“We will kill you: Zeeshan, Abujar, Nasir and others assault, throw caste slurs at a Dalit youth in Lucknow, try to stab him”, Opindia, December 20, 2023:
“On 17th December, several persons attacked a Dalit family in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow following a dispute among children. The case pertained to the Thakurganj police station area where a scheduled caste man named Akash Kumar from Bari Balaganj lodged a complaint in which he stated that anti-caste slurs were hurled and attempts were made to stab him by the accused Zeeshan, Abujar, Nasir and their accomplices.
Taking to OpIndia, the victim identified himself as a Dalit resident in a region where Muslims are in the majority. He mentioned in the complaint that an argument between his family and kids from Zeeshan’s household transpired over an issue, that was resolved through negotiations. However, as he was standing near the Ambedkar pond at around 3:30 pm on the fateful day, the perpetrators reached there and started to fight with him.
Meanwhile, he started moving towards his place when Zeeshan started abusing and threatened, “I’ll kill all of you chamars.” His acquaintances went after Akash Kumar and started pounding and assaulting him as soon as Zeeshan uttered the derogatory words…..”
A 17-year-old boy, who was thrashed by a schoolmate and others after a verbal spat over some issue, succumbed to his injuries during treatment at a Delhi hospital, an official said on Sunday.
The incident had occurred on December 15 outside Jan Kalyan School in northeast Delhi’s Bhajanpura area.
According to police, the minor was in Class 12 and on December 15, while returning from school, he had an altercation with a schoolmate and few others in Gali No. 20, D Block, Bhajanpura.
“He sustained injuries on his head and face. No medico-legal case (MLC) was formed and both parties settled the matter after some elders intervened. Injured boy took first aid treatment from a nearby clinic and went home,” said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey.
The DCP said that the school boys first had a verbal spat on December 12 outside school. “On December 15, the school boy and others accosted and assaulted the victim after school at about 5:00 p.m.,” said the DCP.
On Saturday at about 6 a.m. the victim’s health started deteriorating and he lost consciousness. He was taken to GTB hospital from where the doctors referred him to RML Hospital.
“Later, information was received from RML Hospital on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. that the victim had died in hospital while undergoing treatment. A case of assault was immediately registered on the complaint of the victim’s father,” said the DCP, adding that the sequence of events and the exact cause of death are being ascertained.
(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)
“Pune: Siju Sheikh sexually exploits a minor, blackmails her using derogatory photos, wife Sofiana threatens with death, both booked”, Opindia, December 21, 2023:
“On Wednesday (20th December), Maharashtra Police booked an individual identified as Siju Sheikh for br sexually exploiting a minor girl and threatening her with death. The wife of the accused, identified as Sofiana Sheikh has also been booked by the Police for harassing the girl and her family and threatening them with death. The incident is said to have happened in the Somvar Peth area of Maharashtra’s Pune district.
The accused persons have been booked under sections 376(2)(n) (rape), 377, 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 8, 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
As per the FIR copy obtained by OpIndia, the victim has been facing harassment at the hands of the accused since the year 2016. The saga began when the accused and his mother shifted to an apartment owned by the victim’s father. The accused had been staying in the space on rent and eventually developed good relations with the landlord’s family including the girl…..”
Andhra Pradesh is witnessing interesting developments ahead of the Assembly elections next year with former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu meeting top election strategist Prashant Kishor days after the TDP-JSP alliance sounded the poll bugle.
Hoping that the results of Telangana elections will be repeated in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu is making swift moves to consolidate.
Prashant Kishor landed in Vijayawada along with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) General Secretary Nara Lokesh by a special aircraft and then drove to Amaravati for a meeting with Naidu on Saturday.
And the three-hour long meeting, which was also attended by TDP’s current strategists, took the state politics by storm.
Though Prashant Kishor termed it only as a courtesy call with a senior politician, its timing has sparked speculation that TDP has roped him in as a mentor for the strategists.
It was Prashant Kishor who had helped the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) wrest power from the TDP in 2019. The founder of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) had played a key role in devising the strategy that led to the landslide victory of the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party.
The YSRCP had bagged 151 seats in the 175-member Assembly and also won 22 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats the same year. This was the best result I-PAC had got in any campaign in terms of seats.
In the strategist’s own words, working with the YSRCP was a commitment he had given to Jagan Mohan Reddy. As the mentor and advisor of I-PAC, he ensured successful execution of the poll strategy.
Before taking a plunge into politics in 2018, Prashant Kishor had declared that he would not campaign for anyone, but he completed the assignment with the YSRCP as he had made the commitment to Jagan Reddy earlier.
A great admirer of Jagan Reddy’s father and late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, he had told the YSRCP leader once that he would be happy to help the party.
They started working in 2017 with the political strategist personally holding a series of strategy sessions with Jagan Reddy and other senior party leaders.
This was followed by the I-PAC team launching a series of campaigns for the party to strengthen the organisation and train the party workers. In a period spanning 709 days, I-PAC managed 35 campaigns, including 18 online.
The political consulting firm was instrumental in setting the strategy for the party and creating the narrative, which eventually led to YSRCP’s victory.
Under this strategy, the party reached out to people and established a direct connection with the voters. Jagan’s 14-month-long ‘padayatra’ was part of this effort.
With Assembly elections only 4-5 months away along with the Lok Sabha polls, Prashant Kishor’s meeting with Naidu has created ripples in state politics.
While I-PAC headed by Rishi Rai Singh has clarified that it will continue to work to secure a thumping victory for YSRCP again in 2024, there are indications that Prashant Kishor may mentor the Shantanu Singh-led team which is currently handling TDP’s campaign.
YSRCP too reacted to the development, but with sarcasm.
“If the material itself lacks quality, what can be expected from a craftsman,” asked Irrigation Minister and YSRCP leader Ambati Rambabu.
“This PK or that PK (Naidu’s alliance partner Pawan Kalyan) cannot help save the TDP. The party is like a dead body, no PK can revive it,” remarked Rambabu.
He underscored the irony of the TDP’s engagement with a political strategist it had previously criticised.
“Ironically, it is the same political party that had previously criticised and disparaged Kishor, referring to him as a ‘Bihar dacoit’,” he said.
Rambabu also recalled that Naidu had previously attributed incidents like attack on Jagan Reddy at Visakhapatnam airport, Vivekananda Reddy’s murder, and the creation of communal tensions to what he deemed as political gimmicks orchestrated by Prashant Kishor.
There have been speculation for the last few months that PK, as Prashant Kishor is popularly known in political circles, will help devise a strategy for TDP this time.
He was reportedly persuaded by Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to help Chandrababu Naidu.
The talks reportedly started in June 2021, after TMC’s massive win in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
Whether PK will help Naidu to do what Jagan did in 2019 is a million-dollar question.
Political observers say that it will be too early to predict the impact the PK factor may have. They say this will depend on many other factors, including the extent of his involvement in preparing the poll strategy.
Naidu’s meeting with PK comes a couple of days after the massive public meeting in Vizianagaram district, where he shared the dais with Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader and actor Pawan Kalyan.
TDP and JSP have already announced that they will have an alliance for the coming elections.
The alliance with JSP has come as a boost for TDP as the party is feeling the heat with the arrest of Naidu in the AP State Skill Development Corporation case. The 73-year-old was arrested by the CID in September and sent to jail.
It was after meeting Naidu in Rajahmundry Jail that Pawan Kalyan announced that JSP will contest the coming elections in alliance with the TDP.
The stakes will be high for Naidu in the coming elections. He has already declared that this will be his last electoral battle. It will be interesting to see how many seats the TDP will be ready to leave for its alliance partner and what will be Pawan Kalyan’s expectations.
The huge success of the recent public meeting organised to mark the culmination of Lokesh’s state-wide padayatra has boosted the morale of the party and its leaders have started claiming that TDP will come back to power.
Naidu, who was released on bail last month, is hopeful that Andhra Pradesh will see a repeat of Telangana.
Naidu has said that what happened to those who acted with highhandedness in Telangana, will repeat in Andhra Pradesh in the ensuing elections.
In Telangana, the KCR-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lost power to the Congress, and the TDP expects a similar anti-incumbency trend in Andhra Pradesh.
The TDP chief, who spent 52 days in jail, is also trying to play the sympathy card.
“I have not committed any mistake in my 45 years of political life, but still I was sent to jail in the AP State Skill Development Corporation case. I have really suffered mentally for no fault of mine,” Naidu said in his first public comments after the court relaxed the bail conditions.
The former Chief Minister also alleged that those who are raising their voice against the failures of the YSRC government are being harassed by foisting false cases.
“Power should not get into one’s mind. Jagan Mohan Reddy should think about what will be his future in the next three months,” said Naidu.
(This article has been published via a syndicated feed)
West Bengal government has reinstated Buddhadeb Sau as the interim vice-chancellor of Kolkata’s iconic Jadavpur University (JU) on Sunday less than 12 hours after he was removed by Governor C.V. Ananda Bose a day earlier.
Sau was removed on Saturday evening.
However, the state education department, which is otherwise against interim vice-chancellors appointed by the Governor in state universities, has its own logic behind reinstating Sau with special powers within hours of his removal.
The logic is that the sudden decision of the Governor to remove Sau as the interim vice-principal just an evening before JU’s convocation on Sunday afternoon posed an immense uncertainty for that traditional ceremony, since the vice chancellor, interim or permanent, will have to preside over that programme.
Meanwhile, the office of the Governor at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata has also not remained silent on the matter. It has issued a notification claiming that a probe will be conducted against Sau over the complaints against him.
It has also been said that in case donations have been accepted from the students to bear the cost of the convocation, the same amount will be deducted from the salaries of the interim vice chancellors and others responsible for it.
Incidentally, the certificates to be granted to the JU passouts on Sunday will have the signature of Sau, as the interim vice-chancellor. Since the Governor, by virtue of his parallel chair as the chancellor of all state universities, removed Sau from that chair on Saturday evening, in future the certificates issued to the passouts on Sunday might be replaced with fresh ones.
The Governor, by virtue of being the chancellor of all state universities, had appointed Sau as the interim vice-chancellor in August this year after the tragic ragging related death of a fresher at the boys’ hostel of the university.
Before Sau’s appointment, JU was running headless without a permanent vice chancellor for a long time.
According to JU insiders, Sau got into bad books of the Governor by announcing the date of the convocation after holding a meeting with Education Minister Bratya Basu, bypassing the office of the Governor as the chancellor of all state universities.
(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)
A Delhi court has sent three freshly arrested top executives to three-day ED custody in a money laundering case against the Chinese smartphone-maker Vivo.
The three accused — Vivo India interim CEO Hong Xuquan, Vivo chief financial officer (CFO) Harinder Dahiya and consultant Hemant Munjal — will now be produced before the court on December 26, on expiry of their three-day Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody.The arrests were made in the case months after the four accused — Lava International MD Hari Om Rai, Chinese national Guangwen alias Andrew Kuang, Chartered Accountants Nitin Garg and Rajan Malik — were arrested on October 10.Speaking to IANS, a Vivo spokesperson said: “We are deeply alarmed by the current action of the authorities. The recent arrests demonstrate continued harassment and as such induce an environment of uncertainty amongst the wider industry landscape. We are resolute in using all legal avenues to address and challenge these accusations.”On December 20, the court took cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the financial probe agency naming the four accused in it.Special Judge Kiran Gupta of Patiala House Courts summoned the accused, who are in judicial custody, on February 19, 2024.The Delhi High Court, recently, also dismissed habeas corpus petitions of three individuals who are accused in a money laundering case related to Vivo. The petitioners argued that their continued detention in Tihar jail was illegal due to the absence of a court order extending their judicial custody beyond December 7.The ED countered, explaining that a charge sheet was filed on December 6, and the accused were produced via video conference on December 7. The court was informed that due to a transfer, the accused were not physically brought before ASJ-04, who then adjourned the case and issued production warrants.After examining the facts, Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Shalinder Kaur concluded that there was no break in the custody of the accused, as the trial court had issued production warrants to ensure their presence on December 13, indicating lawful judicial custody.The court upheld the ED’s stance, saying that the legal representatives of the accused were present, and no objections were raised during the issuance of production warrants. It clarified that continuous custody is maintained when a legitimate reason prevents physical appearance, as in this case.The court had earlier noted that the probe agency was able to make out the case for the grant of further custody.”There appears to be continuity in the stand taken by the ED with regard to the extraction of digital data and the accused persons to be confronted with the same. Therefore, considering the settled principles of law and Delhi High Court Rules, I am of the considered opinion that the ED is able to make out the case for grant of further custody remand,” the judge had said.In response to the ED’s allegation that there has been recovery of several incriminating documents, a counsel for Guangwen had argued, “The nature of such documents has not been specified and why these are relevant to the investigation was not apprised or substantiated by the ED. It was only submitted that they relate to incorporation of companies which is not an offence.”Earlier, a source told IANS that the arrests were made after the financial probe agency carried out searches at the premises of the four accused and recovered cash to the tune of Rs 10 lakh.The ED action came more than a year after it carried out searches at 48 locations across the country belonging to Vivo Mobiles India Private Ltd and its 23 associated companies such as Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd (GPICPL), and claimed that it has busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian firms.According to the ED, Vivo Mobiles India Pvt Ltd was incorporated on August 1, 2014 as a subsidiary of Multi Accord Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company, and was registered at ROC Delhi. GPICPL was registered on December 3, 2014 at ROC Shimla, with registered addresses of Solan, Himachal Pradesh, and Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.The PMLA investigation by ED was initiated by registering a money laundering case on February 3, 2022 on the basis of an FIR registered at the Kalkaji police station in the national Capital by Delhi Police against the GPICPL, its director, shareholders and certifying professionals etc., on the basis of a complaint filed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
(This article has been published via a syndicated feed)
Khalid Umar, originally from Pakistan, is currently a practicing Barrister in the UK. He frequently shares his insights on Facebook with his nearly 20,000 followers. This article is based on a portion of the YouTube video of Umar’s wide-ranging interview with Citti.Net, titled “Hinduism is intellectually superior.” In this segment, he shares his perspectives on Hinduism.
Khalid Umar, Barrister and Writer
“I find Hinduism to be intellectually and philosophically actually superior to the other faiths, especially Abrahamic faiths,” says Umar, explaining his reasons: “So, as a humanist, I love the approach of Sanatan dharma. Hindus don’t have to perform anything in particular to be a Hindu.” He finds Hinduism’s openness and non-dogmatic nature fascinating, noting that Hinduism does not prescribe a specific way of life or religious practice but allows individuals to choose how they incorporate it into their lives. There’s no formal orthodoxy, and both those who dedicate significant time to religious practice and those who do so sporadically are considered valid adherents. “I find the ideas of God more robust in Hinduism, as fragility has no space in here,” he says, as it doesn’t rely on strict dogma or a single, inflexible interpretation but encourages diverse viewpoints, fostering open and unrestricted discussions about its beliefs.
I find Hinduism to be intellectually and philosophically actually superior to the other faiths, especially Abrahamic faiths
He is also appreciative of Hinduism’s portrayal of good versus evil in its epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. They emphasize conflicts that are not centered on Hinduism versus other faiths but on moral battles within the tradition. This emphasis on the struggle between good and evil promotes an evolving and adaptable belief system.
One of the most remarkable facets of Hinduism, according to Umar, is its rejection of blind faith, coercion, or the use of force to propagate its beliefs. Hinduism respects individual freedom and creativity, offering a unique liberty to choose one’s own deity, whether a traditional God, a concept, or even material wealth. This inclusivity and freedom of choice is deeply fascinating and differentiates Hinduism from many other religious traditions.” For someone familiar with the monotheistic faiths, understanding Hindu faith requires a total paradigm shift,” he says.
Umar closes this segment with this pointed statement: “(In Hinduism) there is no such Creator of the universe, who loves me, but He will burn me in eternal hellfire for not being obedient to His eternal message given in the holy books, through a last and final messenger who lived 1000 years or more than 1000 years ago. Hinduism tells me God is inside you. Isn’t that enough for me to be a Hindu?”
“Hinduism tells me God is inside you. Isn’t that enough for me to be a Hindu?”
Khalid Umar – Brief Biography
Growing up In the late 1970s in the Punjab province of Pakistan, Khalid Umar recalls that his school education emphasized the supremacy of the Islamic faith over all else, often portraying Hindus as wicked, constant enemies of Islam and their religion as promoting bad values. Muslims were described as historically tolerant, having ruled the Indian subcontinent for a millennium without forcibly converting Hindus.
After General Zia-ul-Haq’s rise to power in the late 1970s, the educational system became increasingly Islamist. According to Umar, even today, many Pakistanis perceive Hindus as being connected to those who lived in Mecca during the time of Prophet Muhammad, adding religious weight to the animosity against them. This narrative contributes to a sense of holy war, pitting the “kafirs” (non-believers) against Islam.
Umar had the good fortune of being born to educated parents who held a more inclusive view and shielded them from religious indoctrination. This helped him to become a free thinker, unburdened by the prevalent biases and animosities in many Muslim households.
iDr. Jai G. Bansal
(The article was published on Hindudvesha.org on October 11, 2023 and has been reproduced here)
“Gopalganj priest murder: Arrested accused allege they were tortured to confess, deceased’s brother says there was a land dispute with Muslims, Police deny all claims”, Opindia, December 20, 2023:
“The horrifying murder case of a caretaker priest whose mutilated body was found in Bihar’s Gopalganj earlier this week has created a stir in the region. Following the incident, Police arrested 3 people including the ex-girlfriend of the priest. While several claims and counter-claims have kicked off a political storm, Police have denied media reports that have cited claims of family members of the accused and victim as baseless.
As per a report in Dainik Bhaskar, BJP has alleged that the Police are trying to give the case a ‘different angle’ by claiming that the incident was a result of a love affair gone wrong. BJP leaders visited the house of the girl who is an alleged accused in this case.
They got her aunt to talk to the in-charge SP Hriday Kant. The official stated that the murder took place because of the love affair gone wrong. According to them, they have recovered the knife, rope, and cloth used in the murder, along with a broken mobile phone….”
“The New Indian Renaissance as a Guide to Decolonisation”, Dharma Dispatch, December 9, 2023:
“Even as the British were busy tampering with our traditional and social institutions and impregnating the Macaulayite model of education, a parallel development was occurring.
This was the Indian response to such social engineering efforts.
It took two major forms.
The first was the backlash that English education received. It began in Bengal because it was the first laboratory of the British colonization of the Hindu mind. When the Hindu society realized what English education was doing, it hit back furiously…..”
Udall’s wisecrack may seem a bit harsh, but when it comes to the so-called Samosa Caucus, it hits the nail squarely on the head! An informal group of five Indian-American Congressmen plus the Democratic vice-president, Kamala Harris – who are supposed to maintain parity in Indo-American relationships and build a fair opinion in America on all things Indian – the Samosa gang has been found wanting on just about every issue that has plagued India, Indian-Americans, and Hindus at large.
Did the Samosa gang ever question the administration why a notorious terrorist was being shielded and patronized officially by America?
Recently, the members of this body – Amy Bera, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Shri Thanedar – were briefed by the U.S. administration about the indictment of an Indian national named Nikhil Gupta in connection with the alleged murder plot of a Khalistani terrorist, Gurpatwant Pannun on American soil, and instead of making a fair case for both India and America, they followed the administration’s instructions to the letter and issued an unwarranted warning to the Indian government. In a joint statement, the Samosa Caucus members – all Democrats – have admonished that the inaction from the Indian government can cause “significant damage” to the “very consequential” partnership between the two nations. They have also demanded that India should never repeat such incidents on American soil.[1]
Obviously, India’s hand was forced, and it reacted statutorily and confirmed having received U.S. inputs on the “nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, terrorists, and others” and said that it takes “such inputs seriously since it impinges on our national security interests as well’. However, questions abound: Did the Samosa Caucus do a fair job in the Pannun case, which is largely based on the testimony of an alleged FBI informant who was supposedly recruited to carry out the said assassination? Did they also address the issue of a notorious terrorist being shielded and patronized officially by America? More importantly, what has been the Caucus’ track record on other such purported violations?
Pannun – a CIA Plant?
Pannun being an American-Canadian citizen, it is only fair that the U.S. protects his rights, but does that also include the right to run anti-India terrorist activities from U.S. soil?
Why is West protecting Pannun? (Photo credit: OpIndia)
If media reports are to be believed, Indian NSA Ajit Doval has already informed his U.S. counterpart, Jake Sullivan, long ago that India was not taking any action against Pannun just because Indian agencies were aware that he was a CIA agent.[2] Now, admittedly, with Pannun being an American-Canadian citizen, it is only fair that the U.S. protects his rights, but does that also include the right to run anti-India terrorist activities from U.S. soil? Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a designated Khalistani terrorist declared under UAPA by the Indian Home Ministry. His organization, Sikhs For Justice, was also banned by the Indian government in 2019.[3]
Pannun is known for issuing threats and announcing bounties for anti-India activities. Recently, he made a threat to blow up Air India planes, leading to concerns across the aviation industry as the Khalistanis had indeed carried out one of the worst attacks in aviation history, the Air India Kanishka bombing in 1985.[4] He had also warned to attack the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2023, the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attack. In a video message, Pannun threatened to “shake the very foundation of Parliament” in the winter session that is currently underway.[5] True to form, a few miscreants did create a ruckus in the Parliament on December 13, and though their connection with any terrorist organs is yet to be established, Pannun unilaterally announced a Rs 10 lakh reward to the miscreants for their legal aid.[6] He had also announced a $10000 reward to an Australian who had run inside the field during the recent World Cup final match in Ahmedabad, wearing a ‘Free Palestine’ T-shirt.[7] And that after threatening to disrupt the World Cup itself by turning it into a ‘World Terror Cup.’[8]
Unchallenged so far by the American-Canadian authorities, Pannun has let his bile loose on Hindus in Canada, too. “Indo-Canadian Hindus, you have repudiated your allegiance to Canada and the Canadian constitution. Your destination is India. Leave Canada and go to India. Pro-Khalistan Sikhs have always been loyal to Canada. They have always sided with Canada and uphold the laws and constitution,” Pannun said in a video that went viral on social media.[9]
While none of Pannun’s threats have materialized on the ground, his following amongst his fellow terrorists remains high. And his gall increases by the day, considering now that the entire American security apparatus has thrown its weight around him to mollycoddle and protect him, come what may. Is there a possibility of Pannun inspiring his fellow anarchists to hit Indian and Hindu interests in India and America? Entirely possible… And what’s America and the Samosa Caucus doing to rein in his diatribe? Nothing…
America’s Inaction Plan
In 2001, America reacted ferociusly when its sovereignty was challenged, even if it meant disrespecting other countries’ jurisdictions… yet, when it comes to curbing the activities of India’s enemies on American soil, the rules of engagement seem completely different.
In 2001, the world witnessed how ferociously America reacted when its sovereignty was challenged on 9/11, as it subsequently went around the world hunting down its enemies in distant pockets of other unfriendly countries, even if it meant disrespecting their jurisdiction, authority, and sovereignty. The way America went after Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and Qasam Soleimani in Iran to protect its interests is the stuff that launched a thousand Hollywood movies. And yet, when it comes to extending the same courtesy to its ally in India by curbing the activities of its enemies on American soil, the rules of engagement are deemed completely different.
Ever since Pannun came up with his mischief of a Referendum voting on Khalistan, his supporters have unleashed a wave of anti-Hindu, anti-India hatred on the streets of Canada and even America. Hindu temples were vandalized. On multiple occasions, even Indian consulates came directly under their vicious attack. The situation got even worse in 2023 when a Khalistani separatist leader, Amritpal Singh, was on the run in India, and central agencies worked with Punjab Police to arrest him.
Indian Consular offices and embassies faced threats from the pro-Khalistani elements. Indian flags were desecrated; diplomats were heckled by pro-Khalistani elements, with their photos being pasted on derogatory posters – practically painting a target on the back of their heads. Yet America reacted with zero enthusiasm. Neither did the Samosa Caucus speak against this naked hatred paraded on their streets, nor did they put any pressure on the Biden administration for a quick resolution and arrest of the perps.
Neither the Samosa Caucus nor the American security establishment members have the right to take the moral high ground on the Pannun matter now. Did any of them visit the defaced temples? Nope. Did they take any cognizance and criticize in the strictest terms when Khalistanis desecrated the Indian consulate? Not at all.
Speaking of moral high ground, did the Samosa Caucus draw the attention of the Biden administration towards the two U.S. officials who were recently caught bribing Spain’s secret service officers? Indeed, at least two U.S. agents stationed in the U.S. Embassy in Madrid were directly involved in recruiting spies of Spain’s Secret Service CNI and have been discreetly expelled from Spain. The revelation that U.S. officials were bribing two agents from their NATO ally, Spain’s CNI intelligence service, to provide classified information has led to diplomatic friction between Madrid and Washington.[10] What do they have to say about this openly hostile act? Nothing…
Hence, naturally, the Samosa Caucus’ warnings to India are regarded as nothing beyond regurgitating and parroting the Biden administration’s official lame stance of protecting the Khalistanis and their asset-in-chief, Pannun.
A Clumsy Regime-Change Attempt?
Is the Pannun drama simply a clumsy plot to destabilize and topple a popular government in India?
There are too many coincidences in the Pannun plot. First, the Financial Times writes a convoluted report on India’s plot to kill Pannun. Then, Time magazine gives way too many column inches to Pannun in a lengthy interview. All this is followed by the Justice Department releasing details of an arrested Indian in a plot to kill Pannun. If you plot all these data points – from Nikhil Gupta hiring an undercover FBI agent to kill Pannun to Canada accusing India of killing Nijjar – “everything came to fruition months before the Lok Sabha elections scheduled in 2024“.[11] Is all this drama then simply an elaborate ploy by the global regime-change activists looking to destabilize and topple a popular government in India? After all, similar attempts by the American deep state are also in motion in neighboring Bangladesh.[12]
When evaluating the veracity of this Pannun-Gupta plot, one should start by first looking at the not-so-stellar record of the American security agencies when it comes to protecting Indian interests from Khalistani terrorism.
Let’s go back to the hazy security mishmash of the Air India Kanishka bombing of 1985 and its prime suspect Lal Singh who was then a member of the radical Khalistani outfit International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) and operating out of the U.S. and Canada before coming to India. Remember, the 1985 Air India Jumbo Kanishka bombing killed 329 passengers on board and remains one of the worst-investigated[15] aviation disasters in the world. That same year, Lal Singh was also instrumental in hatching another plot to assassinate the then-Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi during his visit to the U.S.
For this assassination attempt, Lal Singh and his bunch of terrorists received training in arms and explosives at a ‘Mercenary School’ run in Birmingham, Alabama, by a U.S. Army Veteran, Frank Camper, who incidentally was also an ‘FBI Informant.’[16] Eventually, the plan to kill the PM was scuttled by the FBI, and the PM’s visit was called off. Rajiv Gandhi said he found it incredible that the U.S. permitted such training to Sikh terrorists on its soil, while India’s foreign ministry found America’s attitude as “deplorable & disappointing.” In diplomatic-speak, Indians had accused the U.S. of harboring terrorists in 1985.
The 1985 Khalistani terrorist case was just as bewildering as the current Panun case. While the FBI did thwart the attack on the Indian PM, some of the terrorists, including Lal Singh, miraculously disappeared, only to surface in Pakistan a few years later. He reached India in 1991 to carry out more terror attacks and assassinations with the same kind of weapons and explosives in which he was trained in the U.S. but was caught by the local police, and more mayhem was averted.
But there is much more to this story.
Modi responds to US allegation on India over Pannun
The arms and explosives that were to be used by Lal Singh for the terror attacks were routed to India via Pakistan, ostensibly funded by Khalistanis from Canada, US, and the U.K. – most notably by Bhajan Singh Bhinder aka Iqbal Choudhary of the U.S. While searching for the weapons, Bhinder fell into the trap of a U.S. Customs undercover operation, while they were investigating the drug cartels being run by truckers between the U.S. & Canada. Mysteriously, just before the border agents, posing as weapons dealers, were to arrest Bhinder, he was tipped off by some ‘insider.’ Bhinder quickly aborted the deal, saying he got a ‘funny feeling.’ One can only guess as to which agency might have done the tipping off!
It’s an altogether different story that when Lal Singh got arrested, Bhinder pivoted to become a human rights activist by forming the ‘Organizations for Minorities of India’ (OFMI), which has subsequently spawned a hydra-headed web of disinformation outlets and hate peddlers working against India and Hindus, including the IAMC, JFA and Equality Labs.
