Tag: Modi

  • Indian journalists slam govt for not giving visas to Pakistani correspondents

    Indian journalists slam govt for not giving visas to Pakistani correspondents

    Senior Indian journalist Rajdeep Sardesai expressed disappointment on his government’s continuous delay in issuing visas for Pakistani journalists, stating that if Pakistan is playing the World Cup in India, visas cannot be denied to journalists.

    Rajdeep Sardesai asked why should journalists be politically demotivated. “We should adopt the attitude of good hosts,” he remarked, saying that he will expect the same from Islamabad in the future.

    Read More: World Cup 2023: Pakistani cricket presenter Zainab Abbas sent back from India due to safety concerns

    It should be noted that the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Zaka Ashraf, contacted Foreign Secretary Cyrus Sajjad Qazi in regards to the issuance of Indian visas to Pakistanis for the cricket World Cup.

    Here are some more reactions of Twitter users:

  • ‘Spread love not hate’: AP Dhillon supports Shubhneet Singh

    ‘Spread love not hate’: AP Dhillon supports Shubhneet Singh

    Canadian-Indian rapper Shubhneet Singh is facing backlash from conservative politicians and social media users accusing him of being a Khalistan supporter, after the rapper’s post from March recirculated around social media. Several cricket players like Virat Kohli, Hardick Panday and KL Rahul had unfollowed the rapper on Instagram following the controversy.

    Singh’s tour in India in September was cancelled, after sponsor BoAt announced they were no longer sponsoring the tour as they announced in a post on their X, formerly Twitter, account.

    “At boAt, while our commitment to the incredible music community runs deep, we are first and foremost a true Indian brand. Therefore, when we became aware of the remarks made by artist Shubh earlier this year, we chose to withdraw our sponsorship from the tour.”

    BookMyShow, the online ticket portal confirmed on their X account that they were refunding customers who had purchased ticket’s for Shubh’s concert in Mumbai and other cities.

    In light of these accusations, Indian rapper AP Dhillon released a lengthy statement on his Instagram stories where he publicly sided with the ‘We Rollin’ rapper, condemning the way artists are targeted by special interest and political groups.

    “As an artist it has become almost impossible to stay focused on your craft and do what you love. I try to be mindful of everyone’s sentiments but it has gotten to a point where we have to second and triple guess our every move due to the fear of unintentionally fueling even more division.”

    “Spread love, not hate,” wrote the ‘Brown Munde’ rapper. “Let’s start thinking for ourselves and not let hateful influences program our beliefs. We are ALL one. Let’s not let man made social constructs divide us. Division has gotten us to this point but unity is the key to the future.”

    Shubhneet Singh addressed the backlash in a lengthy statement posted on his Instagram account and said he found the allegations “extremely disheartening.”

    “My intent in resharing that post on my story was only to pray for Punjab as there were reports of electricity and internet shutdowns throughout the state. There was no other thought behind it, and I definitely didn’t intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments.”

    The backlash to Shubh arrives after relations between India and Canada took a sour turn when Justin Trudeau publicly accused the Indian government for being involved in the death of the Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had been a vocal supporter of setting up a separate state for Sikhs living in India.

    “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” said Trudeau.

    “In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”

    READ MORE: Canadian Punjabi rapper’s India tour cancelled as diplomatic row continues

    After the Instagram post by Shubhneet went viral, the youth wing of the BJP party in India BJYMP filed an FIR against the rapper with the Mumbai Police, calling Singh a Khalistan supporter.

    “Shubh is openly a Khalistani supporter,” the complaint read. “And if he is allowed to hold a concert here, he will be influencing a lot of youth in Mumbai and our country to support his agenda…He has evidently proven that he is a pro-Khalistani activist and openly supports their agenda and [he] is also influencing the youth of the country to do the same and wage a war against the Government of India by posting such absurd and derogatory post about Government of India.”

  • Canadian Punjabi rapper’s India tour cancelled as diplomatic row continues

    Canadian Punjabi rapper’s India tour cancelled as diplomatic row continues

    Canadian Punjabi rapper Shubhneet Singh has been targeted by right wing politicians after sharing a cryptic post on his Instagram stories, leading to allegations that he supported the notion of setting up a separate state for Sikhs in India. On Thursday, ticketing platform Book My Show announced on X (formerly Twitter) that they had cancelled bookings for the Punjabi rapper’s shows in cities like Delhi and Kolkata, refunded money to the customers.

    “Singer Shubhneet Singh’s Still Rollin Tour for India stands cancelled. To that end, BookMyShow has initiated a complete refund of the ticket amount for all consumers who had purchased tickets for the show. The refund will be reflected within 7-10 working days in the customer’s source account of the original transaction.”

    This development came after members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM)- the youth wing of the right wing party BJP, launched protests against Shubhneet. On March 23, the rapper had shared a map of India on his Instagram stories, which didn’t show Punjab or occupied Jammu and Kashmir as part of the country, along with the hashtag #prayforpunjab.

    Members of the BJYM wrote to the Mumbai Police, calling for an FIR to be registered against Shubhneet “for waging war against Government of India and posting anti-government posts”.

    “Shubh is openly a Khalistani supporter,” the complaint read. “And if he is allowed to hold a concert here, he will be influencing a lot of youth in Mumbai and our country to support his agenda…He has evidently proven that he is a pro-Khalistani activist and openly supports their agenda and [he] is also influencing the youth of the country to do the same and wage a war against the Government of India by posting such absurd and derogatory post about Government of India.”

    The tensions arrive after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a strongly worded statement about the murder of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Monday, stating that there was credible evidence of the connection between the murderers and the Indian government.

    “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” said Trudeau.

    “In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”

    READ MORE: ‘Credible allegations’; Trudeau blames Indian govt agents for Nijjar murder

    Nijjar was a vocal supporter of the creation of Khalistan- a separate state for Sikhs living in India. He was branded as a terrorist by the Indian government, which maintained that he was wanted by the state for his active involvement with the Khalistan Tiger Force (KLF) an organisation declared as a terrorist group by the country. Nijjar was shot outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, which was deemed as a targeted attack by the police.

  • Serious or sarcasm? Shah Rukh Khan’s birthday wish to Indian PM Modi divides social media

    Serious or sarcasm? Shah Rukh Khan’s birthday wish to Indian PM Modi divides social media

    Shah Rukh Khan is fresh off another professional high as his film ‘Jawan’ gets rave reviews from audiences and film critics alike. However, the actor was once again targeted by social media for sending birthday wish to the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi. Many felt the message was a complete departure from the actor’s image as a driving force against extremism. Others felt that the actor was mocking the PM in a subtle manner.

    “Happy Birthday to Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi ji!!! Have a healthy and joyful day. May u get some time off from work and have a bit of fun too. Best wishes.”

    The Bollywood Badshah was slammed for still supporting the PM, whose controversial regime is mirred with extremism, rising Islamophobia, and for jailing the superstar’s son Aryan Khan in 2021 on misled charges, cleared in May 2022.

    “With great success comes great responsibility,yet nobody is cancelling srk for a political stance.We are easily riled up against our artists,” wrote a user.

    Many were critical of how the ‘Pathaan’ actor has remained silent about the ongoing persecution of Muslims in India.

    But for others, many interpreted the actor advising Modi to “ake time off work” as a sarcastic dig implying that he is too old for the position any longer..

    Is King Khan subtly telling Modi to retire completely or actually sending a compliment? We’re not sure either but we’re hoping its the latter!

  • Venkatesh Prasad deletes viral tweet about Jay Shah, abuses Muslim journalist for sharing screenshot

    Former Indian cricketer Venkatesh Prasad on Saturday tweeted what many social media users believe was a cryptic tweet targeting Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Jay Shah, who is also secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

    “It takes one corrupt, arrogant guy to take away the hard work of an organisation that is generally non-corrupt and get a stamp of corruption on the whole leadership, not just on a micro level but at a large level.”

    Prasad’s tweet made many X (former Twitter) users speculate if the former cricketer had targeted BCCI and Jay Shah, son of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah. However, Prasad soon deleted his tweet.

    Indian journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair posted a screenshot of the tweet deleted by Prasad.

    AltNews co-founder Zubair was not the only one who posted a screenshot of Prasad’s deleted tweet. Many news outlets did a story on it as well. However, Prasad chose to target and abuse Zubair in a racist and bigoted tweet.

    Prasad quote-tweeted Zubair and wrote: “Haha.. Says a serial hate- monger, who has put so many lives in danger for his agenda. You disguising as a fact-checker is like Terrorists talking about peace. Now post that you need money to survive and ask for donation for your website, no shame in living off by fooling people.”

    In response, Zubair said that he hopes Prasad will be forgiven for his tweet on BCCI by his “political masters for compensating by abusing and comparing” him to “terrorists”.

    One user pointed out that Venkatesh Prasad’s manager is Amritanshu Gupta, a known right-wing BJP supporter, which is why Prasad’s language is of right-wing trolls.

    Many X users called out the former Indian cricketer for his bigoted and hateful tweet against a Muslim journalist in India.

    Prasad posted a new version of his deleted tweet a day later.

  • ‘I was not targeting anyone particularly’: Kajol provides clarification on ‘educated political leaders’ comment

    ‘I was not targeting anyone particularly’: Kajol provides clarification on ‘educated political leaders’ comment

    Bollywood actress Kajol recently said in an interview to The Quint that people are steeped in traditions, and politicians are uneducated which is why there isn’t a clear viewpoint on how to move forward in India:

    “You have political leaders who do not have an educational system background. I’m sorry but I’m going to go out and say that. I’m being ruled by leaders, so many of them, who do not have that viewpoint, which I think education does give you, at least the chance to look out for a different viewpoint.” 

    While some applauded the DDLJ actress for making a strong case for why its important to have educated leaders, some Twitter users were enraged by her comments and pointed out that Kajol herself was a school dropout.

    Kajol took to Twitter to post a clarification, saying that she was emphasising the importance of education, and was not targeting any politician.

    “I was merely making a point about education and its importance. My intention was not to demean any political leaders, we have some great leaders who are guiding the country on the right path.”

  • Terror activities remain a huge hurdle for peace in the region: Shehbaz at SCO Summit

    Terror activities remain a huge hurdle for peace in the region: Shehbaz at SCO Summit

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif advised India at the 23rd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Tuesday to not use terrorism for diplomatic point scoring. The Premier emphasized that terror activities remain a huge hurdle for peace in the region.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the current chair of the SCO, invited Shehbaz Sharif to attend the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

    The PM noted that all the members of the SCO have shared interests in maintaining peace and economic stability in the region.

    “The hydra-headed monster of terrorism and extremism, whether committed by individuals, societies, or states, must be fought with full vigour and conviction,” the premier said.

    Earlier, Narendra Modi said that the SCO should stand together to fight terrorism and condemn the countries that support it. He also added that Afghan soil should not be used to destabilise the peace and stability of the neighbourhood.

  • Online harassment of any journalist unacceptable: White House

    Online harassment of any journalist unacceptable: White House

    The White House strongly condemned the online harassment of a Muslim female reporter who asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the rights of religious minorities during his joint press conference with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

    National Security Officer of the White House, John F. Kirby, said this kind of behaviour against any journalist is unacceptable.

    Sabrina Siddique, associated with Wall Street Journal, asked the Indian Premier, “What steps are you and your government willing to take to improve the rights of Muslims and other minorities in your country and uphold free speech?”
    Modi answered, “In India’s democratic values, there is absolutely no discrimination, neither based on caste, creed, age, nor any kind of geographic location”.

    Sabrina Siddique later said that she is facing online harassment after asking the question. She also mentioned that she is a Muslim, which is why she has been targeted.

  • Fact-Check: Did Modi say ‘Pakistan will die its own death’, during his recent visit to the US?

    Fact-Check: Did Modi say ‘Pakistan will die its own death’, during his recent visit to the US?

    Claim:

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan has said in a video statement shared from the official Twitter account of the party, that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed, “Pakistan will die its own death.”

    While quoting Modi, Imran said, “Don’t talk about Pakistan, your partner now is America. Pakistan is burdened with its own problems.” Imran further said that the arrogant statement was made during Modi’s visit to the United States.

    “It seems that by signing defense and technology agreements with America, they have become so proud that they consider themselves America’s partners,” added Imran.

    Fact:

    However, the Modi statement which Imran was referring to, was actually said in 2019, during Imran Khan’s time as prime minister. The statement was not made during Modi’s recent visit to the US, but at the “Main bhi Chowkidar” event that took place in New Delhi, India.

    Verdict: The claim is false.

  • ‘Epic’: Twitter lauds acapella group for singing song written by Muslim for Modi’s arrival at White House

    ‘Epic’: Twitter lauds acapella group for singing song written by Muslim for Modi’s arrival at White House

    Two days ago, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the US White House, a video went viral of the all-Indian acapella group Penn Masala sang ‘Jashn-e-Bahara’ in celebration of his arrival. Many Twitter users interpreted this as a clever diss to the controversial politician over his Islamophobic government, and also as a direct response to Biden who revealed that he will not talk to the Indian Prime Minister about human right violations during his visit.

    ‘Jashn-e-Bahara’ is an Urdu song written by the Muslim artists A.R Rehman and Javed Akhtar, and was sung by Javed Ali. The song was featured in the film ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, a movie about the marriage between the Mughal Emperor Akbar and his Hindu wife Jodha.

    Twitter users lauded this discreet but clever way to troll a secular and facist politcian, who has been criticised by American politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who announced that they were boycotting Modi’s address to Congress, citing the politician’s abysmal human right’s record, as well as his erosion of religious freedom in India.

    Some also felt that the song was an indirect target towards the Indian government’s move to remove chapters from school textbooks on Mughal rulers.

    https://twitter.com/onlynina/status/1671905008017629185?s=20

    One user wrote: “The irony of an urdu song from a film glorifying mughal emperor Akbar.”