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Harish Bangera, falsely accused of blasphemy in Saudi Arabia, is now free; two Muslim brothers had created fake account

By
The Commune
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harish bangera

After spending two years in a Saudi prison, Harish Bangera – who was falsely accused of posting ‘blasphemous’ content on social media – was finally released from prison. He flew back to Bengaluru from Dammam, Saudi Arabia on August 17.

Bangera, a resident of Beejady village near Kundapur in Udupi district, had been working as an air-conditioner technician in a company in Saudi Arabia since 2014. In 2019, he was arrested by Saudi Arabia police for allegedly sharing a ‘blasphemous’ Facebook post on Mecca and the Saudi Crown Prince.

After his arrest, Bangera’s employers terminated him from his job. 

It all started when in Dec 2019, when Bangera had shared a video related to Mangaluru riots. Later he had felt that the video was not in good taste and deleted it from his Facebook account. He had even apologized for uploading this ‘unwarranted’ post and deactivated his Facebook account.

However, just after a few hours, a new account was created in his name with incendiary content that was posted using a fake profile with his own photograph. This led to his arrest by the Saudi Police.

It was Bangera’s wife who then took this matter to the local police. Following an investigation based on her complaint, the Udupi police in Oct 2020 had arrested Abdul Huyez and Abdul Thuyez, two brothers from Moodbidri, for impersonating Bangera on social media. It was revealed that it was the brothers who had created the false account and posted the ‘blasphemous’ content.

The police then located Huyez by tracing the phone that was used to create the fake Facebook account and then upload the controversial post under Bangera’s name.

The Indian Embassy, Mangaluru Association Saudi Arabia (MASA), Indian Overseas Forum and several other organisations played a very important role in securing the release of Bangera.

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150 Afghan cadets undergoing training at various military academies in India stuck, fear Taliban’s revenge

By
The Commune
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taliban india

After the Taliban took over Kabul, the lives of many Afghans who supported the United States, NATO and India are now endangered. However, there is also a new problem wherein, 150 soldiers and cadets of the Afghan National Army who were undergoing training in India, now find themselves marooned in this country.

They are not only away from their home-country and families after the collapse of the Afghanistan civilian government and armed forces, but the takeover by the Taliban also means that these cadets – trained at the National Defence Acadamy, Indian Military Acadamy and Officers Training Acadamy – are now facing the prospect of revenge-killing, even though the Islamic terror outfit has given ‘general amnesty’ to all government officials.

However, the defence forces are vulnerable to revenge attacks as they are seen as a threat. The Indian government will have to take a call on whether to send them back after training or wait till the situation in Afghanistan becomes stable. There is also the option of giving them an extended visa to stay in the country for a prolonged time.

“Apart from the cadets at IMA, OTA, and NDA, some Afghan officers and other ranks are also attending specifically-tailored capsule courses for them at different military training establishments in India,” Times of India quoted a source as saying.

Over the years, the Indian armed forces not only supplied military hardware, including four Mi-25 armed helicopters and three light Cheetal choppers, to ANDSF, they also trained thousands of Afghan military personnel in counter-terrorism operations, military field-craft, signals, intelligence-gathering and information technology, among other fields.

Scores have also undergone the “Young Officers’ course” at the Infantry School in Mhow, as well as training at the specialised counter-insurgency and jungle warfare school at Vairengte in Mizoram.

India has been training around 700 to 800 Afghan soldiers per year on short-duration “tailor-made” courses for Afghans at the different Indian military establishments for over a decade now.

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NSA Jake Sullavan admits Taliban has state-of-the-art US military hardware worth hundreds of millions of dollars

By
The Commune
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jake sullivan taliban military

In an embarrassing admission, the White House Tuesday (17 August) acknowledged that the Taliban forces have taken over a significant amount of US military hardware and equipment after gaining control of Afghanistan, reports Hindustan Times.

White House’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan said, “We don’t have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defence materials has gone. But certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.”

Sullivan further added, “Obviously, we don’t have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us.”

The White House had to admit that the Taliban now has access to some serious state-of-the-art military hardware worth hundreds of millions of dollars as videos and pictures of Taliban fighters holding American assault rifles began to flood the internet.

The sudden withdrawal of the US and NATO forces and the abject surrender of the Afghan government has now allowed the Taliban get their hands on firearms and vehicles that the Pentagon had provided to the Afghan national security forces.

In the city of Khandahar, which was the de facto capital of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, the Taliban managed to secure advanced UH-60 Black Hawk attack helicopters and other equipment at the Kandahar airport, which were given to the Afghan Government forces to help battle the Taliban insurgency.

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BJP demands Twitter lock RaGa’s account after he makes false claim he had consent to share photos

By
The Commune
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rahul gandhi bjp twitter

After it emerged that the parents of the nine-year old minor rape victim had not given their consent to share their photographs and thus reveal their identity on social media, the BJP on Tuesday (17 August) demanded that Twitter should once again lock the account of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for making false claims.

Rahul Gandhi had earlier violated the law when he had shared the pictures of the family of the minor rape victim on social media. However, the Congress scion claimed that he had the consent of the girl’s family, and few days later his account was restored.

Earlier, BJP chief JP Nadda accused the Congress party of playing caste politics and said such actions show the low level of politics done by people at the top.

Earlier while inaugurating the party district committee office in Kozhikode, BJP chief JP Nadda said, “First he (Rahul Gandhi) politicised the issue, then reveal the identity of victim by sharing picture of parents. When law asked about it, he lied to everyone.”

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra, who was addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in Delh,i demanded that Twitter should once again lock Rahul Gandhi’s account as the victim’s family has denied that they ever gave consent to the Congress leader for posting the pictures.

“Rahul Gandhi has lost credibility and is a habitual liar. Earlier, when Twitter locked his account, Congress party in letter claimed that they taken consent of family to share their picture, now the victim mother denied the claim. The public has already locked his political account, now Twitter should also once again lock his account,” Patra said.

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Karuppar Koottam’s ‘Naathigan’ who abused Lord Murugan gets released under DMK rule, says will continue to abuse Hindu Gods

By
The Commune
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Surendar Natarajan alias ‘Naathigan’ of Karuppar Koottam YouTube channel who was arrested for putting abusive and vulgar videos of Hindu Gods has been released from jail following the DMK’s rise to power.

Naathigan was in jail for 8 months for abusing Hindu Gods and hurting religious sentiments after one of his videos in which he derogated the devotional hymn ‘Kandha Sashti Kavasam’ sung in praise of Lord Murugan, earned the wrath of Tamil people across the world as Lord Murugan is considered as Tamil God.

Karuppar Koottam was a YouTube channel run by a group of ‘Periyarists’, Communist ideologues and DMK sympathizers. They had indulged in targeted attacks against Hindus posting videos abusing Hindu Gods, Hindus and Brahmins for a long time under the garb of ‘rationalism’.

In an interview to a YouTube channel, Naathigan justified his abuses against Lord Murugan and added that he will continue to speak against Hindu puranas and Gods through his new YouTube channel.

He said that he does not think what he said about Kandha Sashti Kavasam was wrong and added that the BJP and AIADMK was the reason behind his arrest. He said that those against the DMK in order to not let that party come to power associated him with the DMK.

It is alleged that Karuppar Koottam enjoyed (may be still enjoying) the patronage of DMK. Evidences which emerged during the controversy clearly established the close relationship shared by Karuppar Koottam and the DMK. Naathigan had in fact campaigned for the DMK in the last General Elections in 2019.

Senthilvasan, another member of the Karuppar Kootam had gone on a luncheon with the then DMK IT wing head and now Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan.

Naathigan in the interview, once again made the derogatory comment on Kandha Sashti Kavasam and Lord Murugan during the interview trying to justify what he had said in his video.

Naathigan also said in the interview that his tirade and abuses against Hindu Gods and Hinduism will continue as he claimed that the religion does not allow him to become a Sankaracharya and considers shudras as children of prostitutes.

He said that just learning a little about Hinduism has turned him against Hinduism. When asked why he did not speak against Islam or Christianity, he claimed that their principle is not atheism but against Hindu religion only as the other religion professes equality and lets other caste people become priests.

He also claimed that he was part of RSS since a teenager and was supposedly a religious fanatic adding that he had left the outfit in his later years as he found them ‘anti-rational’ and against other religions like Islam and Christianity.

It is to be noted that RSS has a separate Muslim wing called Rashtriya Muslim Manch that works towards social harmony and bringing Muslims under the nationalist fold.

He also heaped praises on the MK Stalin-led DMK government’s various initiatives like ‘All castes can become archakars’ scheme. He mentioned that while he understood the DMK distancing from him during the controversy as they had go to people and win elections, he was disheartened by Dravida Kazhagam washing him off.

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Vice President Amrullah Saleh vows to continue his fight against Taliban

By
The Commune
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As the Taliban took over Kabul the capital of Afghanistan, Vice President Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud who is the son of a legendary military commander known as the lion of Panjshir Valley Ahmed Shah Massoud are putting together a guerilla movement to fight the Taliban.

Panjshir Valley is less than 100 miles from Kabul and it withstood the mighty Soviet Union in the 1980s and the Taliban from 1996 to 2001. Saleh is used to be the head of the National Security Directorate (NDS) and had endured several attempts in his life. For the Taliban, he was the number one target because he kept track of Taliban leaders and spoiled many of their plans and collected proof of Pakistani military continued to back the Taliban.

As of now Saleh is in the Panjshir region to plan a counteroffensive and is safely ensconced in the mountainous Hindu Kush that never fell to the Taliban or the Soviet Union due to its famed for its natural defences and has vowed not to surrender to the extremist group, writing on Twitter on Sunday, “I won’t dis-appoint millions who listened to me. I will never be under one ceiling with Taliban. NEVER.”. 

In a fresh tweet to assuage the people of Afganistan Saleh said, “As per d constitution of Afg, in absence, escape, resignation or death of the President the FVP becomes the caretaker President. I am currently inside my country & am the legitimate care taker President. Am reaching out to all leaders to secure their support & consensus,”.

He also said he is preparing to launch a counteroffensive against the Taliban and made it very clear that he “will not allow the Taliban to enter Panjshir and will resist with all our might and power, and fight them,”.

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Islamic nations Turkey and Bangladesh say no to Afghan refugees

By
The Commune
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After the world witnessed the chaos in Kabul airport when tens and thousands of Afghans were trying to leave the country after the Taliban took over the city, Islamic nations of Turkey and Bangladesh have said they will not allow refugees coming from Afghanistan into their country.

In fact, Turkey has built a 295 km wall on its Iranian border and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Sunday said, “We are building a modular wall. A big part of it has been completed. Nearly 150 kilometers of trenches were dug. Additional reinforcements were made to our border outposts and base areas,”. 

Talking about the heightened security deployed to stop the influx from Afghanistan, Akar said, “We operate with around a thousand reconnaissance surveillance vehicles, including thermal night vision devices. Thanks to the electro-optical towers and acoustic sensors, it has become very easy to detect the mobility on the borderline.”

“Our border is our honor,” asserted Akar claiming that all the civilians and military personnel are just doing their jobs.

Not just this, the country says it will intensify its work to “reinforce the understanding that the borders are impassable.”

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday remarked, “Turkey is facing a growing migratory wave of Afghans transiting through Iran.” 

“With this wall, we will totally stop the arrivals,” he exclaimed when pressured by the opposition on the issue of the growing influx of illegal immigrants. 

Meanwhile in India left liberals are completely unmindful of the fact that all Islamic nations have turned their back on the Afghan people who are trying to escape the Taliban and they are demanding that India should accept all the refugees. 

Journalist Saba Naqvi in a tweet said, “Imagine India is asking fleeing Afghans, Hindu or Muslim?”. However, she completely forgot that India had indeed taken many Afghans who had worked with India.

Meanwhile, Wire journalist Arfa Khanoom Sherwani asked fellow journalist Ghazala Wahab “why she believes that the terminology used to refer to the Taliban should be ‘insurgents’ and not terrorists. “The Taliban is Pashtun Afghani, they are residents…you cannot throw them out for being cruel and primitive.”

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Andhra Congress workers fry birds to protest against blocking of Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter handle

By
The Commune
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After a member of the Youth Congress workers in Telangana had thrown his bike into Hussain Sagar lake to protest against the rising fuel prices he Andhra Pradesh Congress workers fried what they called a “Twitter Bird” as a form of protest against the blocking of Rahul Gandhi’s handle by the micro-blogging website after he violated its policy guidelines.

Rahul Gandhi’s account was locked by Twitter last week for allegedly sharing a photograph of the parents of a nine-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in the national capital. But Twitter did not stop there, it also suspended several accounts of Congress leaders for sharing the image, However, the accounts of Rahul Gandhi and his acolytes were restored on Saturday (14 August).

“You Twitter, you’ve done a mistake by blocking Rahul Gandhi’s twitter account, not promoting our tweets. So, we are frying this [Twitter Bird] and sending it to the headquarters in Gurgaon and Delhi,” said a Congress worker reportedly identified as son of former party MP Harsha Kumar.

“Twitter, I hope you’ll enjoy your dish,” he added.

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Video of Taliban terrorists purportedly speaking in Malayalam goes viral

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The Commune
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taliban video kabul
Featured Image: A screengrab from the video where two Taliban terrorists can be heard ostensibly speaking in
Malayalam. Credits: Twitter/@RamizReports

A video of two Taliban terrorists purportedly speaking to each other in Malayalam has gone viral on social media.

This eight second video, uploaded on to microblogging platform Twitter by a journalist, comprises a scene where one Talibani speaks to his fellow Talibani in what is purported to be Malayalam, and says, “samsarikkette? (Can I talk?)”.

There have numerous reports that members of the minority community from Kerala had moved to the Middle East and Afghanistan to join ISIS and other terrorist organizations. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has investigated these allegations and has even started criminal proceedings against some returnees. The Kerala government too has confirmed the same.

This latest Malayalam conversation between Taliban militants has further given impetus to the notion that Islamic terrorists are very much active in Kerala.

The video was also retweeted by Shashi Tharoor.

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Afghan-Russia relationship comes full circle: Former foes are now allies as Moscow calls Taliban a “positive” influence

By
The Commune
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taliban kabul afghanistan russia

On Monday (16 August), the Afghan-Russia relations came full circle when the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, praised the Taliban and said that the outfit, still designated a terrorist outfit in Russia, had made Kabul safer in the first 24 hours.

Ambassador Zhirnov then took a direct dig at ousted President Ashraf Ghani and said that Afghanistan is safer now than it was under the previous regime, reports Livemint.

It must be noted that the erstwhile Soviet Union had, in 1989, also left Afghanistan after a decade of occupation. Russia is now praising the same Mujahedeen that it had fought against.

Ambassador Dmitry Zhirnov said that he had been impressed by the Taliban’s conduct so far, describing their approach as “good, positive and business-like.”

Ambassador Zhirnov added, “The situation is peaceful and good and everything has calmed down in the city. The situation in Kabul now under the Taliban is better than it was under Ashraf Ghani.”

Ambassador Zhirnov also said, “Yesterday the regime fell like a house of cards. There was a feeling of disorder, a power vacuum, and looters came out on the streets.”

According to Zhirnov, schools in Kabul – including those for girls – had started functioning again, which was not the case when the Taliban took over in 1996.

Zamir Kabulov, President Vladimir Putin’s special representative in Afghanistan, said Moscow has been working on building a relationship with the Taliban for a long time and it is now paying off. He said, “It’s not for nothing that we’ve been establishing contacts with the Taliban movement for the last seven years.”

Kabulov added, “We saw that this force would in the end, if not completely come to power, would play a leading role in the future of Afghanistan in any case.”

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TheCommune
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