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TMC leader Tapas Dalapati arrested as accused in BJP leader Chandan Maity’s murder

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Image Source: https://www.anandabazar.com/

Police have arrested local TMC leader Tapas Dalapati as accused in the murder of BJP leader Chandan Maity also known as Shambu, who was brutally murdered on Saturday, November 6 in Bhagabanpur in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district.

Reportedly, miscreants had barged into his home and abducted him at late hours of the night when he was alone at home and his wife had gone out to celebrate Bhai Phonta. When her calls went unanswered, Chandan’s wife alerted the neighbours who then started a search for him and located him lying in a pool of blood on the streets of Bhagabanpur Block-1’s Mohammadpur. He was stabbed multiple times.

Though he was rushed to Bhagabanpur hospital for treatment, he succumbed to his injuries while being moved to Tamluk hospital. The body was sent for post mortem and then handed over to the family. On Sunday, Chandan’s body was brought to his home accompanied by a candle march. 

The police arrested the influential TMC leader within 24 hours of the complaint being made by the victim’s family. He was produced before the Kanthi sub-divisional court on Tuesday, November 9 and ordered 12-day police custody. It has been learned from Police sources that Dalapati has admitted to being linked to Chandan’s killing.

“Based on the written complaint lodged by the family of the deceased, a search was triggered in the area and one man was detained. He has primarily admitted to having links to the crime during the interrogation. He is still in police custody and further interrogations have been started. Investigations are going on to find out if there are any more people linked to this murder,” informed Purba Medinipur Superintendent of Police, Amarnath K. 

As per local sources, the arrested TMC leader was known to be the right-hand man of Nantu Pradhan, another deceased TMC leader in the Bhagawanpur region. He is accused of multiple incidents of post-poll violence that had started in the state after TMC’s victory in the Assembly elections.

It has come to light that he had attacked Chandan previously as well. Apart from this, the arrested TMC leader had also been threatening several local BJP leaders for the past 2 days, alleges Nabarun Naik, BJP Tamluk’s organisational district president.

“It only proves there is no democracy in Bengal, rather it is being raped under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee every time,” asserts Sukanta Majumdar, the BJP state chief who was at Bhagabanpur protesting the barbaric murder of the local BJP leader. 

TRF top commander Mehran Yaseen among 3 terrorists killed in Srinagar

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TRF top commander Mehran Yaseen, who was allegedly involved in killing of two teachers in Srinagar last month and several other attacks on civilians and security forces, was among three terrorists killed in an encounter at Rambagh in Srinagar on Wednesday, police said.

Police said acting swiftly on its own specific input regarding movement of terrorists in Rambagh area, a Srinagar police team signalled a vehicle suspected of carrying the terrorists to stop.

“However, the terrorists started firing indiscriminately on the police party from inside the car while trying to flee from the spot under the cover of firing. The fire was however effectively retaliated, leading to a gunfight.

“In the ensuing gunfight, three terrorists got killed and were identified as terrorist commander of proscribed terror outfit LeT (TRF) Mehran Yaseen Shalla, resident of Jamalatta Srinagar, Manzoor Ahmad Mir, resident of Babhar Pulwama and Arafat Ahmad Sheikh, resident of Nikloora Pulwama.”

Police said as per its records, the killed terrorists were linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT (TRF) and part of group involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on security forces and civilian atrocities.

“As per police records, killed terrorist Mehran Yaseen had a long history of terror crimes and was wanted by law for his involvement in several terror crime cases including grenade attack at Barbar Shah Srinagar on June 26, 2021 in which one civilian namely Mudasir Ahmad Bhat resident of Hanjigund Beerwah got killed and three other civilians got critically injured, killing of Meeran Ali Sheikh at Bulbul Lanker Nawa Kadal on July 27, 2021, killing of PSI Arshad Ahmad at Khanyar on September 12, 2021, killing of School Principal Supinder Kour and teacher Deepak Chand of Government Higher Secondary School, Khankah Noorbagh Sangam on October 7, 2021.

“Prior to joining in terror ranks, several cases regarding his involvement in stone pelting incidents are also registered against him. Moreover, the other killed terrorist Arafat Ahmad was also involved in several terror crime cases including killing of a non-local labourer at Litter area of Pulwama on October 16, 2021,” police said.

Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition has been recovered from their possession. Police has registered a case in this regard and investigation is in progress.

The IGP, Kashmir appreciated the role of Srinagar police in conducting the successful operation without any collateral damage.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed.)

Madrasa cleric sexually abuses 11-year-old girl, absconds following alleged police connivance: Kerala

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Police have registered a case against an Islamist cleric named Akbar Shah who molested an 11-year-old minor girl inside a madrasa in Kottiyam, Kollam district. It is alleged that he repeatedly abused the minor inside the madrassa at Mylapure Masjid in Kottiyam. 

There are also allegations that despite receiving a complaint, the police helped the cleric to escape by delaying his arrest. It is accused that the connivance of a few officials at the Kottiyam police station helped the POCSO accused escape.

In her statement, the girl said that that the accused had been molesting her for a long time. She was taken for a medical examination after the complaint was registered.

Kannada music director Hamsalekha denigrates late Pejawar Swamiji

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Hamsalekha Pejawar
Featured Image Source: coastal digital

Kannada film music director Hamsalekha has denigrated late Pejawara Shri Vishvesha Teertha Swami ji by saying that he went to Dalits’ houses only for publicity. After much outrage he has apologised for his comments but it has revealed how far Periyarism has found hold in Karnataka through Sandalwood.

While speaking at SaReGaMaPa show of Zee TV Kannada in Mysuru, the music director is said to have denigrated late Pejawar Swamiji and deity Ranganatha. He mocked Swamiji’s visits to and stays in Dalit colonies as mere publicity stunt. It is reported that he said, “The best he can do is to go there and sit. Can he eat chicken if offered, or can he eat mutton fry or liver fry? I don’t think that visiting the houses of Dalits is a big achievement”.

He also said that instead of doing such publicity stunts people from forward castes should invite SC, ST people to their houses, feed them and wash their utensils to show that there really isn’t any discrimination based on caste. The late Pejawara Swamiji was recently conferred Padma Vibhushan for his service towards the society. He was one of the key figures that spearheaded the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

The current seer of the Pejawara Matha in Udupi, Sri Vishwaprasanna Theertha Swamiji condemned Hamsalekha and said that the late Swamiji’s visits to SC/ST colonies were genuine and not for publicity. Saying that his guru had been doing it for decades, he assured that he will continue in his path to fulfill his aim of reaching out to SC/STs.

So Hamsalekha’s comments met with widespread criticism and police complaints were filed against him for hurting religious sentiments by denigrating a revered seer. However he immediately apologised saying that “I know I was wrong in making such comments in an awards ceremony. I have high respect for the efforts being made by elders and personalities to banish untouchability and I have high regard and respect for these efforts. Even my wife did not like some of my utterances and I sought apologies from her.” 

Many Kanadigas were outraged by his remarks as the seer is a revered figure across the state. However as the Dravidianist ideology has been taking roots in Karnataka recently, some turned it into an issue of free speech. While many of his fans who didn’t like his distasteful remarks were not even aware of his caste, others turned it into a caste issue. They wrongly compared his comments with the beef issue saying that at least now those who are against consumption of beef should understand the importance of food choices.

This is classic behaviour of Periyarists and Dravidianists, diverting and muddling issues by raising unrelated questions. Hamsalekha wasn’t off the mark in asking upper caste people to invite and feed SC/STs in their houses. But while on one hand opposing Madde Snana(the practice of rolling on plantain leaves left by Brahmins after eating out of them) they demand that upper castes should prove their sincerity by washing utensils.

Similar to how Periyarists in Tamil Nadu ask whether Brahmins would give their daughters to SC/STs for marriage to compensate for “2000 years of oppression”, these so-called Kannadiga activists ask if the Swamiji would eat chicken or mutton. Instead of making SC/STs economically stronger, these activists have been turning agrarian feudalism into caste discrimination. They have actually been diverting the attention of the marginalised sections from real empowerment like education and economic independence, and focusing it on abusing and demanding tokenism.

British imperialists have better PR, they were worse than Nazis: ‘Sardar Udham’ producer

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Unlike Nazi Germany, British imperialists perhaps had a better public relations machinery, as a result of which no one speaks about the masscares like the one that took place at Jallianwala Bagh in 1919, Ronnie Lahiri, producer of Vicky Kaushal-starrer film ‘Sardar Udham’, said on Tuesday.

“Even now almost after 70 years, the Jews who survived make sure that nobody in the world forgets what the Germans did to them,” Lahiri said while speaking at a masterclass session at the ongoing 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here on Tuesday.

“Somehow, the Britishers for 100+ years colonised half of the world and I think they were worse than what the Nazis had done. But they are the ones with very good PR machinery, and that’s the reason even today nobody talks about any of the massacres,” he said.

“They carried out these massacres — the Bloody Sundays — all over the world. You have them Indonesia, Malaysia and Ireland. But somehow I don’t know how they’ve managed to keep it away from the public focus,” he added.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline)

Hinduphobia in Metro Atlanta: Can we stop it before it grows?

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In 2019, it was reported that Forsyth County, Georgia, had one of the fastest-growing Asian populations in the U.S., with at least 20,000 residents. This past September, a sign in Forsyth County said “no dotheads,” a slur used against Hindus, should be allowed in Atlanta.  The poster was a small piece of cardboard that read “NO,” in big black letters with a red dot above it symbolizing a bindi, the traditional decoration worn by Hindu women on their foreheads. 

“It just made me sick looking at it,” says a 14 year old, female-identifying Gwinnett County resident who identifies as Hindu. “The fact that people are so hateful towards another religion that they probably know nothing about hurts for someone who is a Hindu to see.”

As has been the case with many minority groups in the United States, the rise of the Indian American community in the United States has resulted in some isolated attacks. Threats on Hindus in the United States result from what author Khyati Y. Joshi calls “racialization of religion,” a process that begins when specific phenotypic characteristics associated with a group and attached to race in popular discourse become associated with a particular religion or religions. The constant and casual racism towards Hindus has led to Hindus being perceived as a distinct group, which contributed to preconceptions against them.

“Honestly, I think it’s a little odd,” says another 16 year old female identifying teen from Forsyth County who identifies within the Hindu Community about the sign. “Forsyth County has a huge Hindu population. The person who put those signs up must have known what the result of their actions would be like. I don’t feel scared or anything because of the sheer number of Hindu people in Forsyth County.”

Anti-Hindu hatred has a long deep-rooted history. For example, from 1975 to 1995, the “Dotbusters” were a dispersed hate group that attacked Hindus in New York and New Jersey. Also, in 1995, Pat Roberson, a religious, political commentator and an American media mogul, ridiculed Hinduism as “demonic,” leading to Indian Americans and representatives of various non-partisan advocacy groups slamming and challenging his remarks.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Indian communities faced a series of violent hate crimes, xenophobic rhetoric, and jargon. A 2014 South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) study reported “in 2001, 59% of Americans held favorable opinions of Muslims. In 2012, half of Americans reported discomfort with women in burqas, mosques in their neighborhoods, or Muslims praying in airports.”

This caused a significant escalation to the previous hatred of these groups that has continued up to this day. For example, a Hindu temple in north Texas was vandalized in April 2015, when obscene imagery was spray-painted on its walls, and in 2019, a Hindu  Swaminarayan temple in Kentucky was vandalized by a group of Christians who spray painted ‘Jesus’ all over the exterior. Earlier this year,  Hindusamata reported that a Minnesota church mobilized against the construction of a Hindu temple and wrote letters to the public calling it a “heathen temple” and saying that “Hindu gods are fake gods.”

“The issue is not so much Hinduphobia as it is white supremacy, these types of crimes can be done to anyone” says Sudha Malhotra, a Forsyth County resident I had the opportunity to speak with.

This one sentence really struck me and gave me some insight from another perspective. It is not only the Hindu religion that has faced backlash, it is anyone’s identity whom certain people tend to disapprove of. 

“Many upper-caste (UC) Hindu Indians are using this incident to act oppressed when they’re not,” says the Forsyth County teen quoted earlier. “While this is not to be ignored, UC Hindus are not oppressed and have systemic advantages over lower-caste (LC) people and darker-skinned Indians. ” 

It should be noted that Upper Caste Hindu people make up a little less than 20% of Bharat’s population, yet they make up more than half of Indian American immigrants. Because of the economic inequality and discrimination they face in Bharat, lower caste people are less likely to migrate to the United States.

As someone who has grown up in a highly religious household and been taught that the worship of God is something to be proud of and embrace, these attacks truly bring fear to myself and my Hindu or Indian community peers. Hindu Dharma is something that is meant to bring people together spiritually and personally, not tear relationships apart. 

These past actions show that this sentiment for Hindu and Indian groups has been a constant in our history for the last four decades and must be put to an end now. 

(This article was published on voxalt.org and has been reproduced here in full with minor edits to conform to HinduPost style-guide.)

Youth murdered for opposing cattle theft

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cattle

Armed cattle thieves murdered 21-year-old Usveer Yadav in Uttar Pradesh (UP) on the intervening night of 16 and 17 November for resisting the theft of his cattle. Cattle theft is a serious problem, particularly in Haryana’s Mewat.

A report on the matter by Swarajya Mag reads:

Usveer’s cousin Govind told this correspondent over the phone that the incident happened on the intervening night of 16 and 17 November.

“I was sleeping on a cot near Usveer. Around 12am, we heard our neighbour Jagdish raise an alam that thieves were taking away our buffalo. Both of us rushed out.”

“The thieves pumped a bullet in Usveer’s head. We managed to put him in a vehicle and rushed for the hospital, but he died on the way,” said Govind, who is the same age as Usveer.

Usveer was the eldest of six siblings. An elder sister is married, while two younger brothers and sisters each are studying in school or working at home. Govind said that Usveer had been living for more than a year in New Delhi, where he lived on rent and worked.

“He would regularly send money home. He was the primary earning member of the house as his father – my tauji – is quite old,” said Govind.

“He had children very late in his marriage,” he added.

Usveer had come to his house in Nagla Dungar village in Kasganj district near Agra to attend an annual mela that is organised every November. “He would come to his house only twice or thrice in a year,” said Govind…

…Govind said that the police told the family that the thieves sell cattle to slaughterhouses for meat. Ironically, the national English media maintains stoic silence on crimes by beef mafia as this dark trade heavily employs Muslim men.

The crime took place under the jurisdiction of Kasganj’s Sikandarpur Vaishya police station. Kasganj police confirmed on their Twitter page on November 17 that they had formed four teams to catch the culprits and on November 20 they put out a tweet confirming the arrest of a gang of buffalo thieves.

Kasganj superintendent of Police Rohan Botre said in a video statement that two members of the gang had confessed their role in the killing of Usveer. The police stated that two pistols, some cartridges, and two buffaloes had been recovered from the gang. According to available information, two of the accused have been identified as Saddam and Jumman.

(Featured Image Source: Swarajya Mag)

कृषि कानून वापस, पर “किसान” डटे? क्या चुनावों तक ही डटे रहेंगे या फिर?

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कृषि कानून वापस हो गए हैं, पर किसान अभी तक डटे हुए हैं, और दिल्ली बॉर्डर खाली करने को लेकर अभी उनकी कोई योजना नहीं है. राजनीतिक दल अपनी अपनी राजनीति कर रहे हैं. परन्तु लखनऊ में हुई किसान महापंचायत में यह स्पष्ट हो गया कि कथित किसानों द्वारा अभी आन्दोलन वापस लिए जाने की कोई योजना नहीं है.

राकेश टिकैत ने कई और मांगे अभी सामने रख दी हैं. जिनमें एमएसपी का कानून, और शहीद किसानों की याद में स्मारक, सहित कई और मांगें हैं.  उन्होंने प्रधानमंत्री की माफी को अपर्याप्त बताया है और कहा है कि वह इसे नहीं मानते हैं.  और अपना आन्दोलन जारी रखेंगे.

एक साल से चल रहे किसान आन्दोलन का हल निकलता दिखाई नहीं दे रहा है और शायद अभी हल आएगा भी नहीं. राकेश टिकैत ने उठने से इंकार कर दिया है और अब यह स्पष्ट है कि यह चलता ही रहेगा.  ऐसे में यह देखना अत्यंत आवश्यक होगा कि इसकी समय सीमा क्या होगी? क्या यह इन चुनावों तक ही रहेगा? या फिर यह आगे भी चलेगा?

राजनीतिक विश्लेषकों का कहना है कि यह किसान आन्दोलन अभी चुनावों तक तो चलेगा ही, परन्तु यह उसके बाद भी चलते रहने की आशंका है, क्योंकि यह किसानों के विषय में है ही नहीं. यह मात्र भारतीय जनता पार्टी के विरोध में खड़ा किया गया आन्दोलन है और विशेषकर उत्तर प्रदेश को लेकर इसका ताना बाना बुना जा रहा है.

पश्चिमी उत्तर प्रदेश में, जहाँ इस आन्दोलन का प्रभाव अधिक है और ऐसा लगता है कि भारतीय जनता पार्टी को प्रभावित करेगा, वहां पर कानून व्यवस्था एक बहुत बड़ा मुद्दा है. और कई महीनों से मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ उन मामलों पर कदम उठा रहे हैं, जिन पर पहले की सरकार में बोला भी नहीं जाता था, जैसे कैराना से हिन्दू परिवारों का पलायन, कबाड़ी माफियाओं पर कार्यवाही आदि सम्मिलित हैं.

समाजवादी पार्टी का शासन हो या फिर बहुजन समाज पार्टी का शासन, पश्चिमी उत्तर प्रदेश में हिन्दुओं का जीना हमेशा कठिन रहता था. कैराना में मुकीम काला का नाम आतंक का पर्याय था और मुकीम काला के कारण ही कैराना से हिन्दुओं का पलायन हुआ था.

मुजफ्फरनगर में वर्ष 2013 में सचिन और गौरव दो युवकों की हत्या कर दी गयी थी और उसके बाद महापंचायत से लौटते लोगों पर हमला कर दिया गया था, जिसमें 65 लोगों की मृत्यु हो गयी थी और साथ हजारों लोगों को पलायन करना पड़ा था.

यह तो चर्चित मामले रहे थे, परन्तु यह पश्चिमी उत्तर प्रदेश में मुस्लिम आतंक बताने के लिए पर्याप्त हैं और मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ उन समस्याओं पर काम कर रहे हैं, जिनसे यह क्षेत्र त्रस्त था, और यही कारण है कि इस क्षेत्र में भारतीय जनता पार्टी को चुनौती देने के लिए सपा, रालोद और किसान आन्दोलन तीनों मिलकर काम कर रहे हैं.

आज राष्ट्रीय किसान प्रगतिशील संघ ने सरकार से अनुरोध किया कि वह किसान विरोधी लॉबी से प्रभावित न हों और उन्होंने सभी 28 राज्यों और 9 संघ शासित प्रान्तों के प्रशासकों से अनुरोध किया कि वह अपने अपने सम्बन्धित राज्यों में सुधारों का क्रियान्वयन सुनिश्चित करें.

राष्ट्रीय किसान प्रगतिशील स्नाघ ने कहा है कि अगर भारत को अपने नागरिकों को स्थाई खाद्य सुरक्षा और खाद्य पदार्थों की कम महंगाई का आश्वासन देना है तो उसे हाल ही में किए गए बाजार सुधारों से किसानों की मदद करने की जरूरत है

संघ का कहना है कि हाशिए पर रहने वाले किसान इन सभी कानूनों से बहुत आश्वान्वित थे, जिन्हें अब निरस्त किया जा रहा है. प्रगतिशील संघ के राष्ट्रीय अध्यक्ष इन कानूनों को वापस लिए जाने से बहुत आक्रोशित दिखे और उन्होंने कथित विकास विरोधी एजेंटों से स्पष्ट पूछा कि आखिर कौन सी प्रणाली न उभरते राज्यों से धान की सभी 87 किस्मों और फसलों की अन्य किस्मों के लिए एमएसपी प्रदान करेगी? इसके साथ ही उन्होंने पूछा, हमने आखिर क्या अपराध किया है? वे हमारे सपनों और आकांक्षाएं को क्यों मार रहे हैं? ये तथाकथित किसान नेता चाहते हैं कि हम उनके खेत में मजदूर और सहायक के रूप में काम करें. वे चाहते हैं कि हम पलायन के लिए मजबूर हों.

भारतीय किसान युनियन का भानु गुट पहले ही इस आन्दोलन से अलग हो चुका है और कई संगठन इन कानूनों का समर्थन कर रहे थे. परन्तु अब जब इन्हें निरस्त किया जा रहा है तो ऐसे में वरिष्ठ पत्रकार प्रदीप सिंह का यह विश्लेषण बहुत कुछ सोचने पर विवश करता है.  उन्होंने कहा कि लखनऊ में किसान महापंचायत हुई थी, परन्तु यह विजय न होकर, निराश करने वाली थी.  उन्होंने प्रश्न उठाए कि आखिर किसी मीडिया ने आन्दोलन में आने वाले किसानों की संख्या पर कोई बात क्यों नहीं की?

यही बात कई स्थानीय पत्रकारों ने भी कही थी कि कहीं पर भी महापंचायत में आए हुए किसानों की भीड़ का उल्लेख नहीं था.  टिकैत का इंटरव्यू था, भारतीय जनता पार्टी को पराजित करने की रणनीति थी, परन्तु किसान नदारद थे!

आज ही “कथित किसान नेता” सुखबीर खलीफा और उनके 28 समर्थकों एवं 200 अज्ञात लोगों के खिलाफ एफआईआर दर्ज हुई है. क्योंकि उन्होंने नॉएडा के जीरो पॉइंट में ट्रैफिक जाम किया और धारा 144 का उल्लंघन किया.

अब जब राकेश टिकैत ट्रैक्टर मार्च की धमकी दे रहे हैं और निश्चय व्यक्त कर रहे हैं, तो ऐसे में देखना होगा कि सरकार क्या कदम उठाती है और इस प्रकार की अराजकता के समक्ष हमारी न्यायपालिका भी कब तक आँखें मूंदे रहती है?

Dangerous Pak regime to co-opt Islamists through appointment of new envoy to US

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Pakistan’s new Ambassador to the US, Masood Khan is a dangerous radical with a long history of working with Islamists in the West and jihadis in the East. His appointment is evidence of an increasingly dangerous Pakistani regime, which is working to co-opt and support Islamists all around the world, including in the US, Sam Westrop wrote in a recent article in National Review.

“Masood’s appointment will serve not just to advance Pakistan’s influence within American Islamism but also to assist Pakistan’s Islamist-driven foreign policy against India. As the former leader of Pakistani Kashmir, he is the obvious choice for a spokesperson to divert attention away from Pakistan’s reprehensible role in Afghanistan and toward the question of Kashmir — denouncing India and justifying Pakistani-backed jihad,” Westrop said.

“Masood Khan is the latest example of a renascent theocratic Pakistan. His tenure in D.C. will empower radicals in both the U.S. and South Asia. He is an open supporter of US-designated terrorists, dressed in the niceties of international diplomacy. Although foreign ambassadors are rarely rejected by Western countries, the Biden administration should at least consider this option for Masood Khan,” Westrop wrote.

“Examples of Khan’s jihadi links are shamelessly plentiful”, it said. In July 2021, while serving as president of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, Khan provided a “special message” on the “fifth martyrdom anniversary of Kashmir’s most beloved freedom fighter Burhan Wani”, he said.

Wani is not the only Hizbul Mujahideen jihadi regarded favourably by Khan.

In June 2017, following the US State Department’s decision to designate the terrorist organization, mainstream Pakistani media reported that Khan expressed full support for the Hizbul Mujahideen. Khan further declared that US sanctions against the terrorist group’s leader, Syed Salahuddin, were “unjustified”. Salahuddin is also the chair of the United Jihad Council, a Kashmiri umbrella group for terrorists backed by the Pakistani regime, Westrop said.

The Hizbul Mujahideen is not the only terrorist organization that Khan is willing to embrace. In 2019, alongside senior officials of the Pakistani government, he took part in the All Parties Kashmir Solidarity Conference in Islamabad. Indian media revealed that Khan shared the stage with Fazlur Rehman Khalil, founder of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), which the tate Department designated as a terrorist organszation in 1997, Westrop said.

In 2014, the US named Khalil as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. In a note, the Treasury Department had said that “Khalil maintained a close relationship with Al Qaeda, including with Osama bin Laden prior to his death. Khalil was a key member of bin Laden’s International Islamic Front and a cosignatory of his first fatwa, issued in 1998, calling for attacks against the US”.

The Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford notes that Khalil’s HuM was freely based in Pakistan and received support from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) since its formation.” The group was “repeatedly reported to be in close contact with bin Laden, and engaged in bombings, hijackings, kidnappings, and executions of Indian soldiers, government officials, civilians, and foreign tourists”.

Westrop said it doesn’t stop there. Khan is also a supporter of the violent South Asian Islamist movement Jamaat-e-Islami, whose killing squads helped the Pakistani military carry out acts of genocide against Bangladeshis in 1971.

These are far from the only examples. Khan is a supporter of Aafia Siddiqui, a convicted terrorist operative known as “Lady Al-Qaeda”.

Khan’s extremist sympathies are not just limited to his home region. The new ambassador has also worked with terror-tied Islamists outside of Pakistan. In 2019, journalist Abdullah Bozkurt tweeted photos of Khan “visiting Turkish intelligence linked charity outfit IHH that is accused of sending arms, supplies to the Al Qaeda linked jihadi groups in Syria and Libya”, adding that “IHH runs operations in Kashmir area”.

Branches of the IHH have been designated as terrorist organisations in Germany, the Netherlands, and Israel, Westrop said.

As the cause of Kashmir gains ground as a rallying cry for Islamists, Khan has become an important figure for many radical organisations and individuals all around the world, Westrop said. Even Islamist operatives across the West have enjoyed close contact with Khan. While Khan served as PoK president, for instance, extremist charities such as Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) repeatedly enjoyed praise from him and his official office, which declared its commitment to “cooperation” with the group, Westrop said.

HHRD is a leading American proxy for Jamaat-e-Islami. In 2017, HHRD openly partnered with designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which carried out the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 were murdered. HHRD also funds and partners with Jamaat-e-Islami’s welfare arm, Al-Khidmat Foundation, which is closely involved with the Hizbul Mujahideen, and which proudly boasts of funding Palestinian terrorist group Hamas for its “just jihad”.

Khan’s contact with Western Islamists is likely also driven by the Pakistani regime’s agendas. Under Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Pakistani government has worked particularly hard to increase its influence within American Islam.

In 2019 the Prime Minister addressed a conference organised by a leading American Islamist organisation, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), in which he urged American Muslims to “approach your members of Congress (and) Senators” to discuss the ostensible evils of Bharat and raise the question of Kashmir.

In 2018, the Canada Revenue Agency suspended a branch of ISNA after the organization transferred C$136,000 to Kashmir, where it is suspected to have fallen into the hands of Hizbul Mujahideen, Westrop said.

Since Imran Khan’s 2019 speech, Pakistani-regime entities and officials of the ruling PTI party have been vigorously campaigning for Islamist causes within the US, in partnership with American proxies of Jamaat-e-Islami. In Houston, PTI officials, one of whom was directly appointed by Imran Khan as his government’s representative in the United States, established the International Humanitarian Foundation (IHF), which, in close collaboration with domestic American Islamist organizations and other Pakistani-regime-linked lobbying groups and community groups, organised enormous protests against the visit of Bharat’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising and employing lobbyists in D.C, Westrop said.

The IHF partnered with a dozen American Pakistani and Islamist organizations to carry out its work, including the Houston-based Friends of Kashmir, which claims partly to work out of the Pakistani consulate in Houston and frequently collaborates with senior PTI officials. In October 2 of this year, Friends of Kashmir hosted an event with Shehryar Khan Afridi, a senior PTI official and former cabinet minister in Imran Khan’s government, Westrop said.

Led by an activist named Ghazala Habib, Friends of Kashmir is also openly aligned with jihadist causes. In 2017, the group organised an event with terrorist operatives Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah, both of whom were arrested by Indian police in 2019 because of ties to designated terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. Habib herself is reported to have been an appointed representative of both the late jihadi leader Syed Ali Geelani and Asiya Andrabi, founder of the jihadi organisation Dukhtaran-e-Millat. Masood Khan has expressed praise for both, Westrop said.

In fact, Masood Khan appears to have operated on the edges of all these initiatives. He is a close associate of Habib. Khan has often posted photos and comments about his meetings with Habib, including at his personal residence in Pakistan.

In 2020, he was listed as a star speaker of an event organised by Friends of Kashmir, in collaboration with the Pakistani embassy, and which also featured American congress members, suspected Pakistani ISI agents, Islamist operatives, and Pakistani-backed Sikh separatists, Westrop said.

Other examples of his Western Islamist friends include his contacts with American Islamists aligned with the Turkish regime and anti-Hindu Indian-American Islamists-India, as well as US Jamaat-e-Islami TV channels.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with minor edits to conform to Hindu-Post style-guide.)

Hindu harassment in Kalindi Kunj, Delhi by Muslim neighbors

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Hindu

Hindus residing in Kalindi Kunj have alleged harassment by their Muslim neighbors while adding that they were threatened with dire consequences for performing Hindu rituals. Locals are of the opinion that the support that the Muslim community receives from politicians such as AAP leader Amanatullah Khan has emboldened members of the community to harass and terrorize Hindus.

According to reports, a Muslim youth named Danish and his friends barged into the home of a Hindu family in Madanpur Khadar in Kalindi Kunj in Delhi on October 19 and threatened them with dire consequences if the family continued performing pooja.

Shanti Pathak has filed a complaint stating her daughter Natasha was performing the aarti when the incident took place. Danish and his friends even threatened to kill the entire family and break the murti if the family blew the conch or rang the bell. Incidentally, Danish and his associates had issued such threats earlier too and had only been emboldened with time.

The Kalindi Kunj police station reportedly didn’t file an FIR in the case despite Shanti Pathak registering a case. Danish, on the other hand, told the police that his sleep use to get interrupted due to the sound of the conch and bells coming from Roshan and Shanti Pathak’s home, prompting him to do what he did.

An OpIndia report in the case says:

OpIndia got in touch with Roshan Pathak, Shanti Pathak’s husband, to learn more about the matter. He claimed that both Danish and he were summoned to the police station following the event.

He added that Danish had been warned by the police not to repeat the incident. With this, both parties signed a consent document, which was deposited in the office of then-ACP Bijender Singh. As a result, FIR was not registered. The Pathak family, however, was not given a copy of the consent document.

When asked how the Delhi Police handled his case, Roshan stated that he was completely satisfied with their actions. His family was content with the actions of ACP Bijender Singh and SHO Inspector Bhushan Kumar. He stated that his family is not under any fear or pressure at the moment.

He claims that the police respond quickly to their calls and offer all sorts of assistance and support. Roshan stated that since the police intervened, they are being able to worship freely and neither Danish nor anybody else in the colony has tried to bully them.

According to Roshan Pathak, Hindu organizations like Bajrang Dal had provided complete assistance and support to his family at the time of duress.

Natasha Pathak, Roshan Pathak’s daughter, told us that the police had also given her the numbers of their officers in case of any need. She too confirmed that Danish did not dare to create any ruckus after the October 19th incident.

Natasha said that the presence of Muslims in the neighborhood was on the rise. She recalled how one Mohammad Shafi and his wife Gulab Jahan were playing the loudspeaker in full blast and refused to turn down the volume when requested to do so. The resident gave a written complaint to the Kalindi Kunj police in Delhi. Only when the SHO arrived in their locality, did the Muslim family stop playing the loudspeaker, said Natasha.

Kalindi Kunj police station SHO Bhushan said that the victim family’s concerns have been settled and law and order has been restored in the locality. He added that since the issue was resolved amicably by both parties, the police did not register an FIR in the case.

Roshan Pathak, who originally hails from West Bengal’s Siliguri, has been a resident of Madanpur Khadar for more than twenty years. He is an electric rikshaw driver and has a daughter and two sons. He opined that earlier there were few Muslims in the area but now they are in majority. Many Hindu families have relocated due to the incident like the one faced by his family. His wife Shanti Pathak said that earlier they were able to perform pooja but since the Muslim population of the locality has increased, they are facing threats.

Exodus of Hindus due to changes in demography is a phenomena that is increasingly being reported from several places across the country.

(Featured Image Source: OpIndia)