zl82aJZcFl
Reacting to Nayak’s tweet, Gupta said how Nayak does not know of ‘horrible thing’ Pritish Nandy did to her. In the cryptic message, she added that she also has proof of that. And that if Nayak was her friend, he would not wish anything happy for Nandy.
Curious, we tried to find out what was it that Nandy did that has hurt Gupta so much that she does not wish anything happy for him.
We came across multiple tweets where it was accused that Nandy had ‘stolen’ the birth certificate of Neena Gupta’s daughter Masaba to publish in a report and ‘prove’ that Masaba was former West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards’ daughter.
I have read it somewhere that He got the birth certificate of Masaba and made it public about her father !
You know how it’s difficult for a single mother to raise a child and specially a girl child !
We decided to dig a little deeper. In 1989, Neena Gupta gave birth to a girl. Newspapers were ‘aghast‘ since she had not told the world the name of the father. She kept her lips tightly sealed over who the father was, until Pritish Nandy hounded her and published a copy of Masaba’s birth certificate in The Illustrated Weekly of India, a magazine he edited.
At around 5:45 minutes mark in the above YouTube clip, Gupta speaks about a ‘journalist’, ‘editor of a big mazagine’, who went and stole the birth certificate from the registrar’s office. She says she called him (presumably Nandy) a ‘bas*ard’. Since he (Nandy) got Masaba’s birth certificate by sending his associate to steal it.
Turns out, Gupta’s aunt had submitted the documents at the registrar’s office, and the registrar asked her to come after a week to collect the certificate. A week later, when her aunt went to collect it, the registrar said that the certificate was already collected by Neena Gupta’s relative. Nandy had sent his associate to collect the certificate and he then went ahead and published it in his magazine.
Essentially, Nandy infringed Masaba Gupta’s privacy along with Neena Gupta’s and tried to shame Neena on a national and international platform for having a child as an unwed mother. In a society where a child born to an unwed mother is still stigmatized along with the mother, this is an extremely shallow and perverse thing one could do.
Ironically, Pritish Nandy regularly dishes out gyaan on privacy and laws related to privacy on Twitter.
We live in truly wicked times when under the guise of national security the State wants to hijack our privacy.
While writing this article, we actually discovered that Pritish’s birthday actually falls on 15th January and not on 21st February. Yesterday, he was replying to a 15th January wish by abusive troll Swati Chaturvedi when the avalanche of belated birthday wishes came through.
According to reports, Chief of UN-designated terrorist organization Jaish-e-Muhammad, Masood Azhar, has warned the Pakistani government against taking action against him due to pressure from the Indian government in the aftermath of the Pulwama Terror Attack.
He is reported to have said in his weekly address, ”Pakistan’s response to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s threats post-Pulwama was rather lukewarm and lackluster. It appears Pakistan is scared of India.”
Azhar stated further, “If the government of Pakistan remains strong, Modi will go further backward. But if our government comes under the pressure of Modi and accepts some of his demands, it can help him regain his position.”
In the video that is reported to be circulating widely in Kashmir, Azhar spoke about the “Hindu mindset” as well. “Some people are saying this attack will help Narendra Modi in his election campaign. This is not true. People who think so don’t understand India’s politics nor are they aware of the Hindu mindset. This has sent his popularity to the graveyard. He was making hullaballoo about the elimination of militant ranks by operation all-out. So how did this attack happen?”
Meanwhile, Pakistan has reinstated its ban on Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ul-Dawa (JuD) and its surrogate, the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), something which it does every once in a while as part of its posturing.
This time around, the posturing appears to be connected with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) discussion where it will try to avoid being blacklisted. It’s already in the FATF grey list which indicates countries under ‘high-risk and other monitored jurisdiction’.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that he would contribute the monetary reward of the Seoul Peace prize that he was awarded yesterday, amounting to ₹1.3 crores, for the Namami Gange initiative. He made the announcement while addressing the media and dignitaries after receiving the Seoul Peace prize in South Korea.
#LIVE – I would like to contribute the monetary award for the Namami Gange initiative: Prime Minister @narendramodi honoured in Seoul, South Korea. PM receives the Seoul Peace Prize. pic.twitter.com/i8fC50XJs5
Modi said that this award is a recognition of the philosophy that has given the message of ‘vasudhyo kutumbh kambh’ meaning ‘the entire world is one family’. This award is for people who have always put societal good over individual ambitions and I’m honoured that this award is conferred on me”, Modi said after accepting the 14th Seoul Peace Prize.
Addressing the media Modi dedicated the award to all his countrymen saying, “I believe that this award belongs not to me personally, but to the people of India. The success that India has achieved in the last 5 years is due to aspirations, inspiration & efforts of the people of India. On their behalf, I accept the Award and express my gratitude.”
“I dedicate this award to the 1.3 billion people of India for giving me the opportunity to serve them. I am honoured that this award is being conferred on me in the year that we celebrate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,” furthered PM Narendra Modi.
Modi continued saying, “The Seoul Peace Prize was established to commemorate the success of the 24th Summer Olympics held in Seoul in 1988. India remembers the games since it ended on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. The games showcased the best of Korean culture, the warmth of Korean hospitality & success of the Korean economy.”
Modi stressed on the importance of the Olympic games as he said that the 1988 Olympics were a landmark as it was held when the world was going through many socio-economic changes.
He said that though the World has gone through several changes since 1988, as global poverty has been steadily falling, health care and education outcome has been improving yet several daunting global challenges remain. He spoke about the threat of climatic changes to humankind. Radicalisation and terrorism are the biggest threat globally and millions of people in the world still remain deprived of basic food, health care, power, sanitation and above all dignity of life.
He said that there is a lot more to be done still and India is doing her part. India is today the fastest growing economy in the world. This has only been possible due to the flagship initiatives taken, which includes Made in India, Digital India, Skill India and Clean India which have contributed considerably in India’s socio-economic growth, asserted Modi.
Due to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the sanitation coverage up from 38 per cent in 2014 to 98 per cent today. Modi went on to speak about all the initiatives which have contributed to the holistic development of India.
“India’s growth story is not only good for the people of India but also for the entire world. We live in an increasingly interconnected world. Our growth and prosperity will inevitably contribute to global growth and development”, said Modi asserting that “India, as a responsible member of the international community, has been in the forefront of our collective fight against climate change. Despite having a historically low carbon footprint, India has been playing an active role in the global fight against climate change”.
On International plain India has partnered with like-minded countries to launch the international solar alliance which aims to harness clean and unlimited solar energy as an alternative to fossil fuels, said the PM.
Modi said that we have extended our helping hand to countries in need and carried out operations in conflict zones rescuing not only Indians but many people of various nationalities and have been an active and considerate developing partners to other developing countries.
Modi proudly asserted that India has been the land of peace for ages. The people of India have practised the concept of harmonious coexistence for thousands of years. India is proud to be one of the most diverse nations in the world.
Modi said the like Korea India has also suffered from the pain of cross-border strike. Our endeavour for peaceful development has too often been derailed by cross-border terrorism.
Modi in strong words demanded that the time has come for all those who believe in humanity to join hands to completely eradicate terrorist network and their financial supply channels and their counter-terrorist ideologies and propaganda. Only by doing so Modi said hate can be replaced with harmony, destruction with development and transform the landscape of violence and vendetta into a postcard for peace.
Prime Minister Modi has embarked on a two-day visit to South Korea, from 21st to 22nd February. In addition to several bilateral meetings, PM Modi was conferred with the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize.
PM Modi is the fourteenth recipient of the award. Past recipients include Kofi Annan, the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, the eighth-secretary-general of the United Nations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and organizations like Doctors without Borders.
In January this year, PM Modi was conferred with first ever Philip Kotler Presidential award for outstanding leadership. Last year, The United Nations had also awarded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emanuel Macron with 2018 ‘Champions of the Earth Awards’. PM Narendra Modi was lauded for his “unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022.”
After the UNSC issued a strong statement against the Pulwama terrorist attack and named JeM, thereby registering a major diplomatic win for India, media in Pakistan has resorted to obfuscation and twisting the statement to suit their fundamentalist narratives.
A report published by Geo TV had the headline, “UNSC condemns Pulwama attack, rebuffs India’s efforts to implicate Pakistan”.
Geo TV report
The report of Pakistan Media Geo TV slyly mentions Kashmir as ‘Indian administered Kashmir, while the UNSC statement had clearly mentioned ‘Jammu and Kashmir’, which was hailed by a major diplomatic win by experts in India.
In another attempt to perhaps please the fundamentalist elements in Pakistan, the Geo TV report does not mention the name of the Islamist terrorist organisation Jaish–Mohammad, which had claimed the responsibility for the attack.
The UNSC statement had clearly mentioned JeM by its name. The Geo TV report, went ahead to change the exact UNSC statement and mentioned ‘occupied Kashmir’ in their report, which is a blatant lie.
Geo TV report on UNSC statement
The full statement by the UNSC is as follows:
The statement issued by UNSC
It is evident by the blatant twisting and misrepresentation of facts by Geo TV that the Pakistan administration and media are busy ignoring the truth and keeping their public misinformed over the global perception of their own country.
The headline of the Geo TV report mentioned ‘Rebuffs India’s attempts to implicate Pakistan’. However, the UNSC statement actually contained no such mention, instead, the statement had mentioned that the UNSC urges all its member states to cooperate with India to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.
It seems that even after another global humiliation, Pakistan is yet to learn its lessons and continues to keep appeasing fundamentalist elements that aid and propagate terror organisations on its own soil.
The ghastly Pulwama terror attack left the entire nation in a state of mourning. Pakistan sponsored Jaish-e-Mohammad carried out a suicide attack against a convoy of Indian soldiers that ended up claiming the lives of 44 CRPF men. The nation had not even come to terms with the gravity of the situation when Congress and Rahul Gandhi started their politics.
Congress and Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter and also conducted a press conference accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of clicking photographs and selfies in Jim Corbett while the nation mourned the martyrs. OpIndia had comprehensively fact-checked this lie.
The photographs of Modi’s visit to the Corbett National park was already published by media around 2 PM, which means the photos were actually taken before 2 PM. And as Modi spent only about half an hour in the forest area, this means he had already returned from his forest visit before verified information about the attack may have reached him. Therefore, the allegation that PM Modi was doing a photo shoot in the forest after the Pulwama attack is a lie, which adds to the never-ending list of lies being propagated by Rahul Gandhi.
After Rahul Gandhi spread lies and played politics over the martyrs of Pulwama terror attack, Congress ended up deleting a tweet that exposed not only Rahul Gandhi’s duplicity, but also how he was celebrating and dancing hours after the Pulwama terror attack.
At 4:45 PM, the official Twitter handle of Congress tweeted a video of Rahul Gandhi dancing and making merry after his political rally in Gujarat.
Tweet by Congress’ official Twitter account on 14th February 2019
Congress tweet read “An incredible amount of love and support showered on Congress President @RahulGandhi in Valsad, Gujarat after his rally”.
The operative word here being ‘AFTER’. Congress’ tweet concedes that Rahul Gandhi was dancing AFTER his political rally in Valsad concluded.
We research a little and tried to ascertain when Rahul Gandhi’s speech had started. From multiple sources, it would seem that Rahul Gandhi’s speech had started a few minutes after 3 PM.
According to Indian Express, the speech started at about 3:18 PM.
The start of Rahul Gandhi’s rally according to Indian Express Live Blog
ANI, at 3:14 PM had tweeted about a woman kissing Rahul Gandhi at his Valsad rally. This incident had taken place before Rahul Gandhi had started speaking at the rally and had just gotten seated at the stage.
Considering the Pulwama attack took place after 3:00 PM and according to Congress’ tweet, Rahul Gandhi danced at with the people after the political rally in Gujarat, it stands to reason that Rahul Gandhi was dancing and making merry hours after the Pulwama terrorist attack.
Therefore, clearly, while Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Modi based on lies, it would appear that Rahul Gandhi himself was making merry while an Islamic terrorist carried out a suicide attack against our jawans. The video, now deleted by the Congress Twitter handle, can be seen here:
This reminds one of the time when after the ghastly terror attack of 26/11 in Mumbai, Rahul Gandhi was reportedly partying in his friends Delhi farmhouse.
Credit: India Today
After Congress’ lies against the Prime Minister were exposed, Congress proceeded to delete the tweet where Rahul Gandhi was seen dancing hours after the Pulwama terror attack.
‘Deleted tweet’ notification on Congress’ Tweet
This duplicity of Congress and its President Rahul Gandhi did not escape Netizens. Several political observers commented on Rahul Gandhi dancing after the terror attack.
It is rather shameful that Rahul Gandhi chose to attack and lie about Prime Minister Modi when he himself was dancing hours after 44 of our soldiers laid their lives down in the Pakistan sponsored Pulwama attack.
Reddit Inc. is an American social media company and is among the top social media networks across the world. After Facebook and Twitter, Reddit has over the years attracted the most number of users and is around the 3rd to 5th most used social networking sites in terms of unique visitors, and enjoys significant userbase in India too. Reddit India, a forum within Reddit designed to discuss all topics related to India has always been a strange place. For a discussion board that was supposedly created to discuss India, one could often read straight up abuse of India and her culture. Much of the blame has been assigned to the moderators of r/India and in particular their track record of censorship.
As early Redditors would remember, Reddit India was mysteriously created the same person who created Reddit Pakistan – u/qgyh2. (Source: r/India in 2012, r/Pakistan in 2012 – The first name in the moderator list was the creator of the sub) However, this person mysteriously disappeared around 8 months back, only to be replaced by much more sinister set of moderators on r/India. And around 2 months back, Reddit had an investment of over $200 mn, from none other than the Chinese censorship major – Tencent. Things have not quite been the same, since then.
Recently a whole host of readers have taken to other forums to publicly complain about the anti-India and pro-Pakistan narratives being dished out on r/India.
One of the readers u/h0ysala had noticed a discussion where a map that was posted was incorrect with what was officially denoted as boundaries by India’s MEA. On letting other readers know that the boundaries were incorrect, u/h0ysala was simply banned with a message “We dont want Bhakts!”
u/h0ysala gets banned for posting the correct map!
In another post, a reader complains that the moderators of r/India have deleted all the content that exposed how anarchy was prevalent in West Bengal!
Just today, yet another reader u/HR12India got mercilessly attacked and banned by the moderators of r/India. Why? Because he had commented something that praised India on another sub! For which the moderators of r/India told them they have the right to not allow anyone who speaks in favour of India!
User banned by r/India
That was it. No warning, no discussion, speaking good things about India meant you were not welcome to post in r/India.
At this rate, one really wonders what is the purpose of r/India, and why it is called r/India if speaking about India’s success was not welcome there!
The purpose however is not that hard to see; for users who have been on reddit for some time only know too well how the moderators of r/India have suppressed pro-India content and instead have blatantly promoted pro-Pakistan content, anti-Hindu propaganda. Many have feared this sub is controlled by either Pakistan agents, or given Tencent’s control of Reddit, Chinese agents. Seeing the propaganda spread on r/India, both don’t seem far fetched.
For example, another user claims that Prime Minster of India Shri Narendra Modi was behind the cowardly Pulwama attacks were over 40 brave Indian Jawaans were martyred by Pakistan based terrorists. In a post titled “Say whatever you want. But I believe that Modi is behind all this“, he makes his wild allegations. This post was never removed or censored by the moderators. Instead it is still up, despite the fact that the person who posted this makes no logical arguments whatsoever, nor provides any facts to back up his claim.
One of the persons replying to this post, u/Daliya_La_ma says “Modi may or may not be behind it but Modi is the biggest beneficiary of this rise in tension and possible subsequent conflict.” Many have suspected this user of being a Pakistan sympathiser. He certainly fits the bill – his account was created only around a month back on14th Jan 2019, right around the time the Chinese company Tencent invested millions into reddit.
Another user u/xinamongolic replies on the same post that “I have no doubt about it. It all looks organised.” On checking this user’s profile, his account was only created on 9th February 2019 and almost all of his posts are biased against India. Another comment of this same user “xinamongolic” says “Not politicians, but Terrorists and Goondas who spew hatred and create Riots and Murders, as in the BJP party. They are happy this cuz happened, that’s what they needed to boost in the polls.”
Surprisingly, this comment has around 20 upvotes, which indicates somehow 20 people like this comment.
Almost all of this user xinomongolic comments are filled with generic hate and very little substance. In another place he says “Why not? Is there a strict rule that BJP cannot go at any lengths to win elections? They Riot, Murders, use EVM machines, Hate speeches, polarisation and whatever shit you can imagine BJP are Masters in it.”
At this point, another reader u/PB49 replies to him that “You are out of touch with reality if you believe this shit lmao”, which again suspiciously downvoted.
This kind of polarised comments along with suspicious voting patterns leave many regular users of reddit bewildered.
In yet another blatant attempt at censorship, a recent post by u/kashmiriiprincess about the Freedom in the World 2019 report by Freedom House was censored within 15 minutes. The reason? The report showed that India had a better ranking than Pakistan (duh) and surprisingly, even Indian state of Kashmir had a higher ranking than the whole of Pakistan.
Thankfully, we managed to obtain a screenshot of the post:
Report censored within 15 minutes
Its extremely suspicious why the moderators of an Indian forum would remove a post that showcased India has better freedom ratings than Pakistan. Unless of course, the moderator’s priorities lies elsewhere.
Considering all the shady and dubious censorship and propaganda, we can see that at one end, we have people posting positive comments about India who seem to get censored and banned.
At other end, comments that have no basis or facts, seems to get promoted highly if they are against India. Baseless allegations are not removed. All of this, on a forum called r/India.
In fact, many users have brought this suspicious manipulation to the attention of the CEO of Reddit Inc, Steve Huffman.
Very recently, just 5 days back, one user brought to Steve’s attention in graphic detail all the moderation abuse, censorship and propaganda on r/India, including incidents of political bias and apprehensions of Pakistani or Chinese takeover over the moderator accounts. His post got over 100+ upvotes, thus symbolising a large portion of reddit users who agreed with what was said here. Steve’s response? He doesn’t even acknowledge the post!
On the same post, yet another user brought this to Steve’s attention, again to no avail. This was yet again not even acknowledged! Despite the fact that Steve had replied to several comments on the page, he choose to not even acknowledge the pertinent questions relating to moderation abuse on r/India, asked by 2 different users.
At this point, it would not be out of order to conclude that the Reddit CEO is both well aware complicit in this systematic abuse of moderation and publishing of select narratives on a sub that is designed to discuss all aspects of India. As to why this is happening, the truth remains elusive. Best guesses include both Pakistani or Chinese take over, in an attempt to manipulate Indian social media users with elections right around the corner.
Most readers of reddit and citizens of India would, at this point, request the Indian authorities and law enforcement agencies to take a note of this systematic abuse on such a prominent social media network. Recently, Twitter was hauled in front of the Parliamentary Committee to answer charges of shadow banning selective content, while exhibiting a complete lack of transparency. A similar approach would be appreciated for Reddit Inc as well.
Simultaneously, agencies such as CBI, NIA and State Government cyber crime task forces could also take cognizance of the narratives being stitched together on this site that are patently anti-Indian in nature. In fact it would be pertinent to investigate the accounts posting constant hate and terrorism related content on reddit, to identify if they have any ties with known terror organisations. Over the past week, several anti-social comments have been left across social media by people harbouring terror thoughts against India, and state police across the country have been cracking down on these crimes under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 as well as Sections 120(B), 123, 504, 505 and 507 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
A solution to the reddit problem would help in bringing much needed transparency in one of the top social networks that Indians use today.
Disclaimer: This is the first part of several articles that expose a systematic link between moderators of r/India and anti-national agents and miscreants. The writer is a user of reddit, and was banned from r/India for stating that “India has better space program than several other countries”. The opaque moderation and false narratives being promoted on r/India are documented in detail on r/IndiaDiscussion. The writer suggests other subs such as r/IndiaNews and r/IndiaSpeaks which have much more transparent moderation structure including audit logs of moderator actions.
Legal Note: Reddit being a company registered in United States Of America notifies that it is not bound by laws of India. The writer strongly disagrees with this, as the Information Technology Act and Rules of India mandate every social media company operating in India to follow Indian laws. Reddit is also legally bound to reveal information of perpetrators of crime through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between India and the United States of America, and Letters Rogatory can be facilitated via the Central Agencies Section of the Department of Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Law and Justice of the Government of India. The moderators of r/India have also created a twitter account @RedditIndia which is bound by the laws of India and is required to facilitate disclosure of information sought by any Indian investigative agency.
Difficult times lie ahead for Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Kamal Nath, as almost 25 MLAs from his own party have formed a group to voice their displeasure in the ruling Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.
The MLAs who have formed a club against Kamal Nath and his government are displeased because of the Congress government’s attitude and functioning.
According to reports, the MLAs are riffed mainly because they feel that the government have been transferring officers from their constituency without prior consultation or intimation. The high-headedness of Kamal Nath led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has managed to incite its own MLAs who have reportedly started lobbying against their own government.
The association formed by these riled MLAs mostly include MLAs who have won assembly elections for the first time. It also includes few members from the BSP who had agreed to support Congress in Madhya Pradesh.
Dr. Hiralal Alawa, the first time elected Congress minister from Manawar constituency in Malwa region, Madhya Pradesh, who is a part of the 25 member club lobbying against the government, also expressed his displeasure in the Madhya Pradesh’s Congress government.
According to a report in NDTV.com, the MLAs have also approached Kamal Nath with their issues, but they feel their problems have been ignored by the government.
Madhya Pradesh’ administration has not been a smooth sail for the Congress bigwig. Kamal Nath has landed himself in several controversies soon after he took charge of Madhya Pradesh. He created a massive political stir by proclaiming that a years-old tradition of reciting Vande Mataram at the state secretariat be abolished, but however, after facing strong protests by the BJP for the same, retracted the order. Soon after, he created another miff by declaring to cancel the pensions to those people who were detained during the Emergency under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and Defence of India Rules (DIR).
He almost immediately managed to agitate farmers in Damoh district where they were forced to take the street to protest over unsold paddy. Several promises made to the farmers prior to the elections by the Congress government were seen disappearing in thin air forcing multiple farmers to commit suicide in the state due to the debt burden. In December, farmers were lathicharged even as severe mismanagement of urea rocked the state.
There are also allegations of a scam brewing in the state as it was recently reported that Rs 120 crores of non-existent farm loans were ‘waived off’ in Madhya Pradesh.
One week after the horrific terrorist attack on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir, today Rahul Gandhi posted a tweet claiming that PM Narendra Modi was participating in a photo shoot 3 hours after the attack. The Congress president also posted photos of Modi’s visit to Corbett National park on 14th February, and one of the photos shows Modi getting photographed by a cameraman.
पुलवामा में 40 जवानों की शहादत की खबर के तीन घंटे बाद भी ‘प्राइम टाइम मिनिस्टर’ फिल्म शूटिंग करते रहे।
The same allegation was raised by Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also, who had claimed yesterday that while the terror attack happened at 3:10 PM on 14th February, Narendra Modi was enjoying a boat ride with a camera crew of Discovery channel. After that, the allegation has been repeated by pro-congress users on social media, including some prominent journalists.
But was Modi actually doing a photo shoot three hours after the Pulwama attack as claimed by Rahul Gandhi? Let’s examine the veracity of the claim.
The terror took place at around 3:10 PM, which means Modi should be getting photographed after 6 PM. If we look at the photo of Modi getting photographed, we can see that it is daytime, as the blue sunny sky can be seen in the background. But the time of sunset at the Jim Corbett National park was 6:02 PM on February 14, as per the time and date website. This means the area should have been dark if it was 3 hours after the attack. But as clearly Modi was there before sunset, it was not 3 hours after the attack.
So, when did actually Modi arrive at the national park? The prime minister was scheduled to address a rally in Rudrapur in Uttarakhand at 3 PM on 14th February. For that, he had arrived at Dehradun’s Jolly Grant airport on schedule at about 7 am, from where he was supposed to travel ahead by helicopter. But due to bad weather, the helicopter could not take off, so Modi had waited there for about three hours. His chopper took off at 11:15 AM for Kalagarh, and from there went to Dhikala zone of the Corbett Tiger Reserve by road. He had reached the Tiger reserve at around 12 noon and attended a meeting of Global Tiger Reserve. After the meeting, he crossed the Ramganga river on a boat to reach the Dhikala zone of the forest at around 1 PM, because shortly after that his arrival was reported by media.
As per media reports, Modi spent only about 30 minutes in the forest area, from where he went to Khinanauli forest rest house. Therefore, the PM had completed his forest visit almost an hour before the attack in Pulwama, during which time some photographers took few snaps of him. At the guest house, he discussed tiger conservation efforts with the officials and later addressed the rally in Rudrapur by phone as the weather did not improve. The speech was carried live by DD News, and from Youtube metadata analysis of the live video, it can be seen that the telecast of the speech started at 5:17 PM. This means, 2 hours after the attack, Modi was addressing the rally by phone, so as to not disappoint the thousands of people who were waiting there for 5-6 hours to hear him, and was not doing a photo shoot.
The photographs of Modi’s visit to the Corbett National part was already published by media around 2 PM, which means the photos were actually taken before 2 PM. And as Modi spent only about half an hour in the forest area, this means he had already returned from his forest visit before verified information about the attack may have reached him. Therefore, the allegation that PM Modi was doing a photo shoot in the forest after the Pulwama attack is a lie, which adds to the never-ending list of lies being propagated by Rahul Gandhi.
The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday assured the citizens of the country that “time will come” when people’s sentiments and expectations will have “fulfilment” while hinting at avenging the death of 44 CRPF soldiers in the Pulwama terror attack.
According to the reports, Union Home Minister speaking at the inauguration of the “Waste to Wonder” Park under the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said, there was still no mood for anyone to participate in any programme with enthusiasm. However, Rajnath Singh did not reveal any details on how the government is planning to avenge the deaths of security personnel.
“But, I am very assured and I want to assure you that time will come when people’s sentiments today, their desires, their expectations… those expectations will have fulfilment,” Singh said.
Recently, Home Minister Singh had visited Srinagar to review meetings with senior security officials to make the ground-level assessment and review further operational actions. Rajnath Singh had also lent his shoulder to the mortal remains of soldiers martyred in Pulwama attack.
Rajnath Singh has also been carefully reviewing the security situation in the country, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir along with the NSA Ajit Doval and other officers. The home minister has directed the officials to ensure that all possible steps are taken to hunt down terrorists currently operating in the Kashmir Valley.
After the Pulwama terror attack, India took a number of steps to ensure it hits Pakistan diplomatically and financially. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said yesterday that India would ensure that no water under Indus Water Treaty that is meant to be used by India would go to Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has launched a diplomatic offensive against the terrorist state of Pakistan. India has successfully managed to garner enough international support to isolate Pakistan. In a big victory to India, the UNSC adopted a resolution unanimously by including China condemning the Pulwama attack and underlining the need to hold those responsible accountable. The resolution contains specific language that India had proposed via partner countries, including the naming of JeM and bring perpetrators to justice.
A terrorist belonging to Pakistani Army backed Islamic terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, rammed an SUV laden with over 300 kg of explosives into the CRPF bus carrying about 40 personnel. The collision exploded the bus and the vehicle, causing the deaths of more than 40 CRPF soldiers.
More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Kashmir Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 70 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm on Thursday.
Jihadi literature, live cartridges and weapons were seized from Shahnawaz and Aqib, two suspected terrorists arrested by the ATS wing of Uttar Pradesh Police in Saharanpur.
UP DGP OP Singh: Of the two Shahnawaz is said to be a grenade expert. We will seek transit remand and investigate when they came here from Kashmir and who is funding them and what was their target. We are in touch with J&K Police https://t.co/I4HzNBmk9b
It is believed that Shahnawaz worked as a recruiter and was responsible for recruiting terrorists for the Jaish-e-Mohammad. Shahnawaz and Aqib hail from Kulgam and Pulwama in Kashmir respectively. The UP Police will be seeking transit remand for the two and undertake further investigation.
Following the ghastly terror attack on the CRPF personnel in Pulwama, Kashmir on February 14, the security agencies have cracked down upon the terrorists. Yesterday, as per a report by MyNation, seven Kashmiris, who sold shawls and dry fruits in Delhi were picked up by the IB after noticing their involvement in suspicious activities. As per agencies, some of them may be working as informants for the terrorists.
Earlier this week, two terrorists, believed to be the masterminds behind the Pulwama attack were neutralised by security forces in Kashmir, about 15 km from the site of the suicide attack. In the encounter, 4 Army personnel, including an Army major have been martyred in the encounter. 2 civilians, who were used by the terrorists as human shields were also killed. Later, 23 men with alleged links with Jaish-e-Mohammad were detained by the security forces.
