2020 Strategic and Political Analysis-1

[Manish_Sharma]

https://www.opindia.com/2020/03/harsh-m ... ssion=true

How Harsh Mander is member of an organisation connected to Italian Govt and Italian Secret Service, helping West achieve foreign policy goals

K Bhattacharjee On March 6, 2020

We, at OpIndia, have spent a lot of time discussing and reporting on the undue influence that foreign-funded NGOs exert over the institutions of our country and the narratives that drive politics in the media. We have reported extensively on the manner in which foreign-funded NGOs are using the Judiciary in order to meddle the internal affairs of India via elements like Harsh Mander.

We have also explored the manner in which foreign-funded NGOs that receive funds from Western governments seek to meddle with the politics of our country. Furthermore, we have elaborated on the manner in which foreign-funded NGOs are collaborating with domestic organizations that have intimate relationships with internal security threats in order to undermine our country’s sovereignty. In short, we looked into the dark underbelly of ‘civil society’ and found the abyss staring right back at us.

One individual we have focused on greatly is Harsh Mander of the Centre for Equity Studies, a foreign-funded NGO. Apart from being associated with George Soros, Harsh Mander was also a member of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council which drafted the nauseatingly anti-Hindu Communal Violence Bill. He has also been very active in filing petitions in the Court and has found himself in the heart of the violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

During our investigation into Harsh Mander’s background, we discovered that he is a senior member of a little known organization called the Ara Pacis Initiative (API), an organization that was unheard of to us until this moment. He is a member of the API’s Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation. On further investigation, we discovered some startling facts about the nature of this organization that casts Harsh Mander in extremely dangerous light.

The Ara Pacis Initiative

The API was founded by one Maria Nicoletta Gaida, an Italian actress who is unknown to us. But it appears she is quite influential in the circles of power. We were also surprised to learn that Leymah Gbowee, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is a founding member of the API. However, there were other much more startling details about the organization that raises many eyebrows. As it turns out, the organization appears to be an arm of the State of Italy.

The API’s website states, “The Ara Pacis Initiative was inaugurated on April 21, 2010, by the Mayor of Rome, with the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Italy and under the auspices of the Office of the Prime Minister of Italy and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” It further states, “The Latin inscription on the south side of the Monument is the political and philosophical testament of Caesar Augustus, who after having “conquered” peace in the “known world” with weapons, bestows the peace on the people, entrusting them with its safekeeping and encouraging them to believe in the possibility of enduring peace.”



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How Harsh Mander is member of an organisation connected to Italian Govt and Italian Secret Service, helping West achieve foreign policy goals

K Bhattacharjee On March 6, 2020

Harsh Mander (via FirstPost)

We, at OpIndia, have spent a lot of time discussing and reporting on the undue influence that foreign-funded NGOs exert over the institutions of our country and the narratives that drive politics in the media. We have reported extensively on the manner in which foreign-funded NGOs are using the Judiciary in order to meddle the internal affairs of India via elements like Harsh Mander.

We have also explored the manner in which foreign-funded NGOs that receive funds from Western governments seek to meddle with the politics of our country. Furthermore, we have elaborated on the manner in which foreign-funded NGOs are collaborating with domestic organizations that have intimate relationships with internal security threats in order to undermine our country’s sovereignty. In short, we looked into the dark underbelly of ‘civil society’ and found the abyss staring right back at us.

One individual we have focused on greatly is Harsh Mander of the Centre for Equity Studies, a foreign-funded NGO. Apart from being associated with George Soros, Harsh Mander was also a member of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council which drafted the nauseatingly anti-Hindu Communal Violence Bill. He has also been very active in filing petitions in the Court and has found himself in the heart of the violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Read: Meet Harsh Mander: The ‘PIL Activist’ who always manages to land himself in the wrong side of Indian interests

During our investigation into Harsh Mander’s background, we discovered that he is a senior member of a little known organization called the Ara Pacis Initiative (API), an organization that was unheard of to us until this moment. He is a member of the API’s Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation. On further investigation, we discovered some startling facts about the nature of this organization that casts Harsh Mander in extremely dangerous light.

The Ara Pacis Initiative

The API was founded by one Maria Nicoletta Gaida, an Italian actress who is unknown to us. But it appears she is quite influential in the circles of power. We were also surprised to learn that Leymah Gbowee, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is a founding member of the API. However, there were other much more startling details about the organization that raises many eyebrows. As it turns out, the organization appears to be an arm of the State of Italy.

The API’s website states, “The Ara Pacis Initiative was inaugurated on April 21, 2010, by the Mayor of Rome, with the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Italy and under the auspices of the Office of the Prime Minister of Italy and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” It further states, “The Latin inscription on the south side of the Monument is the political and philosophical testament of Caesar Augustus, who after having “conquered” peace in the “known world” with weapons, bestows the peace on the people, entrusting them with its safekeeping and encouraging them to believe in the possibility of enduring peace.”

From the website of the API

What really caught our attention was not the symbolic connotations of the location and name of the initiative and the invocation of the Pax Romana, of which there are many, but the language used by the organization to describe itself in the first line. API says that it was inaugurated “under the auspices of the Office of the Prime Minister of Italy and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs”. It is the clearest indication of the fact that it is solidly backed by the Italian government and in many ways, is an arm of the Italian Government.

Our suspicion appears to be confirmed by the linked.in profile of Gaida, who also serves as the organization’s president, which describes API as a “global, not for profit organization dedicated to the human dimension of peace”. The word nongovernmental does not find a mention. Furthermore, Gaida’s profile also says, “Since 2011, she has created programs to address issues of acknowledgement, healing, justice and reconciliation in Libya and Syria, with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has advocated internationally for the rights of victims of rape and sexual violence in conflict and for the right of peaceful civil society to be heard”.

Our doubts were removed once and for all when we came across a Reuters report that described API as “an organization dedicated to conflict prevention and resolution that is backed by the Italian foreign ministry.” Thus, we can say without a doubt that the API is indeed an initiative of the State of Italy. As it turns out, it has worked to achieve Italian state objectives in the recent past.

The Libya Initiative of the API

In 2017, at an event promoted by the API and sponsored by the European Commission, fifteen government and tribal leaders from three bordering countries, Chad, Libya and Niger, at the presence of the then Italian Minister of Interior Marco Minniti, signed a joint statement of concrete cooperation to “support peace, development and security on their borders and beyond, because “there is no peace without security, there is no security without development, and there is no development without peace.” The API report on the matter was headlined “We’ll turn the Sahara from a desert of blood into a garden of peace”.

While API claimed that it was an event to promote peace in the region, Foreign Policy in a reportpublished in January this year stated that in the said summit, efforts to control uninhibited migration from the region in conflict into Italy were discussed. An Italian official in the Italian Foreign Ministry also said that the Italian secret service was also involved in organizing the said summit.

FP further stated in the report, “In her concluding remarks at the 2017 summit, Ara Pacis’s chief, Gaida, asked for the backing of her guests to help them turn the group’s approach—based on linking development to cutting migration and treating it like organized crime and terrorism—into a model for the EU.”

It added, “When Foreign Policy approached her for comment, Gaida denied that migrant centres were ever discussed at the Ara Pacis meeting. She insisted that the summit was a good faith effort to take into consideration “the needs and aspirations of tribal leaders on the borders.” She also questioned the media’s right to publish details regarding the presence of De Caprio at the meeting: “I’m telling you that you can’t. And if you do we’ll just deny that it happened,” she said.”

Sergio De Caprio, known by the public as Capitano Ultimo, has been a legendary figure in Italy since arresting the godfather of the Sicilian mafia Totò Riina in 1993. His exploits inspired novels and a TV series. He was transferred to the Secret Service in 2016-17 as per the FP report. As per the admission on its own website, the API’s Libya Initiative was “supported and funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was held under the patronage of the President of the Libyan National Congress, Mohamed Yousef el-Magariaf.”

Thus, we see that Harsh Mander is a member of an organization that is backed by the Italian Foreign Ministry and hands in gloves with the country’s secret service. Furthermore, the ‘bleeding-heart’ Indian activist who is overzealous in his attempts to restrict Indian action on illegal immigrants has no qualms in being the member of an organization that aids the Italian government in curbing migration from Libya. It does appear hypocritical to say the least. Harsh Mander is not an ordinary member of the organization. He is one of the “major international experts” who “devised and currently teach the Ara Pacis Methodology” as per its website. He is a ‘trainer’ at the organization.

The Syriaza

The API’s website states, “From the 18th of July to the 4th of August, 2015, with funds from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an intergenerational, interethnic, and interreligious group of 30 Syrians convened in Viterbo, Italy, for phase one of the Syriaza project: capacity building.” Syriaza is, on the face of it, “a Syrian-to-Syrian storytelling, archiving, and dissemination project for peace-building, created by the Rome-based international organization Ara Pacis Initiative and led by Syrian poets, defenders of human dignity and human rights, community leaders, and citizen journalists.”

The second phase of the Syriaza project, funding for which is being sought, is titled, “Narrative Development and Dissemination”. The participants of the phase one of the project will “gather, archive and disseminate stories told by Syrian political detainees, the displaced, combatants, women and members of civil society – both inside Syria and across the Syrian Diaspora” in the second phase of the project.

API claims that the documentation of these narratives will “help relieve trauma, preserve history, support human rights advocacy, foster hope and build a movement for peace and justice in Syria.” “These activities will counter the ideologies of control and violence currently claiming the most media attention focused on the war in Syria, and instead spread a message of unity that demands an end to the conflict and the initiation of processes for reconciliation and peace,” it adds.

In short, through the Syriaza project, the West will continue to exercise control over the narrative of the war in Syria. One of the many partners that the API collaborated with was Radio Rozana. We will look further into this particular project because the USA until Donald Trump was elected President wanted to remove Basshar al-Assad from power and had a huge role to play in the creation of the Syrian Civil War. From the timeline of this project, it is clear that all of this happened under the Obama Presidency.

The Syriaza apparently “gained the interest of Syrian satellite radio, Radio Rozana, which agreed to host a weekly Syriaza corner, reverberating the peaceful voices of Syrians from different backgrounds.” The API claims that Radio Rozana is a ‘Syrian Satellite Radio’ but the reality is a bit different.

Radio Rozana

Radio Rozana is a radio station that was established by Syrian journalists in 2013, two years into the Syrian Civil War. It is funded exclusively by the governments of European nation-states and non-profits that receive or have received funds from the US Government. It is funded by the Canal France International (CFI), a French media support agency funded by France’s foreign ministry and the International Media Support, another organization that receives funding from the governments of Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Radio Rozana has also received funding from the Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders, RSF), an organization funded by the US government related to its foreign policy. We again reiterate that the USA has funded the Civil War in Syria. Therefore, all of it needs to be seen in that particular context. Despite the source of the funding, however, Lina Chawaf, programme editor at Radio Rozana, maintained that the radio would remain independent.

“Rozana had no “overseas agenda” or political objective” claimed Chawaf. She told Reuters in 2013, “The priority is to hear the voice of Syrians inside Syria. They are suffering and being killed every day. We want to support them.” In 2014, CFI stated, “From 5 to 15 December, fourteen young field journalists from Syria who work for Radio Rozana will be taking part in a training course focusing on producing news programmes for the radio and the Internet.” The said course was to take place at the Syrian Media Incubator, which CFI opened a few months prior in Turkey. If people are not aware, only recently, Turkey was in serious conflict with Syria which has now been settled.

Thus, we are expected to believe that Radio Rozana which is funded by Western powers that seek to remove Basshar al-Assad from power, whose field journalists were trained in Turkey, another country that Syria is in conflict with and has aired content produced by a project funded by the Italian Foreign Ministry will be ‘politically neutral’ and ‘independent’. We cannot speak for others but we do find it difficult to believe.

This is precisely what RSF asks us to do. In its January 2016 report titled ‘Independent Syrian radio goes on air from Paris’, the RSF states, “With close to 100,000 civilian casualties and over 80 news providers killed over the past two years, Syria’s need for independent, professional journalism has never been greater. Radio Rozana sets out to fill the information gap.”

“In the ongoing Syrian conflict, there is a massive need for independent, professional journalism to keep citizens and refugees informed about political, social and humanitarian developments in the country to contribute to the development of a free and democratic society in Syria,” Chawaf told RFS. “Radio Rozana seeks to meet this need by covering the daily life in the shadow of the conflict by giving a voice to civilians caught in it, and through critical analyses free from political, religious or other types of bias,” she adds.

If any of this was true, why did Radio Rozana agree to air content manufactured by a project funded by the Italian Foreign Ministry? Even so, it needs to be remembered that buzzwords such as ‘development of a free and democratic society in Syria’ hold much different meanings in the Middle East than they do in our country. The USA’s wars in the Middle East that have plunged the region into chaos were cloaked under a noble desire to establish Democracy in the region when, in reality, it was all a ruse to achieve specific geopolitical objectives.

Therefore, when someone like Chawaf whose Radio Rozana is funded by western powers espouses rhetoric that demonstrates a commitment to Democracy, it betrays political biases that favour the Western narrative. In addition to all of this, Chawaf has also claimed that the “Syrian revolution was for freedom of expression” when it was a US-backed uprising against the Assad government. Considering all of this, if Radio Rozana espouses ‘independent journalism’, then there is nothing such as propaganda. According to The Asfari Foundation, Radio Rozana is also supported by George Soros’ Open Society Foundation (OSF).

What all of this means for India

To reiterate, Harsh Mander is a senior member of the Ara Pacis Initiative, an organization backed by the Italian Foreign Ministry that works in tandem with the Italian Secret Service as well. In other words, Harsh Mander is a member of an organization that is an arm of the State of Italy’s Foreign Policy. API is a weapon in the arsenal of the Italian State and Harsh Mander is a member of it. Through the Radio Rozana, we learned that the API also collaborates with propaganda outlets funded by Western Powers, the purpose of which is to create a narrative in order to benefit the foreign policy objectives of the said power.

In India, Harsh Mander and his NGO the Karwan-e-Mohabbat have been very active in the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Harsh Mander spoke on the ‘importance of solidarity’ and “how we can practice civil-disobedience in today’s India”. Karwan-e-Mohabbat urged people to join the protests at Shaheen Bagh. He has landed himself in trouble after a video where he can be seen inciting Muslim mobs against the Indian State and judiciary went viral on social media.

Harsh Mander has been engaging himself in elaborate propaganda to undermine the authority of the Indian State. He has also made several judicial interventions to portray the Indian State in poor light. It is only natural for other countries to foment civil unrest within India because it weakens our country and makes us more vulnerable to foreign exploitation. The Indian Govt certainly has reasons to investigate if Harsh Mander is a tool in the hands of foreign governments who do not wish for India to become truly strong. Because a strong country is much tougher to negotiate with and exploit than a country that is weak, it is in no one’s interest to see the rise of a strong India. All things considered, what we see with foreign-funded NGOs today is merely colonialism under the garb of ‘activism’.

[pankajs]

https://twitter.com/mollycrabapple/stat ... 7793820672

Molly Crabapple @mollycrabapple

Tulsi Gabbard is now retweeting unhinged Hindutva supporters and both-sides-ing the Delhi pogrom

She is a fascist and needs to drop out

https://twitter.com/DonnaLynnNH/status/ ... 1733696515

Donna #Tulsi2020 #EndWastefulWars @DonnaLynnNH

As a Bernie supporter, your Hinduphobia towards Congresswoman Gabbard is one of the reason’s why Bernie is not winning the nomination.

[Vikas]

When did we see praise for Swatch Bharat or ISRO mars mission or that we have got millions out of wretched poverty in last one decade. International media and truthifulness doesn't go together.

Really? Let’s see - this Time article calls everything - Swach Bharat, Bank Accts, Ujjwala, Ayushman Bharat - everything. And it’s written by a gora. Why do you continue to ignore such things and cast a one sided, tearful narrative of “oh the bad gora media out to get us”? There are many other articles, you just have to simply search.

This is not to say I like international media and/or their portrayal of India. I could care less about international media. My appeal is to for BRFites to be more balanced and be more understanding of all viewpoints, not just deny realities by shouting “fake news” or ‘islamo-lover” or “BIF” to anyone who doesn’t agree with your viewpoint. The level of “discussion” on this thread has been just crazy, almost unbelievable.

Without further adieu:
Time: Modi is best hope for Economic reform in India

Modi has directed unprecedented amounts of money toward the country’s seemingly endless need for new infrastructure. Construction of roads, highways, public transport and airports have sharply increased the country’s long-term economic potential. Although the process remains unfinished, the government has also brought electricity to remote villages that have never had it, a boon for economic potential, public safety and basic quality of life.

The BJP-led government has also expanded a biometric identification system, begun under the previous Congress Party–led government, that has already taken iris scans and fingerprints from well over a billion people to help citizens prove who they are so they can receive services. It has provided bank accounts for 300 million people who have never had them, creating new opportunities for these people to access credit and state subsidies. It also brings them into the formal economy to potentially make the government more responsive to their needs. The government says these measures have cut sharply into waste and fraud within India’s welfare system, allowing the state to provide more and better services at a much lower cost.

Health care reform could help half a billion poor people afford treatment for cancer and heart disease. A program known as Ujjwala Yojana has helped women in the countryside gain access to cooking gas for the first time. The Swachh Bharat program has built tens of millions of toilets for hundreds of millions of people. Modi’s commitment to renewable energy is part of his plan to make India a leader on climate change. None of these projects are complete, but all of them will help the vast majority of India’s people lead safer, healthier, more productive and more prosperous lives.

NY Times: On a shoestring budget, India sends a orbiter mission to Mars on first try

NEW DELHI — An Indian spacecraft affectionately nicknamed MOM reached Mars orbit on Wednesday, beating India’s Asian rivals to the Red Planet and outdoing the Americans, the Soviets and the Europeans in doing so on a maiden voyage and a shoestring budget.

Washington Post

Five years ago, the BJP won office by focusing on development. Modi promised a stronger economy, and some of the ideas implemented by his government yielded results. The Swachh Bharat (“Clean India”) campaign provided millions of toilets to rural communities, and many poor families received free liquefied petroleum gas as a cleaner-burning alternative to wood and other materials used as fuel for cooking.

Hmmm!! Interesting. You sure you want to quote THESE Op-Eds as proof of neutrality of Western media. Read the subtext.

One of the articles begins with "To win a fresh mandate for himself and his party in India’s upcoming elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made extravagant promises and worrisome threats. He can fairly be accused of fanning flames of hostility toward India’s Muslim population of up to 200 million"

The other article inserts "I found that pious Hindus are more likely to reject the idea that all religions deserve equal treatment. While they think the government has a duty to support temples, they do not think the same about mosques. Few Hindus espoused openly bigoted views of Muslims; rather, they simply thought that Hindus, about 80 percent of the population, deserved preferential treatment over Muslims, who make up only 15 percent of India’s population. This is, at its core, "

You my friend are skating on thin ice here if you try to defend western or even Indian English Media.

My appeal is to for BRFites to be more balanced and be more understanding of all viewpoints

Nikhil, you present your own point of view and let the audience decide to support or reject it.
Why plead for us to offer our proverbial necks to gullitone in the garb of understanding all viewpoints.

[pankajs]

Now we have first hand account of how the western anti-India/Hindu narrative is generated.

https://twitter.com/johncusack/status/1 ... 4962532352

John Cusack @johncusack

Replying to @FriedrichPieter @mtracey and @lhfang

I’ve been to Delhi a lot - my first source on this was arundahti Roy. I think she’s knows a lot more about India than Lee fang -
With all due respect /

This is what happens when repeat "fake news" offenders are not punished. When DhotiRoy spread the "Ripped the womb and filled the fetus" carnard she should have been asked to share details else booked and prosecuted for spreading fake news. It was not done and that only emboldened her and the rest of the anti-Hindu liberandu cabal.

BOTH the GOI and SC are culprits in this. The case of perjury against Teesta Satelvad was never followed up.

My guess is that Harsa Mander too will escape with a light rap on the knuckles or not even that. When you allow "liars and fake news" generators so much liberty what do you expect?

Therefore, I lay the blame for the current anti-India/Hindu narrative globally at the feet of GOI and Indian media. The foreign press just amplified what it is fed from here. The solution too lies within India and involved Indian citizens.

[pankajs]

Just because Sekhar Coupta praises Modi/BJP's schemes does not make him pro-Modi. He is just using inconsequential topics to burnish his "balanced" credentials to stab Modi on ideological battles that matter to Couptaji.

Basic fallacy.

[pankajs]

https://twitter.com/ananavarro/status/1 ... 1748218880

Ana Navarro-Cárdenas @ananavarro {Proud Nicaraguan-AMERICAN. .. Catch me on @CNN @Telemundo @TheView.}

Today, many are disappointed there are no women left in the race.

But those four bad-ass women made history.
Thank you, @KamalaHarris
, @SenGillibrand
, @amyklobuchar
, @ewarren
for putting more cracks in the glass ceiling, inspiring little girls, and paving the way for others.

https://twitter.com/GeraldoRivera/statu ... 7288192000

Geraldo Rivera @GeraldoRivera

Why no @TulsiGabbard? A woman of color, combat veteran, congressperson, patriot.

This how fair and balanced Western media is to a Hindu of western origin. Wah! Wah!

[Vikas]

Now we have first hand account of how the western anti-India/Hindu narrative is generated.

https://twitter.com/johncusack/status/1 ... 4962532352

John Cusack @johncusack

Replying to @FriedrichPieter @mtracey and @lhfang

I’ve been to Delhi a lot - my first source on this was arundahti Roy. I think she’s knows a lot more about India than Lee fang -
With all due respect /

This is what happens when repeat "fake news" offenders are not punished. When DhotiRoy spread the "Ripped the womb and filled the fetus" carnard she should have been asked to share details else booked and prosecuted for spreading fake news. It was not done and that only emboldened her and the rest of the anti-Hindu liberandu cabal.

BOTH the GOI and SC are culprits in this. The case of perjury against Teesta Satelvad was never followed up.

My guess is that Harsa Mander too will escape with a light rap on the knuckles or not even that. When you allow "liars and fake news" generators so much liberty what do you expect?

Therefore, I lay the blame for the current anti-India/Hindu narrative globally at the feet of GOI and Indian media. The foreign press just amplified what it is fed from here. The solution too lies within India and involved Indian citizens.

Pankajs, They have few in black robes protecting them. Me-Lords will throw you in jail if you as much as burst a cracker in Delhi but Mendar can run riot with his instigation and yet Mi-Lords will keep discussing with his lawyers while he is flying First class to USA.
What we call as GoI has many mid level managers a.k.a babus since the days of Eyetalian Mafia surviving on incompetence, nepotism and Chalta-hai.
Unfortunately Modi Ji did not clean up this trash in his first term with rough broom.

[pankajs]

https://twitter.com/Ibni_Adaam/status/1 ... 7550605312

Ibni Adam @Ibni_Adaam

Iram Habib 30 years old has become the 1st Muslim woman pilot to fly a commercial aircraft from Kashmir.

Notice the pic ..

"I must have done something great in another life" That is a strict no-go area for a Muslim.

Abrahamics have only one life as core theology. While Muslims hold on to their book pretty close BUT a lot of Westerners have started to embrace such previously blasphemous ideas that are direct imports from Dharmic tradition.

[Manish_P]

Hmmm!! Interesting. You sure you want to quote THESE Op-Eds as proof of neutrality of Western media. Read the subtext.

One of the articles begins with "To win a fresh mandate for himself and his party in India’s upcoming elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made extravagant promises and worrisome threats. He can fairly be accused of fanning flames of hostility toward India’s Muslim population of up to 200 million"

The other article inserts "I found that pious Hindus are more likely to reject the idea that all religions deserve equal treatment. While they think the government has a duty to support temples, they do not think the same about mosques. Few Hindus espoused openly bigoted views of Muslims; rather, they simply thought that Hindus, about 80 percent of the population, deserved preferential treatment over Muslims, who make up only 15 percent of India’s population. This is, at its core, "

You my friend are skating on thin ice here if you try to defend western or even Indian English media

The NY times article about the Indian Mars mission inserts a line to the effect that 'Modi is showing happiness and a sense of achievement even though he had nothing to do with it'

Yeah right, I am sure Kennedy personally fuelled the Apollo rockets carrying buckets of fuel in both hands

[pankajs]

I am conflicted about this ..

https://twitter.com/News18Courtroom/sta ... 9823433728

News18 Courtroom @News18Courtroom

Sedition case against school staff and students for a play in Karnataka's Bidar: #SupremeCourt declines to entertain a PIL by activist Yogita Bhayana, who sought a new mechanism to scrutinise sedition complaints before FIRs are lodged | @utkarsh_aanand

[pankajs]

https://twitter.com/Iyervval/status/1235828812085997568

Abhijit Iyer-Mitra @Iyervval

BREAKING NEWS: why has @RanaAyyub blocked @khanumarfa? Because Arfa called out Rana’s shocking bigotry on @CNN’ @FareedZakaria programme? If Arfa who has always stood up for Muslim rights is calling Rana a bigot, what does that make Rana?

https://twitter.com/TweetStreet247/stat ... name=small[/img][/quote]
Catfight ... maintain distance!

[Kaivalya]

Great point Pankajs.


Second, BJP != Hindus != India. All such generalizations are false

If you claim that all news coverage by International media is biased, then it’s very likely that you’re the one who’s unwilling to see the truth.

Nikhilji - Could not agree with you more. Funny thing - I think all the other politicians like khujliwal,pappu etc have been pandering sacrificing indian interest so long that your statement is fortunately/unfortunately has become a reality. Maybe pappu/commies/dmk can actually say or do something worthwhile can change some of these perceptions?

International media / Paid media has not carried the burden of truth for a long time now. Do you believe Murdoch has responsibility to figure out who the 2000 people who where ganged up in a school preparing to throw petrol bombs at residents walking in a street? Or do you think Mark Zuckerberg cares? If everyone is going by TRPs why should we trust media let alone foriegn media?

Maybe instead of saying what it should be/could be - a reality check is needed?

[chetak]

Really? No sense of irony here. Not over the million-plus Muslims killed by the Iranian regime in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. Hell, this year one Iranian anti-aircraft missile likely killed more Muslims than one billion Hindus did. This is messiah-level trolling.

Hindu Americans @HinduAmericans · 21h
Replying to @khamenei_ir
You are a total hypocritical lying disgrace. You slaughtered thousands of Muslims inside Iran over past year: peaceful protesters asking for freedom. You also oppress millions of Sunnis, women, Kurds, Bahais, Christians, and others asking for basic rights. Keep your mouth shut.

Khamenei.ir @khamenei_ir
The hearts of Muslims all over the world are grieving over the massacre of Muslims in India. The govt of India should confront extremist Hindus & their parties & stop the massacre of Muslims in order to prevent India’s isolation from the world of Islam.
#IndianMuslimslnDanger
5:25 PM · Mar 5, 2020

[Sachin]

I am conflicted about this ..

https://twitter.com/News18Courtroom/sta ... 9823433728

News18 Courtroom @News18Courtroom

Sedition case against school staff and students for a play in Karnataka's Bidar: #SupremeCourt declines to entertain a PIL by activist Yogita Bhayana, who sought a new mechanism to scrutinise sedition complaints before FIRs are lodged | @utkarsh_aanand

To be r/w the above news. Bidar court says no sedition in school play, grants bail to all .

[Varoon Shekhar]

"As with any media, some articles are bound to be bad/biased (eg the ISRO cartoon in NYT) and others are bound to be truthful. If you claim that all news coverage by International media is biased, then it’s very likely that you’re the one who’s unwilling to see the truth."

It would be nice to see one article/feature on NY Times, Washington Post, BBC, Guardian, CNN et al, that mentions killing of Hindus, stabbing of Ankit Sharma 400 times, deaths and injuries to policemen, destruction of a Hindu temple etc. CBC radio very briefly mentioned it, but the "Wire" journalist interviewed, quickly went into Moslems as targets, and Hindus as organised.. Still nothing anywhere about Tahir Hussain and Shahrukh.

It does sound like an echo chamber, with a specific purpose.

[Varoon Shekhar]

Now we have first hand account of how the western anti-India/Hindu narrative is generated.

https://twitter.com/johncusack/status/1 ... 4962532352

John Cusack @johncusack

Replying to @FriedrichPieter @mtracey and @lhfang

I’ve been to Delhi a lot - my first source on this was arundahti Roy. I think she’s knows a lot more about India than Lee fang -
With all due respect /

What is John Cusak's interest or concern in India?

[ranjan.rao]

John cusak who???..that's how we should deal with him...

[Sachin]

Rule 6(1)(c) & (e) of Programe Code under Cable Network Regulation Act, 1995 violated; two Malayalam channels off air for 48 hours.
Malayalam social media is reporting (and trolling) that two Malayalam Channels Asianet News and Media One have been ordered to STOP their broadcast for 48 hours starting this evening. I checked these two channels, and they seem to be off air. The stop memo is for deliberately giving wrong news on Delhi riots which happened recently.
News from an online portal, in Malayalam. It has a copy of the order from the I&B Ministry, which is in English.

[pankajs]

https://twitter.com/utkarsh_aanand/stat ... 9778966532

Utkarsh Anand @utkarsh_aanand

Sr adv CU Singh, Rajeev Dhavan, Karuna Nundy also appear for #HarshMander. SG Mehta objects to so many lawyers arguing for one client.

Dhavan says there can't be a suo motu contempt against Mander on a mere mentioning by someone.

Ecosystem springs to the defense of Mander.

Utkarsh Anand @utkarsh_aanand

Harsh Mander's alleged hate speech case adjourned to Apr 15. All parties asked to file their affidavits etc in the meantime. #CJI says this matter will now be taken up after #Sabrimala hearing gets over.

[Krita]

Rule 6(1)(c) & (e) of Programe Code under Cable Network Regulation Act, 1995 violated; two Malayalam channels off air for 48 hours.
Malayalam social media is reporting (and trolling) that two Malayalam Channels Asianet News and Media One have been ordered to STOP their broadcast for 48 hours starting this evening. I checked these two channels, and they seem to be off air. The stop memo is for deliberately giving wrong news on Delhi riots which happened recently.
News from an online portal, in Malayalam. It has a copy of the order from the I&B Ministry, which is in English.

Nirantharam (Tenacious) Nirbhayam (fearless).......now banned

[pankajs]

Ecosystem favorite ...

https://twitter.com/timesofindia/status ... 2249871367

Times of India @timesofindia

#JustIn | SC grants interim protection from arrest to social activists Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde till March 16 in Koregaon Bhima violence case

[SBajwa]

by Suraj
I'll happily give you a month off from here to take your time on it, if necessary.

Please ban NikhilT He is nothing but a noise!! It is these people who will deny the glaring evidence like declaring Shahrukh as Rajesh. Advocating for the adharmic people who went on rampage killing police and Intelligence officers. for these people Article 370, CAA and NRC is against constitution.
Too much of perfidy by leftists and anti-national is bad for health of all nationals.
Anarchists like Khujliwal (Kanjarwal) are just exercising their birth right to destroy public property.
In any other country these people would be behind bars.

No other country has students in any university out in streets protesting at a drop of a hat on any political issue but in India. In fact they do not have time to do these things due to academics requirements. Even if they want to protest they need an advance notice and are restricted (in numbers as well as area) to a park or enclosed space so that public is not affected.

[madhu]

One thing is sure due to AntiCAA protest India's image has gone bad.
Yesterday i had a call with Indonesia client. Before the start of meeting he asked me what's happening in india. However i did not feel it is appropriate to discuss in official call so just did not show interest.
Now at least pakistan is winning this round.

[Karan M]

^^ That's what happens when Pradhan Sevak ji does not use the exchequer and the thousands of crores in electoral bonds for media management or lobbying, and acts as if speaking mann ki baat will be enough to win him international acclaim. Sorry to be harsh, but neither any significant carrot nor stick is Modi's so called game plan for the media, and it has flopped badly, and will affect India as well.

[Karan M]

Fact is there is no nuance and the gori chamdi fetish in Modi's NDA v2.0 continues unabated. Christine Fair, after her colossal melt down namecalling Indian military officers in a recent fair, a Twitter TL full of Hinduphobia and reposting the Khalistani loon Peter Friedrich,calling the Delhi riots an anti Muslim pogrom, is invited to India for an IA conference and gets to spend 1 hour of me-time with the Army chief. This, in 2020.

You can make all the excuses about her "scholarship" you want, but there are people on BRF who know more about Pak than she does, and she is busy campaigning against India abroad. Yet, here we go. This is the state of affairs. Javdekar was busy taking selfies with Saba Naqvi.

So you can't be bothered to hire a few lobbyists, broke Pak hired 3, and give goras who dislike your voters, you, the free run of the country whether it is NYT, NPR, or whatever, so that your international image suffers, and then you think all iz well. Wonderful. The lack of planning, common sense is just off the scale.

[Gyan]

https://www.news18.com/amp/news/india/n ... 28847.html


Extraordinary Bizarre order of Supreme Court allowing foreign funded NGOs to meddle in India

Now theoretically ISIS can open an NGO in India and call for Jihad, Sharia & Destruction of Paganism

[madhu]

https://www.news18.com/amp/news/india/n ... 28847.html
Extraordinary Bizarre order of Supreme Court allowing foreign funded NGOs to meddle in India

Now theoretically ISIS can open an NGO in India and call for Jihad, Sharia & Destruction of Paganism

Why the hell indians that too Hindus are so against India and hindus?
What do they gain. If for some tone they might get some money or award their generation will loose out this great tradition. Why the hell they font understand.

I am desperately waiting to see what 56inch will do. Do he really has one? I am sick of it.

[Sicanta]

Lack of competent ministers is an issue with this government. Many act as if they just dont want to burn bridges with the other side despite an onslaught of bad publicity.

On another note, why can't Gov work to appoint Harish salve as SC judge. He certainly will be an improvement on the current crop of 'your honor's

.......
Edit - I would get if the other side were 'competition' alone with a competing vision for the country that was equally compelling, so you may want to work with them occasionally and not burn bridges. But what we have here are traitors galore.
.......

[Rampy]

Good read, but lets see this works
https://drgpradhan.blogspot.com/2020/03 ... -namo.html

[Rampy]

Haha Yojigi is not stopping now..'''Yogi government to turn Aala Hajrat Haj House in Ghaziabad into a 500 bed isolation centre for Coronavirus"

https://twitter.com/OpIndia_com

[madhu]

Good read, but let's see this works
https://drgpradhan.blogspot.com/2020/03 ... -namo.html

This is just a Whatsapp msg that is going around. I don't see anything new in this. I strongly feel MAD is clueless. They were caught off guard and do not know how to get out of it.
Moreover what nonsense is banning malyalm channel when openly Ravish defended Sharuk and showed a hindu photo, what action was taken by him? Had it been in US what would be the compensation that needs to ve payed to that hindu guy? As i told earlier this is going to be Anna hazare moment of NDA 2. if this tide is not reversed i doubt BJP even completing 5 yrs.

[KJo]

https://www.news18.com/amp/news/india/n ... 28847.html
Extraordinary Bizarre order of Supreme Court allowing foreign funded NGOs to meddle in India

Now theoretically ISIS can open an NGO in India and call for Jihad, Sharia & Destruction of Paganism

Why the hell indians that too Hindus are so against India and hindus?
What do they gain. If for some tone they might get some money or award their generation will loose out this great tradition. Why the hell they font understand.

I am desperately waiting to see what 56inch will do. Do he really has one? I am sick of it.

Pretty simple. Centuries of subjugation from Muslims and Goras have turned Hindus into a self-loathing lot. We constantly are hoping to get validation from the world, especially the Western world. The GoI does it, and even everyday aam Hindus.
Hindus talking bad about Hinduism/India is something that most goras warm up to and if you do this, you can ingratiate yourself to them. I have seen many Hindus do this in the US, especially when the discussion is about caste system, poverty etc.

[Suraj]

The familiar arguments. Their methodology is written into the article.

Print had a similar list of 44 individuals - 39 were identified and of them, 27 were Muslims and 12 Hindus. Again, proves the “equal equal” theory as “manufactured”.
https://theprint.in/india/list-of-those ... ts/372170/

Nope. The Print is Shekhar Gupta's mouthpiece. Official hospital data only. All data must be from original source, not from any press source or some random SM post.

A methodology that uses two sets of figures from two entities of the same political slant are simply a case of 'my left hand agrees with my right hand'.

I hope you're making good progress at finding articles that actually focus on stating the facts of CAA and Art 370 before opining why they disagree. Take your time. There's practically nothing out there that fits, so it's no surprise you can't find anything quickly. For each one you do present, 10 articles that lack balance can be found very easily, so no problem there...

[Suraj]

One thing is sure due to AntiCAA protest India's image has gone bad.
Yesterday i had a call with Indonesia client. Before the start of meeting he asked me what's happening in india. However i did not feel it is appropriate to discuss in official call so just did not show interest.
Now at least pakistan is winning this round.

The appropriate gentle response to him is that political discussion isn't appropriate in the business setting. You're not obligated to care about his opinion about Indian politics. Keep in mind that Indonesia isn't anywhere near a paragon here - decades of dictatorship, extrajudicial killings, coups and more.

As India rises in power and status, more people will observe and comment. Not much of it will be positive, because change in general unsettles people. It's not going to be a long welcoming process, but one where everyone wants a piece of the pie and trip us over at any given opportunity.

[pankajs]

https://twitter.com/DivyaSoti/status/12 ... 7928471552

Divya Kumar Soti @DivyaSoti

Wife of DCP Amit Sharma, who was critically injured in the anti-CAA Islamist mob attack says that women invited DCP for talks, surrounded him and initiated attack on him and were soon joined by men armed with hockey sticks, iron rods, knives and pistols.

BTW, folks Modi's position within India is not a worry. It is India' & Hindu bashing based on fake news that is a concern.

[darshhan]

^^ That's what happens when Pradhan Sevak ji does not use the exchequer and the thousands of crores in electoral bonds for media management or lobbying, and acts as if speaking mann ki baat will be enough to win him international acclaim. Sorry to be harsh, but neither any significant carrot nor stick is Modi's so called game plan for the media, and it has flopped badly, and will affect India as well.

Apart from India, it will also affect Indian citizens at large especially those who are caught in wrong place at wrong time domestically as well as internationally. But to be honest, the BIF(Breaking India Forces) including the ones in media are entrenched for decades now. Their roots are extremely deep.

The problem with Namo govt is that they haven't even started to act against this BIF Cabal. Lack of talent in govt is visible. BJP ministers themselves do not have clarity on the reach and influence of BIF. Most are anyways no more than rubber stamps in hands of their department officers. Other branches of govt are even worse, whether it is IAS, IPS or Judiciary(the worst). Namo has no choice but to bring outside talent in administration.

On a fundamental level though Indian state will have to support Hindutva and hindus openly and covertly to reverse the narrative. There is no doubt about that. Hindus after so many centuries of foreign rule, macaulayite education and total dewarriorization have to be supported by the Bhartiya state if we have to regain our civilizational glory.

[Suraj]

It's generally far easier to run guerilla tactics and respond to policy moves against an incumbent than to continuously both execute and explain oneself in the process. Public entities - or people in general - are not good at explaining themselves as they go along.

During the Obama administration, the other side was basically continuously on the attack mode against him both within the halls of government and in the press. Now, it's the current incumbent facing a basically continuous barrage from his opponents.

The main failure in India is not that GoI right now is not capable of effectively replying. I take it as a given that they'll generally always be at the receiving end. It's called 'opposition' for a reason , in the democratic framework.

The largest failure is the essential absence of a center right press ecosystem. There's one now, but during the UPA years there was none at all - no Swarajya, OpIndia or anything.

[Karan M]

The main thing is to have responses out there, which reiterate the basic points, are not cut copy paste of each other & reinforce credibility. This is a fundamental axiom of marketing comms. You should never have "nothing". BJP IT Cell is only interested in hard selling Modi and BJP as a victim to domestic audiences. They are completely unable to deal with a larger foreign press or even a neutral audience which looks for info but only finds a thousand links on Hindus doing pogroms.

For instance the first reports can be a GOI one, then the second, third, fourth, fifth can be from private guys. Then you need indexing to have them pop up in SE results. All this isn't easy, but its not that hard either. Its the basics. Right now, for instance, if I search for ISIS Delhi, i.e. the Daesh connection which IB has put up, all I get are western media claims that Yindoo atrocities on Muslims are giving ISIS a foothold. There is literally nothing in terms of a coordinated attempt to put out the facts which should have stressed on the following facts:

1. CAA is a non discriminatory bill which protects minorities yet has been protested against by Muslim and left extremists
Evidence, a, b, c, d, e, f
2. They blocked so many areas from xyz date
Evidence a, b, c, d, e, f
3. Riots were planned to coincide with Trumps visit, harm western Interests not merely Indias
Evidence a, b, c, d, e, f
4. They began as anti Hindu riots, and then Hindus retaliated
Evidence
5. Cops intervened but their primary focus was on protecting Trump
Evidence
6. GOI did this etc after realizing how badly things went out of hand
Evidence
7. A lot of social media and western news orgs are deliberately spreading FUD, GOI is deeply disappointed blah blah
Evidence

Fact is there is no coherent narrative from the GOI side and a lot of western orgs are exploiting this. The aim is to not sway the opponent. But openly put out a counter narrative that shows the dominant media are *liars* and their credibility is fake. So next time around, NYT, WaPo etc are not the only source of the "truth".

I mean all this creates a reinforcing effect. Unless one seizes the narrative, the opponents get to spin whatever yarn they want.
Its amazing how badly the BJP has left this basic element out of the picture. I still can't understand why. They are the most shambolic, rabble rousers i have ever seen. They are good at playing victim on social media but don't seem to have woken up to actually playing offence out of India and what the foreign media is doing or even the ELM.

These riots were definitely intended to affect our image as an investment destination too.

We saw the same on Feb 27th too. A lot of folks backslap each other about how Balakote was a military success. Yet it was. And it was a complete and total Infowar failure in many respects. To people who want to see us "punch at our weight" let alone above it, we don't do so.

[suryag]

I sorely miss AJ and SS, for whatever its worth they did have some sizeable leverage amongst the press

[Karan M]

Mao is stated to have said, if you have them by the b@lls, their hearts will follow.

Smriti Irani proposed an I&B bill against fake news. The rampant fake editorializing such as we later saw against the CAA, but which was already common by then, would have been stopped. The Hindu carried an editorial bemoaning the fact, stating that the press would now be forced to correlate its opinions vs what the GOI said.

She was shunted out by express intervention of the PMO, per gleeful media reports, the I&B ministry went to you know who, and Modi did nothing. In fact, the common assumption was that she had been punished for her combative gumption.

As the famous saying goes, when asked to bend, the BJP crawled.