CIHS – Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies

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CIHS – Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies > #India
Disinformation Fact Sheet Human Rights Misinformation World
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Dichotomy, Fault Lines & Lies

Muslim women globally seek to free from hijab and burka. In India, its other way, radical religious fanatics push for regressive dress code Neha Dahiya Why’s it that there’s so much furore on the headgear, face cover or someone covering his or her body partially or in full? Incidents reported in last few weeks on Hijab in particular across the world seem lot more disturbing from humanity and civilizational perspective. Big question that continues to taunt the Islamic world was how a 22-year old Mahsa Amini from Sagrez in Iran was murdered by Iranian police on September 13 for allegedly not covering her head in full. And, there after the repression unleashed by Iranian government that made wane attempts to justify the broad daylight murder of Mahsa Amini is rather appalling and inhuman. Iranian President Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati otherwise known as Ebrahim Raisi seems to have gone overboard to justify the brutal murder of Mahsa Amini. The claim from the Iranian administration seems to be that Hijab was mandated by Islam and there’s no way anyone can be free from the Islamic tradition of covering the head from top to toe with Hijab and a burkha. While the extremist islamist – jihadists came to claim the link between hijab and islam, women and girls have made attempts to free women from this barbaric tradition. Otherwise, how would one explain several nations mostly run by muslim leadership discarding the black robe and hijab that suffocated the women and girls over ages? Mahsa Amini was on a trip to Tehran with her brother Kairash when the morality police hitherto known as Gasht-e-Ershad  abducted her on Shahid Haghini expressway. As per reports Mahsa Amini was brutally beaten in the van and later on Vozara Avenue. As per reports, outside the detention centre, Kairash witnessed women taken inside that screamed for their lives. Mahsa Amini collapsed and slipped into coma and succumbed to beatings three days later. Under Iran’s sharia (Islamic) law, imposed since Ayatollah Khomeini took reins in 1979, women were bound to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their body. Even slightest signs of disobedience led to severe punishments and physical torture in detention centres commonly known as‘re-education’ run by the ruthless morality police. Muslim women world over including Iran have periodically campaigned against Hijab that has nothing to do with Islam in the strict sense. Women reportedly first took to streets against Hijab in Iran weeks after Khomeini’s arrival decades ago. India was no exception to such Anti-Hijab protests till December 2021 when six girls ebbed by the jihadists entered the Udupi government-run pre-university college in the Indian southern state of Karnataka swearing hijab to classes Most interesting is their indoctrination that claimed hijab was part of their religious practice. When they were turned out of the classrooms for not complying with the college uniform rules they argued for freedom to practice their religion and attire associated with it. Unlike many of their counterparts in dozens of countries, these girls wanted to wear a Burqa and Niqab covering their full body and a face veil concealing the uniform and identity of the student. The girls went to the Karnataka high court demanding to wear hijab on the campus premises. There is no law in Indian constitution mandating a code of conduct for women as in the case of Iranian theocracy. Instead, protected by the “Right to Live with Human Dignity” under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, there are absolutely no legal restrictions on Muslim women in India wearing the hijab or even the burqa in public. One needs to acknowledge that an institution has the power to impose a dress code on its premises. The freedom of a woman to wear whatever she pleases does not supersede an institution’s authority to decide a dress code for its registrants. The rule was applicable to any public or private office space, not just colleges. It also applied to hotels, dining establishments, places of worship, and other similar establishments. Arguments that wearing hijab was essential practice in Islam may not hold water. Hijab has roots in Persian and known as ḥajaba or the veil in Arabic. In Quran, hijab is termed as ‘Khimar’ which means curtain or partition in literal or metaphorical sense. Khimar originated from trilateral verb ‘khamara’ which again means ‘ghatta’, to conceal, hide, or cover something. Quran Surah al-Ahzab, verse-53 said, “Let them wear their Khimar over their juyub” referring to their chest. Allah instructed the believing women to bring the fabric to their front by drawing Khimar over their chests, as a covering. Khumurihina (plural of Khimar) used in this Quran verse refers to scarves that females wore on the Arabian Peninsula at the time. Given the clear distinction, justifiably one wonders as to why Hijab is used while Quran refers to as scarf or Khimar. Subsequently, verse 30 in chapter 24 and verse 54 in Chapter 33, Holy Quran asked both men and women to act with “decency” and “integrity,” both physically and morally. The Quran did not mandate a strictly religious “uniform,” and the first spiritual message did not mean to impose strict or “fixed” dress rules once and for all as propagated by Islamist fanatics but rather to “recommend” an “attitude” or “ethic” towards the body and soul. Khimar versus hijab is not one of Islam’s pillars but rather relate to moral principles, behaviour and relational ethics. Only when religious faith is exercised freely can it meaning something. As a result, discussing Islamic obligation to wear a hijab or Khimar is spiritually and technically incorrect as the Quran states, “No compulsion in religion.” (256 of Al-Baqara). Karnataka High court had ruled that hijab was not essential to religious practice of Islam and upheld the state government order on adhering to uniforms in educational institutions. The recent Supreme Court split verdict on Hijab and its reference to a larger bench has made the debate all the more intense. Six- Muslim girls that

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Business Leadership Policy
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Indo-Japanese Relations Go Beyond the Pacific

Modi and Kishida talks point to evolving common strategies that may spill over to multi-lateral engagement at G-20 and G-7 Amritpal Kaur Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent Japan visit was not limited to paying tributes to Abe San. Apart from representing India at his former Japanese counterpart’s funeral, Prime Minister Modi seems to have established a rather similar working understanding with the host government led by Fumio Kishida. Kishida, who was foreign minister in Shinzo Abe’s government, did not want to miss the opportunity in striking a relationship with Prime Minister Modi and his right wing BJP government in India. The two sides have thrown enough hints that Shinzo Abe’s vision for Indo Pacific partnership and larger alliance will continue to be the guiding principle in their relationship. Both sides have recognized that Quad was evolving as the operative group to implement the Abe’s vision for Indo Pacific region. Enough commitments were also made to move substantively in the path laid out by Shinzo Abe. Ease of doing business between two countries spread across trade, investments and manufacturing as well as services were a given in the whole gambit of bilateral relations. While this is second time Fumio Kishido met Modi on September 27 after having been anointed as Prime Minister, evolving intricate relations between the two countries has become a talking point in global diplomatic circles for right reasons. Insiders in Modi government do reveal that the Prime Minister chose to head to Japan for paying tributes to his friend Abe San rather than descending on London for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Increased relevance of the East Asia in Indian diplomacy matrix is yet another talking point. This was at display a few days before when Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and foreign minister S. Jaishankar were in Tokyo for two plus two dialogue. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Inner Mongolia in September to forge defense and diplomatic ties between India and Mongolia. Minister Singh met Mongolia’s President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and the Chairman of State Great Khural of Mongolia G. Zandanshatar. Apart from holding delegation level talks with his Mongolian counterpart to hasten implementation of strategic partnership between the two countries, Rajnath Singh inaugurated Cyber security Training Centre built with Indian assistance at the National Defense University in Ulaanbaatar. India Mongolia Friendship School also got wings during Singh’s visit.  On September 8, Indian Defence Minister and Foreign Minister held a two plus two ministerial dialogue at Tokyo with Japanese leadership centred around substantive engagement between Joint Staff of Japanese Self Defense Forces and Integrated Defense Staff of India. Japan participated for the first time in multilateral exercise MILAN. Both countries have operationalized the Reciprocal Provision of Supply Service Agreement. It was agreed that in the near future, Indian and Japanese Air forces will hold Air Force fighter exercise. India invited Japan to engage in development of the emerging and critical technology domains and Japanese defense companies to invest defense corridors in India. India pushed for maritime cooperation with Japan through its Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) which is in line with Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). Also, through Asean’s framework India and Japan have moved ahead to work on a greater Asian region. Rightly so, S. Jaishankar noted that given the tumultuous international environment, the 2+2 meeting between India and Japan promoted Rules-based order ensuring respect for international laws, norms and commitment to safeguard common resources of the world. Interestingly, both sides seem to have utilized the 2+2 meeting to reflect and coordinate approach on international issues. Also, in the scenario of aggravated environmental concerns, grim economic situation, Indo-Japanese cooperation seems to have moved beyond the immediate region, into the multilateral frameworks like QUAD, ASEAN platform, Re-CAAP and Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. Fortified India – Japan relations will come handy when New Delhi takes over as G-20 chair and Tokyo taking charge of G-7. (Author is a contributing scholar with CIHS)

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Disinformation Fact Sheet Hindus Misinformation Policy
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567

Islamist Crime Syndicate Stopped in Its Tracks

India imposed ban on PFI and eight of its affiliates spreading terror.  On September 28, 2022, the Indian government imposed a five-year ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and all of its affiliated organisations. PFI, an extreme Islamist organisation that took over from the National Development Front (NDF) in 2006, is infamous for its total disdain for the Indian constitution and its participation in anti-India activities. India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) therefore determined that the PFI was an unlawful organisation in violation of India’s 1967 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and as a result, the PFI is banned. PFI and its associates have customarily engaged in forced conversions, funding of terrorism, illicit hawala transactions, criminal conspiracies, inciting violence through hate speech, and other acts of terror. These atrocious crimes against humanity have included the cruel murder of innocent Hindus, Christians, and even moderate Muslims. The PFI was established in 2006 as a reformation of the National Democratic Front  (NDF) in Kerala, the southernmost and most literate state of India. Originally founded in 1994, NDF was disbanded as a pan-Islamic group that was exposed to multiple instances of hate speech and related crimes. By combining the approaches of NDF, Manitha Neethi Pasarai, Karnataka Forum for Dignity, and other organisations, PFI a developed with a multi-state worldview. PFI advertises itself as a neo-social movement empowering people to achieve justice, freedom, and security, yet its actions point to it being a spiteful crime syndicate. To further its nefarious criminal agenda, PFI has a number of organisations that engage with different socio-economic groups, including but not limited to the Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO), National Women’s Front (NWF), Junior Front, Empower India Foundation, Rehab foundation Kerala, and others. At the time of its banning, PFI’s crime syndicate maintained operations in 23 Indian states, with major concentration in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Kerala provided as the organisation’s primary base. Wherein, PFI assets that it works with human rights activists (rather people who may be viewed as HR activists) to stop human rights violations in the country, however in reality, the organisation works to incite Islamist hate against people of other faiths and cultures while ostensibly defending the rights of minorities. In a notification dated September 27, 2022, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs highlighted PFI’s connections to terrorist organisations like ISIS and Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. Furthermore, PFI cadres have taken part in terrorism in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Besides this, the organization’s founding founders were the heads of the outlawed jihadist terrorist group Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). In the course of its investigation leading to the ban, India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) discovered that PFI opened 27 bank accounts, 9 of which were RIF accounts, and that a total of INR 120 crores was routed by PFI through a rogue network in West Asian nations, particularly Qatar, Kuwait, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. The funds were covertly moved to India for nefarious and extremist activities. The money was transferred in such a deliberate manner that cash deposits and withdrawals occurred every day, and payments were restricted to a maximum of INR 50,000. so that they are exempt from giving tax number or other forms of identification. On September 22, 2022, the PFI offices in the Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry, Assam, and Rajasthan were searched by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). PFI Chairman O. M. A. Salam, its National General Secretary Anis Ahmed, its Member of the National Executive Council P. Koya, its National Vice Chairman E. M. Abdur Rahiman, its National Secretary Afsar Pasha, its Member of the National Executive Council Abdul Wahid Sait, its National Secretary (Media and Public Relations) Mohammed Shakib, and its President of the West Bengal unit Minarul Sheikh were all detained during the search and seize operations carried out as part of Operation Octopus of the Indian Investigation agencies. So far, 247 PFI members have been detained as further investigations are ongoing. PFI has a long history of engaging in several anti-humanity and anti-india actions. Rifles, bombs and bomb making manuals, provocative literature outlining how to further the ideology of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were seized by police from the offices of PFI members in July 2010. In 2012, the Kerala government briefed the Kerala High Court at a case hearing that PFI was connected to 27 community-based murder cases, 86 murder attempts, and 106 instances of communal violence, and that its activities were detrimental to national security. PFI centres across the nation were the targeted of many searches in April 2013 that resulted in the seizure of lethal weapons, foreign currency, and human shot targets in addition to explosive raw materials like gunpowder, swords, and other weaponry. In wake of the Assam clashes of 2012. the criminal syndicate PFI cooperated and worked with Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), a Pakistan based Jihadi terrorist group that calls for Jihad against the people of diverse faiths, in order to spread inflammatory messages,. Roughly 28 to 30% of these messages originated in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Towing the line of proscribed international Anti-Jew terrorist organisations. In July 2014, Anti-Jewish demonstrations and antisemitism were stoked in many Indian regions by Islamist minded PFI. The PFI office in Shaheen Bagh, Delhi served as an outpost during the Anti-CAA protest in 2019–20, and the criminal group was actively involved in a misinformation campaign with the sinister goal of peddling false information  about National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) to Muslims in order to incite violence and Anti-India and Anti-Hindu hatred. The evil scheme of the criminal gang PFI was to provoke a civil war in India over the NRC and CAA. The criminal organisation was also involved in establishing an illegal helpdesk in Goalpara and Kamrup, Assam, to fabricate false documents. When the world was struggling with the

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Disinformation Fact Sheet Hindus
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IAMC: A US-Based Islamist Disinformation Factory

 Rohan Giri / New Delhi Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), formerly known as Indian Muslim Council (IMC USA), is a US-based organisation that is in the news for supposedly advancing the interests of Indian Muslims in America. The organisation’s mandate states that its goal is to safeguard India’s pluralism, tolerance, and respect for human rights, however this is far from the reality. Through the dissemination of organised false information and the portrayal of India as the oppressor of Indian Muslims, its efforts frequently demonise India. IAMC routinely spreads its agenda-driven, biassed ideas about India and Hindus in particular, utilising disparaging and Hinduphobic slurs, under the guise of interfaith and inter-community debate. IAMC and its representatives have been defaming India’s sovereignty, culture, tradition, and government efforts over the past few years, misleading the American people about Indian events and happenings. Thereby continuously attempting to sow strife between the oldest and largest democracies in the world. Over many years, the agenda-driven leadership at IAMC created numerous organisations with the same members. In order to conceal the organisation’s dubious identity, support, and foreign ties—including those with United Nations-prohibited terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Islamist extremist organisations like the Jamaat-E-Islami—the entities were given new names. Deeper investigation reveals that Shaik Ubaid, the founder of IAMC, BTF, JFA, and ImamNet, and Abdul Mujahid, the founder of Sound Vision and a co-founder of JFA and BTF, are the major protagonists in the nexus. Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) can be found backing all of these the major organisations. Select  organisations are detailed below. It’s crucial to note that the Islamic Circle of North America ICNA is a nexus of Islamist fundamentalist organisations like  Jamaat-e-Islami and its affiliated terrorist groups and entities. The US government indicated in a resolution that it is concerned about the threat that theocratic organisations pose to democracy and human rights and that ICNA receives funding, shares leadership, and is openly associated with Jamaat-e-Islami.[1] Claims and realities don’t always match up, and IAMC is not an exception to this common occurrence. Even while the Indian American Muslim Council claims to be a non-profit organisation that advocates for Muslim rights, the truth is that it has close ties, both directly and indirectly, to extremist and terrorist organisations that are run by jihadis and islamists. Mohammad Siddiqi, the founder of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a terrorist group that has been proscribed in India and has carried out multiple bombings aiming to establish an Islamic state in India was once hosted as a guest at the Shaik Ubaid-founded IAMC.[2] Moreover, IAMC’s founder Sheikh Ubaid is associated with ICNA, which has links with Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba.[3] At the inaugural convention of the IAMC, they lined up the extremist guest speaker, Asim Ghafoor, aka Asim Abdur Rehman Ghafoor. Ghafoor was a former spokesperson for the terrorist-linked groups Global Relief Foundation (GRF), and Care International[4]. The IAMC is run by Rasheed Ahmed. From 2008 to 2017, he was the executive director of the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA). Three islamist humanitarian organisations, including IMANA, raised millions of money under the guise of assisting India but provided little to no relief to India during COVID-19. IMANA is connected to a number of terrorist organisations, including the Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.[5] Top IAMC functionaries like Kaleem Kawaja have vociferously advocated the cause of Taliban, once he recorded to have stated “Brother, can you spare a tear for Taliban?”[6] Additionally, IAMC has a history of advocating against India, whether it is through the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) or by glorifying motivated and agenda driven journalists, actors and writers like Rana Ayub, Swara Bhaskar, Angana P. Chatterji and Barkha Dutt. IAMC began influencing the supposedly independent, bipartisan United States federal government panel USCIRF in 2013–2014. Through the commissioner Nadine Maenza, Shaik Ubaid was able to influence the USCIRF with the assistance of the US-based lobbying group Fidelis Government Relations (FGR). The lobbying’s objective was to designate India as country of particular concern (CPC) and draw attention to the country’s human rights issues. In 2020, when USCIRF recognised India as CPC, the well-funded lobbying efforts of IAMC and its nexus would finally yield results. In its 2014 report, the USCIRF altered the map of India by defacing regions of India’s Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, and Arunachal Pradesh.[7] IAMC awarded extraordinary reward money for some of its favoured journalists in the annual Human Rights and Religious Freedom Journalism (HRRF) Awards. Select names decided by IAMC for various cash prizes included Shahid Tantray of The Caravan Magazine, Aishwarya S Iyer of Scroll, Ismat Ara of The Wire, Sumedha Mittal of The Caravan, Naomi Barton of The Wire, Priyanka Thirumurthy of The News Minute, and Akanksha Kumar of Newslaundry, among others.[8] Each prize has gone to an individual who supports the pro-Pakistani, Islamist narrative that the Indian government is terrorising Indian Muslims. To further its jihadist and Islamist goal of destabilising relations between the two progressive nations, India and the USA, IAMC frequently spreads misleading information about India. IAMC has been at the forefront of demonising both America in India and India in America while disguising itself as a pluralist and advocacy group. It has been working continuously against American and Indian interests. Whether it is by encouraging Journalists by compensating them for their activities against India and America, or by lobbying and coercing USCIRF to label India as a country of particular concern. IAMC aggressively supports an anti-Hindu and anti-Indian agenda in the US while publicly promoting its vile lies. Strong checks and balances must be in place to ensure that such propaganda organisations do not have free reign in a free and democratic America. (Rohan is a journalism graduate from Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) New Delhi, and Manager Operations at CIHS.) [1] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-116hres160ih/html/BILLS-116hres160ih.htm [2] https://www.hinduamerican.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Coalition_Against_Genocide_A_Nexus_of_HinduphobiaUnveiled.pdf [3] https://organiser.org/2022/06/05/84205/bharat/equality-labs-nexus-of-anti-bharat-forces-in-the-united-states-which-is-creating-division-and-rancor/ [4] https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1006295370821952160 [5] https://twitter.com/DisinfoLab/status/1457625435823493122 [6] https://www.milligazette.com/Archives/01032002/0103200254.htm [7] https://thedisinfolab.org/uscirf-an-organization-of-particular-concern/#rb-Chapter—5-JFA-IAMC-ICNA-and-other-Alphabets [8] https://iamc.com/indian-american-muslim-council-iamc-is-thrilled-to-announce-the-shortlist-across-five-categories-of-the-first-ever-human-rights-religious-freedom-journalism-awards-2022-hrrf/

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World
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The Queen Cherished Her Time in India

Neha Dahiya / New Delhi, India Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the first child of the then future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother), was born on April 21, 1926 in Mayfair, London. At twenty five years old, Princess Elizabeth ascended to the British throne and became Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms on February 6, 1952, and was commonly known as Elizabeth II. The British throne is inherited according to descent, gender, legality, and religion. According to British common law, a sovereign’s children or a sovereign without children’s closest collateral line inherits the Crown. Elizabeth was third in line for the British throne during her grandfather’s rule, behind her father and her uncle Edward. Even though her birth sparked curiosity in the public, it was not anticipated that she would become queen as her uncle Edward was still young and was most likely to be married and have his own children, who would succeed Elizabeth in the line of succession. She became second in line to the throne after her father when her grandfather passed away in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII. After his anticipated marriage with divorced socialite Wallis Simpson sparked a constitutional crisis later that year, Edward abdicated. As a result, George VI, Elizabeth’s father, ascended to the throne. It was then that Elizabeth became the presumed successor because she did not have any brothers. After her father, George VI, passed away on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth II succeeded to the throne and was immediately crowned queen by her privy and executive councils. The custom of waiting a proper amount of time after a king dies before holding such events meant that the coronation was held more than a year later. Elizabeth II was crowned on June 2, 1953, at Westminster Abbey in London. Until her death on Thursday, September 8, 2022, at age ninety-six, Elizabeth II was the oldest current monarch and head of state in the world. In her record-breaking 70 years as monarch, Queen Elizabeth II set a lot of milestones. Elizabeth ruled for approximately seventy years and four months, during which over fifteen British prime ministers, including Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Boris Johnson, and Liz Truss, served under Queen Elizabeth II. The finest achievement of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, who passed away on Thursday after serving as monarch for 70 years, was to keep the monarchy popular throughout decades of seismic political, social, and cultural change that threatened to render it out of date. In the spotlight of an increasingly intrusive and frequently hostile media, she helped steer the institution into the modern era by eliminating court ritual and making it somewhat more open and accessible. Queen Elizabeth II travelled to India on multiple occasions. In 1961, her first state visit with her husband, Prince Philip, came over 15 years after India gained its independence from the British in 1947. She was the first British monarch to ascend to the throne. On her official visit to India, the Queen visited historical sites including Taj Mahal in Agra, Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, and the ancient Hindu city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh while touring the cities of Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata. She participated in several events, spent days at a maharajah’s hunting lodge, and rode an elephant. The royal couple attended the monumental Republic Day parade on January 26, 1961, as special guests. Following their state visit in 1961, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip returned to India in November 1983. Almost two decades later, her visit coincided with a summit of Commonwealth leaders and in 1997, when India was celebrating 50 years of its Independence from the British. It was the Queen’s first public appearance following Princess Diana’s funeral. During her three state visits, the Queen treasured her time in India.”The warmth and hospitality of the Indian people, and the richness and diversity of India itself, have been an inspiration to all of us,” she said. Today, as a mark of respect towards the longest reigning British Monarch, India will observe a one-day state mourning on September 11, 2022. Subsequently, in a statement issued by the ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, it was stated that the Indian National Flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings in India on the day of mourning, and on that day, there won’t be any formal entertainment. (Neha Dahiya is a specialist content writer at Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies)

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Disinformation Fact Sheet Human Rights Misinformation
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Depressed Subgroups Under Notified Indian Minorities

 Rohan Giri / New Delhi Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, and Zoroastrians (Parsis) are among the five religious groups or sects that are granted minority religion status under the Indian Constitution. These designated Indian minorities do, however, contain depressed subgroups that experience prejudice on a daily basis from their own community members. This report reflects on the state of affairs of such depressed minorities under notified Indian minorities. (Rohan is a journalism graduate from Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) New Delhi, and Manager Operations at CIHS.)

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Disinformation Fact Sheet Hindus Misinformation
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Lies & Propaganda!

Los Angeles Times article falls flat on basics relating to RSS, Hindus & Bharat By Neha Dahiya In an op-ed write up headlined “As a Hindu, I can’t stay silent about injustices in India” that appeared in Los Angeles Times edition of August 15, 2022, the author Akhila L Ananth seem to have made a desperate attempt to falsify Hindus image and turned her arguments propagandist and away from ground realities in India. The writer seems to have been either a victim of misguided anti-Hindu and anti-Indian propaganda. Or, she may have a willing and active participant of such negative campaign rather than making an objective analysis of developments within and outside India. Contrary to the assumption that Hindu nationalists have brutalized different communities, India with over 1.3 billion people has millennial history of religious, caste and faith linked diversity. Hindus that believe in sanatan dharma have lived in harmony with Buddhists, Jains and the Sikhs that have had close civilizational links with the majority people. Barring a few sporadic incidents in a country of the size of European Union, Muslims and Christians that were either born in India or most that made India their home have freely practiced their religious faith without much of a hassle. To compartmentalize Indians and charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi waged a political war against the poor people, farmers, indigenous and caste based groups has very little or no basis whatsoever. If that were true, would Modi’s party secure thumping majority in two successive Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019. Is it not a fact that the right wing party was holding reins in 17 states and three others where it’s a coalition partner? Politics aside, India’s civilizational values do not have any room for attack on equality and plurality. In fact, there very values are cherished and embellished by RSS and the Hindutva forces. India proudly celebrates its diversity. Not only is it proud of its ethnic and religious diversity, all are equal before Indian laws that stood scrutiny for 75-years post-imperial rule. There’s hardly room for discrimination based on caste, region, religion, ethnicity or faith even in governance. In fact, India has over the decades designed projects, schemes and entertained ideas that gave better opportunities to communities and religious minorities in education, socio-economic progression. For example, minorities especially the Muslims, Christians and others like Sikhs have been big beneficiaries of such schemes and projects. Be it tribal, backward community, forest people or those living in hilly terrain or coastal areas, they are core of Hindu society and to say brutalize has no basis. To state that semi-sovereign status of Indian union territory of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh has been abrogated speaks poorly on scholarship and understanding the intricate nuances of the issue. Even before the 2019 amendment of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution is examined, it is important to note that no single person makes decisions in a vibrant democracy like India. The amendment was outcome of a protracted legal and political process. In the first place, it’s incorrect to refer to “Kashmir” as “semi-sovereign” as Kashmir has been a division of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and J&K had no vestige of sovereignty outside of the Indian Constitution and its own constitution was subordinate to the Indian Constitution. To propagate that Kashmir was a “territory trapped between Indian and Pakistani military rule” reflects shallowness and understanding of the Kashmir Valley. For over 5000 years, Kashmir is a story in continuum and its history firmly aligns with the idea, identity, and culture of ancient Bharat. Hundreds of magnificent ancient Santan temples (Hindu Temples) like the Martan Sun Temple in Anantnag or Narayan Nag temple complex in Ganderbal district of the Kashmir Valley, thousands of Sanskrit scriptures like the Nilimat Puran and Rajtarangi are testament to Kashmir’s continuous relation, connection and basis of oneness with the rest of India. In contemporary times, two months after British India was partitioned, in an effort to take control of the Kashmir Valley by force, the then newly formed Pakistani Army launched “Operation Gulmarg” on October 22, 1947. The operation involved both regular Pakistani Army forces and tribal raiders assembled with the war cry, “Islam is in danger”. Simultaneously, the then lawful ruler of the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh reiterated his desire to accede his kingdom to the Dominion of India by signing an Instrument of Accession in accordance with the Indian Independence Act of 1947. Louis Mountbatten, who was British India’s governor general at the time, approved the accession on October 27, 1947. Indian soldiers launched a counterattack. By November 8, the Indian Army had taken control of Srinagar, the princely state’s capital. Up until mid-November, when scope of the war was reduced, the pushback persisted. Up until end of 1948, the war lasted longer but was less intense. In January 1949, the cease-fire agreement was officially signed wherein Pakistan remained to hold large parts of territory under its occupation. The area occupied by Pakistan is referred to as Azad Jammu and Kashmir by India’s neighbour. In 1963, Pakistan ceded some of its occupied territories of Baltistan, the Shaksgam Valley, Hunza-Gilgit, and Raksam to China.  Therefore, the only areas trapped as a result are those of Jammu and Kashmir that are occupied by Pakistan and Chinese military as opposed to a vibrant, democratic and developing  Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Contrary to claims made in Los Angeles Times, women of Islamic faith freely wear the Hijab across India including the southern state of Karnataka. Hijab row in Udipi was hatched and orchestrated by radical Islamist outfit Popular Front of India’s (PFI) student wing Campus Front of India (CFI) to create fear psychosis within Muslim minorities painting a dystopian picture about current state of affairs and drive oft-repeated myth that the state was against Muslims. Aliya Assadi, Ayesha Hajeera Almas, Ayesha, and Muskaan Zainab, the four initially stated victims of Hijab issue

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