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How fake websites are being used by Pakistan to burn India in caste wars

Ashutosh Muglikar
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How fake websites are being used by Pakistan to burn India in caste wars

Pakistan Senate last year had passed a resolution highlighting their renewed Kashmir policy, which stressed on reaching out to Modi haters, using Media, and importantly, stoking communal tensions between various ethnic groups in India especially caste by ‘talking about Dalits’.

To break India by exploiting fault-lines in the society was declared an official state policy. Coincidentally Indian media too seems to be toying this Pakistan line and following the same policy. Coincidentally again, using the mainstream media too was part of this policy of Pakistan.

But not just the Indian media, Pakistan also realizes the importance of social media and the internet. And it appears that they are working on that front too.

Recently I saw people referring to a video titled Brahmins “The Upper Caste”. Many people on Facebook and Twitter were sharing angry responses to the utter lies and distortions being peddled in that video. When this tweet was shared on my Timeline I decided to investigate the source of this post which was some website called CJ Post.

Being aware about Pakistan’s declared policy, I decided to investigate more about the website. The whois data shows owner details we under privacy lock. The “Contact us” page has no details and only mentions “coming soon”. The website concentrates on “atrocities” against Dalits and other castes.

Their social media presence however gives away the Pakistani connection as a bulk of those sharing its links are Twitter or Facebook users from Pakistan. With these “Dalit” stories, now they are trying to get Indian followers too, and it seems, they are getting successful.

The anti-Brahmin video posted on their Facebook page was viewed over 2.55 lakh times and shared about 10,000 times. There are many responses by Indians to this video trying to dismiss all the fake claims as well.

Pakistani propaganda on caste
Pakistani propaganda reaching a large audience

To create this video with a seemingly “professional” and “foreigner” news reader, these propagandists have used services available online, which they can avail of while sitting in some garage in Islamabad.

It is but obvious that none of the claims in the video are true and hence I am not repeating the same. Still if you are curious, let me tell you that one of the claims in the video says that people belonging to Brahmin caste are not charged any money for staying anywhere in India. Do you really think such ridiculous charges are worth countering?

However my real concern is that on the Facebook page sharing this fake news, I observed many Indians fighting among themselves over caste differences:

Caste hatred
How Pakistan is winning this cyber war

I also came across many Indians who identified these nefarious designs and called them out. Someone even copy-pasted my tweets on that article to warn others.

Pakistani propaganda being fought back
Some fight back against the propaganda
how to respond to hate speech against Brahmins
The best way to respond to such incendiary propaganda

For those who don’t know, this website has a history of coming up with fake news to target India.

In January this year, this fake news website posted an article claiming that an Indian national had raped a Nepali girl inside the Indian Embassy in UAE and RAW officials were also involved in the matter. The website thought that they will be able to create some sensation in the wake of UAE soldiers taking part in Indian Republic Day parade, where Abu Dhabi crown prince was the chief guest.

Some Pakistani accounts even “trended” this news across Twitter and Facebook under a particular hashtag, hoping they will be able to fool the mainstream media of India, Pakistan, UAE, and Nepal. Fortunately, no one was fooled and their antics remained on social media only.

Now they seem to have decided to focus on ‘caste’ because such articles can easily be believed. One can’t deny that in many parts of India, especially rural India, caste tensions exist. Now Pakistanis are adding their own propaganda and ‘creativity’ (like the aforementioned video) to exploit the fault-lines. Today, they are trying to trend a hate hashtag against Brahmins hoping that it gets picked up in India:


In such sensitive and critical times we live in, it is becoming increasingly important to spot the Pakistani propaganda and warn Indians, who knowingly or unknowingly, are becoming party to it.

Pakistan is ready with petrol and waiting for sparks like Saharanpur. Some in the Indian media are ready to carry that petrol on their behalf, but we have to be ready for fire-fighting. Remember, Pakistan is currently winning this war, but we can fight back.

Surrendered Maoist denies police pressure, villagers protest against ‘urban naxals’

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Surrendered Maoist denies police pressure, villagers protest against ‘urban naxals’

A few days back we had reported how a surrendered Maoist named Podiyam Panda had claimed that he used to be a link between the top Maoist leadership and some ‘eminent’ citizens cum activists. Panda had alleged that he used to drive activists from Delhi, including Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar and prominent ‘activist’ Bela Bhatia, deep into the forest of Sukma to meet top Maoist leaders.

Incidentally Times of India which had initially reported the incident had changed its headline from, “Maoist nails DU Professor, top Activist” to “Maoist confession forced, says DU professor” within a matter of hours.

Further reports then started claiming that the family members of Panda had come out to claim that his surrender was under possible duress and that he was never a Maoist. They claimed that he had been “picked by the police” on 3rd May and that when they had tried to meet Panda in jail on 10th May, the cops only took food and clothes they had carried for Panda but didn’t allow them to meet him.

The family then reportedly filed a habeus corpus petition in Bilaspur High Court on 12th May in this regard and after that they claimed that the cops had forced Panda to call them up and state that he had voulntarily agreed to surrender and that they need to withdraw their case.

This petition prompted the High Court to ask the Bastar police to produce him in front of the court on Monday, even though the cops insisted that he was free to appear in the court anytime. The High Court also remarked that:

Let him say in front of the court that he wasn’t coerced to surrender

The authorities also argued that he was not being kept away from his wife and claimed that the state had sought her help in convincing Panda to surrender.

As per reports, Panda had given a statement to the media, claiming that he had asked his wife to return to her village but she expressed her inability as there were “women lawyers who weren’t allowing her to go”.

Panda was finally brought in front of the court on Monday, where he put the whole “victim narrative” to rest. As told to the court by Panda, he had surrendered voluntarily and was under no pressure from the police. The report also claimed that Panda told the court that he was not assaulted by the police and that the lawyers, activists of the CPI had forced his wife to file the case.

Some reports also claimed that in the court Panda and his wife were allowed to privately converse with each other for 15 min but the wife still maintained in a statement to the media that Panda was doing everything under police pressure.

Incidentally the wife had also claimed that her husband had helped the police in the past. This, if fact, goes against her theory that Panda had not surrendered voluntarily. Maoists in the past have been notorious in eliminating police informants. So Panda would rather surrender and feel safe among the police, which he incidentally is reported to have said.


Meanwhile local residents in the Naxal affected areas have also started speaking up. A dharna-protest was organised by victims of Naxalism in Konta, Bastar, where villagers protested against likes of Nalini Sundar, Bela Bhatia and other human rights activists and lawyers. It should be noted that the lawyer of Podiyam Panda’s wife is also an activist.

A Gujarat lawyer has filed an RTI to know the IQ of a Judge

Hemant Bijapurkar
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A Gujarat lawyer has filed an RTI to know the IQ of a Judge

In a “Mad mad world” incident which has come to light from Ahmadabad, a lawyer has filed a Right to Information (RTI) application inquiring about the IQ of a sitting Judge of a session’s court.

The lawyer named Anand Brahmbhatt reportedly decided to take this route after he wasn’t very pleased at the judge’s courtroom behavior and style of judicial functioning.

The RTI application inquires:

  • Whether the judge in question had appeared in any competitive examination that provided an IQ score
  • Whether the judge was allowed to take such an examination
  • Specific information has also been sought about whether the Judge’s IQ is zero or somehow in the negative

The RTI query is addressed to the court registrar and principal sessions judge who is now tasked with somehow furnishing the information. The application was accepted by the city civil court’s correspondence department on Monday.

Certain personal information has also been sought by lawyer Brahmbhatt:

  • The lawyer Brahmbhatt wants to know whether the Gujarat High Court had medically examined the judge and if it had then whether the judge had exhibited signs of mental illness during this process
  • Lawyer Brahmbhatt has also inquired about the amount of years spent by the judge in clearing his board exams, graduation and obtaining his law degree
  • Lawyer Brahmbhatt has also sought information about the assets of the judge and whether there’s any complaint pending against him

Lawyer Brahmbhatt has claimed that he has sought the information under the capacity of a private citizen and has stated that if the authorities wish to deny his request then they should cite proper sections of the law for doing so.

It remains to be seen the tone of the RTI reply, given the loaded questions in the query.

Also, this might possibly be the first time a ‘private citizen’ has asked for information about a judge’s IQ. There have though been instances in the past about former judges passing statements about the intelligence of Indian citizens.

In 2012 former Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju had outright stated that he considered 90% of Indians to be idiots and that they didn’t have a brain in their head as it was easy to take them for a ride.

Mr Katju’s impression of Indians though hasn’t improved over time and in his Facebook post it was revealed that the number had actually risen to 95%. He had further stated that after so many Indians thronged to attend the Justin Bieber concert in Mumbai, he was increasing the number to 97% with the possibility of further escalation in the future.

No more free lunch? US to convert aid to Pakistan into loan

Saswat Panigrahi
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No more free lunch? US to convert aid to Pakistan into loan

This should be seen as a significant shift forward in the US foreign policy towards Pakistan. In his maiden annual budget submitted to the US Congress, American President Donald Trump has proposed to convert the US grant to Pakistan – for purchase of military hardware – into loan. The State Department will take a final call on the proposal. However, for countries like Israel and Egypt, the US military aid will continue in the form of grant.

Though the move is seen as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to help pay for increased US military spending, it is loaded with the new US stance on Israel and Egypt vis-a-vis Pakistan. Like India, Israel and Egypt are victims of terrorism. The Trump administration has vowed to protect Israel and Egypt from Hamas and Islamic State respectively. But at the same time, Pakistan aids and abets terrorism of which the entire South Asia region, particularly India, is the victim.

The move came close on the heels of the President Trump told the Arab-Islamic-US Summit that countries must ensure that no terror outfit is existing in their soil. While asserting that India is among the victims of terrorism, Trump had said, “Every nation has an absolute duty to ensure that terrorists find no quarter on their soil.” Obviously, this was in oblique reference to Pakistan.

Ever since Donald Trump took over as President, American is going tough against Pakistan. Recently, in its first assessment of the security situation in South Asian region, Trump administration had issued severe indictment of Pakistan.

Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence in Trump administration, had blamed Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism and held that it is responsible for destabilising the South Asian region.

For decades Pakistan has been peddling terrorism on American dollars by pulling wool over US eyes. President Donald Trump’s proposal to convert the US grant to Pakistan into loan is a much awaited revision in US’s Pakistan policy. This is a clean break from the approach by successive past US administrations – Obama, Bush and Clinton – on Pakistan.

It could be noted that as of now Pakistan is the leading recipient of the US aid. According to a study conducted by the Congressional Research Service, the US has given a whopping $18 billion aid to Pakistan from 2002 to 2015. The country also received $13 billion from the Coalition Support Fund as reimbursements for so called logistical and operational support it provided to the US troops operating in Afghanistan.

But what does Pakistan do with these billions of US aid? It diverts it to train, finance and support terrorist organisations against India and other South Asian countries precisely explaining how Pakistan uses terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

Donald Trump’s proposal to convert the US grant to Pakistan into loan is certainly significant. This is not to dispute that finance plays a very significant role in running terror operations. Once the US finance is choked, Pakistan’s terrorist factory will be automatically shut down. Economically Pakistan is in a terrible state. It can’t afford to use its own money to finance terror operations. Nor it can afford to divert the loan from the US for the purpose of terrorism.

This is clear validation of New Delhi’s position that Pakistan is the mothership of International terrorism and it is important to keep the heat on the rogue state.

Twitter calls out ‘political correctness’ in responding to Manchester terror attack

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Twitter calls out ‘political correctness’ in responding to Manchester terror attack

The world was shocked after the news broke of a deadly suicide bombing at the Manchester arena in England at about 10:30 PM (UK time) on Monday. The bomber, who has now been identified as UK born Libyan origin 22-year-old man Salman Abedi, reportedly blew himself up near one of the exits just as the crowd was filing out of a music concert.

The attack resulted in the death of 22 people, mostly young women and teenagers including an 8 years old girl. Reports suggested that the ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, the bomber Salman Abedi also reportedly had ties clear ties to the Al Qaeda and had also received terrorist training abroad.

The report also claimed that Abedi’s own family members had previously informed about him to the police. Also the bomb used is being thought to be too big and sophisticated and was made using material that were hard to obtain in Britain, hence it was possible that the attacker might have had possible help from others.

However, most of these pieces of information was presented (and some denied) with ‘liberal’ dash of political correctness. This behavior was nothing new as in the past too we had reported how the Berlin terror attack in December last, where a terrorist drove a truck through a busy street killing 12 people, was styled as a “lorry attack” by various media houses.

Here are a few instances:

Some publications took on themselves to highlight religion of people who were helping. A user on twitter had posted a picture of a Sikh cab driver who was offering free rides to victims. Cosmopolitan, a glamour magazine, got in touch with him asking permission to use that picture, to which the user readily gave. When the report came out people found that the magazine had used the Sikh cab driver’s picture for a “Muslim Taxi drivers took kids trying to escape the Manchester Ariana Grande concert home form free” article:


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The media houses also started to give new novel politically correct names to terrorist attacks. In April after a attacker had mowed down 4 pedestrians using a truck in Stockholm, the Economist had proceeded to report it as “vehicular terrorism”.

This time they found a way not to use “suicide bombing” in the reports:


Some could give the terror attack altogether new spin – it was about gender:


All such attempts were done apparently to save Muslims and Islam from backlash. To which a user had this reaction:


A user also questioned Twitter over its decision to limit his account even though he had just tried to shut up a writer who had cracked an utterly distasteful ‘joke’ after the attack:


One gave suggestions which the politically correct media could implement:


A media house carried an article which touted the same old cliched line:


The positive responses to it were given a smart reply by an user:


Another ‘liberal’ reaction in wake of terror attacks is “let us keep politics away” – this political correctness was also called out this time:

Tortured for not accepting Islam after marriage – CBI files chargesheet in Tara Shahdeo case

OpIndia Staff
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Tortured for not accepting Islam after marriage – CBI files chargesheet in Tara Shahdeo case

The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a chargesheet in the case involving a national level shooter Tara Shahdeo, who had in 2014 claimed that she was pressurised and tortured by her in-laws to accept Islam after she married a person, who she thought was a Hindu.

The incident had come to light in August 2014, when Tara left the house of her in-laws and made these shocking charges. She was barely married for a month before she had to walk out of it to save her dignity and choice of following her religion.

Tara had married another shooting professional named Ranjeet Kumar Kohli on 7 July 2014 in Ranchi. Ranjeet reportedly had been doing well professionally and was well connected with high profile people. Tara had met Ranjeet the same year earlier during shooting practice. He started courting her and later proposed to her, to which she agreed.

Both were married as per Hindu rituals but Tara says that just a day after the wedding, she came to know that Ranjeet was not a Hindu. His real name was Raqibul Hasan Khan and he was a Muslim. Due to this reason, this incident was reported as a possible case of ‘Love Jihad’ back in 2014.

Now with the CBI filing the chargesheet against Ranjeet alias Raqibul, his mother Kaushal Rani, and Mushtaq Ahmed, the then Registrar (vigilance) of the Jharkhand High Court, more details are emerging.

According to reports, both Raqibul and his mother used to mentally and physically torture Tara, asking her to accept Islam if she wanted her married life to be normal.

“Either change your religion, or partners in your bed will keep changing,” Raqibul’s mother is alleged to have threatened Tara. She was strictly warned not to apply ‘sindoor’, failing which her hands will be broken. There were dowry demands too from the in-laws, Tara had alleged.

A group of maulvis were also called a couple of days after their wedding where Tara was asked to convert. Tara alleges that she was beaten up badly when she refused. She was further threatened that not only her, her family members will also be killed if she opened her mouth, Tara alleges.

The torture continued for a month before Tara decided to break free. As per reports, she used mobile phone of a domestic help on 17 August 2014 to call her brother and asked him to come to her in-laws’ house along with police. The incident came to public knowledge thereafter.

Love Jihad violence
Tara Shahdeo showing her injuries (2014, source)

Pictures of a distraught Tara with injury marks, including of cigarette burns, were proof enough that something was wrong and a case was registered. Tara had to be hospitalised after she was rescued from the torture.

Raqibul Hasan Khan later accepted that he had physically assaulted Tara but denied putting pressure for religion conversion. He was subsequently sent to judicial custody on 27 August and he is lodged in a Ranchi jail ever since. His mother was given bail though in the case.

The High Court had asked the CBI to investigate the case and the case was transferred to the central agency in May 2015. CBI now has filed the chargesheet under sections of criminal conspiracy, sexual assault, domestic violence and for fraudulently organising marriage ceremony without lawful marriage.

Three years of Modi government – an overview of the Defence sector

OpIndia Staff
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Three years of Modi government – an overview of the Defence sector

The three years of Modi government has seen a number of policy decisions in the crucial Defence Ministry.

In February 2016, the Modi government fulfilled its promise to implement the long-pending one rank, one-pension (OROP) scheme. Around 2.6 million war veterans and 60,000 widows are the potential beneficiaries of the scheme.

In a departure from the past, the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes against terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in September 2016.

In the last three years, the government took several steps for promoting participation of the private sector in indigenous defence productions. A report in Times of India suggests that since 2014-15, initial approvals have been accorded to around 140 capital procurement projects worth over Rs 4 lakh crore. Out of which 96 projects, worth over Rs 2.5 lakh crore, involves domestic production. Similarly, around 150 actual contracts worth over Rs 2 lakh crore were inked. These include around 80 capital procurement contracts worth Rs 1.50 lakh crore with foreign vendors.

The Defence Ministry, on 20 May, finalised a much-awaited Strategic Partnership model. The new initiative will boost the private sector’s role in defence production. Now, select private firms will be roped in to build military platforms like submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with foreign entities.

India had signed a Rs 5,000-crore deal with the US for 145 M777 ultra-light howitzers in November last year breaking the Bofors jinx. Ending a three-decade wait for the Indian Army to induct long-range artillery guns after the Bofors scandal broke, two ultra-light howitzers (ULH) arrived in India on 18 May from the US. The guns, with a calibre of 155 mm, will be mostly deployed along the borders with China. While 25 guns will come to India in a fly-away condition, the rest will be assembled in India by the BAE Systems in partnership with Mahindra Defence.

India had inked $7.87 billion deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighters in September, 2016. This was the first fighter aircraft deal since the purchase of Sukhois from Russia in the late 1990s.

India Army, which has been pitching for its own dedicated fleet of attack helicopters since long, gets its way through. According to reports, Army is set to get 11 Apache multi-role attack helicopters from the US. Similarly, the Indian Air Force will acquire 15 US-made Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. It could be noted that India had contracted 22 Apache attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters under a $3-billion deal with the US in September 2015 through the Foreign Military Sales program.

Undoubtedly, these are good beginnings. In its 2004 manifesto, the BJP had promised to bring in a “radical systemic changes” in the defence sector. The government has to do a lot to strengthen the defence sector and invigorate India’s defence production.

Though Defence Ministry under Narendra Modi-led NDA government has shifted from the status quo era of the UPA, the armed forces still continue to battle deficiencies in areas like submarines, fighter jets, multi-role helicopters and night-fighting capabilities.

The annual Defence Budget of the country is yet to see a visible hike. India’s defence budget for 2017-18 was Rs 2.74 lakh crore which is 1.63 per cent of country’s GDP. In sharp contrast, China’s military spending for 2017 is pegged at $152 billion, which is close to around 3 per cent of its GDP and three times higher than that of India’s defence budget.

Pitching for increased defence spending to enhance India’s strategic clout, Army chief General Bipin Rawat had said, “While we are developing our economy, the military is not getting its due share. I think here we need to draw a lesson from China.”

Not having a full-time Defence Minister and considering the crucial Defence Ministry as an “additional Ministry” is indeed a problem. It could be noted that Arun Jaitley is holding the additional charge of the Defence Ministry after Manohar Parrikar returned to Goa as the Chief Minister. Parrikar looked after the ministry for a little over two years after Jaitley held an additional charge of Defence Ministry for six months in 2014. The country needs a full-time Defence Minister.

AAP MLA delays rescue operation, later laughs on Twitter quoting the news

OpIndia Staff
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AAP MLA delays rescue operation, later laughs on Twitter quoting the news

Alka Lamba, who is the AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk constituency of Delhi, stirred up a major controversy after reportedly delaying a fire fighting cum rescue operation for around an hour, and later appeared remorselessly laughing about it on Twitter.

Last night, A major fire had broken out at a closed shop and later spread to others in the Moti Bazar area of Chandni Chowk. This resulted in 11 fire tenders being rushed to the spot to control the fire. Being the local MLA, Alka Lamba too reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

According to reports rather than stepping aside and letting the firemen do their work, she ended up causing a delay of about an hour. Media reports claim that the area where the fire had erupted was very congested and the fire officials were as it is facing troubles in bringing in the vehicles.

Alka Lamba then reportedly asked the fire department officials to bring down the crane which was being used in the rescue operations so that she could climb on it to go on top. Her actions reportedly angered local people, due to which she had to be taken away in a Delhi Police vehicle to save her from the people’s wrath.

A report by CNN-News18 claimed that about 40 shops were damaged due to the fire. The report put forth Alka Lamba’s version of events, where she claimed that she went there to make sure there was absolutely no delay in dousing of the fire. She also claimed that she was there to encourage the fire officials who were working there.

However, the same report report also stated that there was a delay of about an hour due to Ms Lamba’s actions and she has reportedly been summoned by Kejriwal to give an explanation.

But rather than feeling remorseful and expressing her profuse apologies, Alka Lamba today quoted the tweet of a news report covering the incident and reacted to it by putting three laughing out loud emojis:


Lamba did not explain what was she finding so funny about reports that she delayed rescue operations. She has not even claimed that her account was hacked, as has been done in the past by some of her senior colleagues.

Now her actions have prompted BJP leader Nupur Sharma to file a complaint against her for obstructing public servants from discharging their duties.

In the complaint addressed to the Delhi Commissioner of Police, Nupur Sharma has asked for a case to be lodged under the section 186 of the IPC, which carries a punishment of imprisonment of up to 3 months. She also called for a serious investigation into the possible delay and avoidable loss to property and lives (if any) Alka Lamba caused due to her stunts.

Kashmiri cop deserts the force and joins terror group Hizbul Mujahideen

OpIndia Staff
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Kashmiri cop deserts the force and joins terror group Hizbul Mujahideen

A Kashmir constable by the name of Syed Naveed Mushtaq had reportedly gone missing from the Budgam district of Kashmir on Saturday. The constable who hailed from the Pulwama district was deployed to guard the godowns of Food corporation of India at Chandpora in Budgam district.

After he went missing, a manhunt was launched by the police authorities on suspicion of him deserting the force to join the terrorists. What fueled this theory further was the fact that he had taken with him four self-loading rifles and ammunition.

According to the police, the terrorists were facing a shortage of armaments and that the cop would not have an issue contacting them as the his cousin too was believed to be one.

Unfortunately their fears were confirmed and according to reports the Hizbul Mujahideen confirmed the joining of constable Syed Naveed Mushtaq. A spokesperson for the Mujahideen apparently told the Kashmir News Service over phone that:

Our field operational commander, Mehmood Ghaznavi, has welcomed Syed Naveed for joining the militant organization to fight Indian occupational forces in Kashmir

And he also confirmed that he had also brought with him the 4 rifles in question.

This isn’t the first time such an incident has occurred in Kashmir. In 2015 another constable also hailing from the Pulwama district had fled with two AK-47 from the residence of PDP minister Altaf Bukhari. He was subsequently killed in an encounter in April 2016.

The Hizbul Mujahideen which has been declared a terror outfit by India was also in the news recently after the Jammu and Kashmir police identified its local module which was reportedly responsible for the death of Lt Ummer Fayaz.

Pakistan feels humiliated after being completely ignored during Trump’s Islamic Summit

Hemant Bijapurkar
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Pakistan feels humiliated after being completely ignored during Trump’s Islamic Summit

Donald Trump the President of United States of America was on a two day tour of Saudi Arabia from 20th to 21st May. During the visit, Trump addressed the Arab-Islamic-US summit involving leaders of 55 Muslim majority countries, and the corner-stone of his speech was Islamic terrorism.

During the speech, he reportedly made a passionate plea to the Middle East leaders to unite in defeating Islamic extremists and driving out terrorism. During the speech he also mentioned India among the countries which he believed were the victims of terrorism.

While there were supporters and critics of Trump’s visit, Pakistan citizens have ended up feeling utterly humiliated after their nation was completely snubbed during the whole event.

As per reports, Pakistan had high hopes of recognition but ended up being largely shut out of the event. The report pointed out how the US-Saudi relationship had made Islamabad its ally and when the alliance was planning an Islamic summit, Pakistan was expected to be in the spotlight. But things didn’t quite turn out as expected.

According to the report Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif had spent the entire duration of his flight to Riyadh rehearsing his speech for the summit. The report suggested that the speech would have been unique as Pakistan has an unique position of being both the perpetrator and the victim of terror. But to the dismay of the nation, neither Nawaz Sharif nor Army Chief Raheel Sharif ended up getting invited to address the summit.

What seems to have irked them further is the fact that Trump identified India as a victim of terror but failed to do so in case of Pakistan. What made matters worse was the fact that Trump also denied the request of a full fledged meeting with Nawaz Sharif and only talked to him on the sidelines of the event.

According to reports the Pakistani media failed to come to grips with the humiliation of Pakistan. One Pakistani publication summed up the incident as:

The popular sentiment among the majority of Pakistani media delegation was that of a total humiliation

The ego of the Pakistani establishment was also hurt as apparently Sharif was not allowed to speak even though some ‘small nations’ were allowed to do so.

What might have further embarrassed and angered the Pakistanis is the fact that Pakistan was snubbed from an Islamic summit while it considers itself an Islamic country with its founding principles too being based on the religion.

If this snub to Pakistan was deliberately staged, one could argue that this yet another shift in US policy where it treated Pakistan as an ally and tried to monkey-balance between India and Pakistan.

During his election campaign Trump had been making statements favoring India and its policies, which suggested that him coming into office would mean a shift in America’s long standing pro-Pakistan foreign policy.

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