Why India Bans Pakistan-Based Vidly TV?

By Sajjad Shaukat

In the beginning of December this year, an important news item that India banned Pakistan-based OTT platform Vidly TV did not get much coverage in Pakistani media.

Indian senior Adviser, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Kanchan Gupta said that the Government on December 5, 2022 issued an order to ban Pakistan-based OTT Platform Vidly TV after the streaming of web series “Sevak: The Confessions”, Gupta elaborated that Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, using emergency powers under IT Rules 2021, has issued directions on December 12, 2022 for the immediate blocking of the website, two mobile apps, four social media accounts, and one smart TV app [related to it].”

Indian ministry official allegedly  told the media that the government’s action against Pakistan-based Vidly TV followed the web series “Sevak: The Confessions—the OTT channel’s web series showed events like Babri Mosque demolition in Ayodhya, Operation Blue Star, Malegaon blast and Samjhauta Express blast among others with distorted facts. In fact, New Delhi blocked the web series on the pretext of its contents being against India’s national security and integrity.

The first episode of this series was released on November 26—the anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, allegedly showed anti-India content. The Ministry stated that three episodes of the web series have been released so far.

In June last year, India had banned 59 Chinese mobile applications, including the widely-used social media platforms such as TikTok, WeChat, and Helo on the same pretext of national security.

However, we need to know the facts regarding these incidents and hostile moves of the Indian government, which were used by New Delhi as pretext to ban the OTT platform Vidly TV.

It is notable that Indian Constitution which claims India to be a secular state was torn into pieces when on December 6, 1992, a large crowd of Hindu Karsevaks (Volunteers) entirely demolished the 16th-century Babri Masjid (Mosque) in Ayodhya, Utter Pradesh in a preplanned attempt to reclaim the land known as RAM Janmabhoomi–birthplace of the god.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid sparked Muslim outrage around the country, provoking several months of inter-communal rioting between Hindu and Muslim communities, causing the death of at least 2,000 people, majority of whom were Muslims. The governments of several neighboring countries, including those of the Islamic World condemned the Indian government for failing to stop the destruction of the historical mosque.

In a 2005 book, India’s former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Joint Director Maloy Krishna Dhar wrote that Babri mosque demolition was planned 10 months in advance by top leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bhartia Janta Party (BJP)/Sangh Parivar, VHP, Shiv Sena, the Bajrang Dal and the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Raow. Dhar elaborated, “He had drawn up the blueprint of the Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) assault at Ayodhya in December 1992.”

In this regard, the RSS and its affiliates organized a rally involving 150,000 VHP and BJP Karsevaks at the site of the mosque. The ceremonies included speeches by BJP leaders such as L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti. During the first few hours of the rally, the crowd began raising militant slogans. A police cordon had been placed around the mosque in preparation for attack. Nevertheless, around noon, a young man managed to slip past the cordon and climb the mosque itself, brandishing a saffron flag. This was seen as a signal by the mob, who then stormed the structure. The police cordon, vastly outnumbered, fled. The mob set upon the building with axes, hammers, and grappling hooks, and within a few hours, the entire mosque was leveled. Hindu fanatics also destroyed numerous other mosques within the town.

A 2009 report of the inquiry commission, authored by retired High Court Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, found 68 people to be responsible for the destruction of the Babri Masjid, mostly leaders from the BJP. But no action was taken against them.

As regards the Operation Blue Star, the Sikhs are fighting for a separate homeland since 1947, but the movement attained impetus by the efforts of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, which in 1984 resulted in most brutal Operation against a highly sacred Sikh religious place-the Golden Temple complex (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar, Punjab, which resulted in killings of thousands of Sikhs.

Indian Army led by General Kuldip Singh Brar, supported by troops and armoured vehicles had broken all records of the state terrorism and extra-judicial killings through this barbaric Operation which occurred between 3–8 June 1984, ordered by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to control over the Harmandir Sahib complex.

In this context, in their book, “The Sikh Struggle”, Ramnarain Kumar and George Sieberer writes, “The army killed every Sikh who could be found inside the temple-complex. They were hauled out of rooms, brought to corridors on the circumference of the temple and with their hands tied behind their back, were shot in cold blood. Among the victims were many old men, women and children…However, all visitors were locked up in rooms for two days without any food, water, or electricity and were starved to death. Besides, the Harmandir Sahib remained under the army control for many months”.

The brutality of the Operation was not confined to the Harmandir Sahib. Indian armed forces simultaneously attacked 40 other historical gurdwaras all over East Punjab. When Sikhs in other states came to know about the desecration of the Harmandir Sahib and massacre of their brethren, they quickly left for Punjab. New Delhi tried to stop them before they could reach Punjab. Many Sikhs were assassinated on the way and many others were arrested.

In the same year of November, two dedicated Sikhs named Beant Singh and Satwant Singh who were posted at Premier Indira Gandhi’s residence in New Delhi, assassinated her. Then Hindu riots erupted in the capital and other cities in which more than 15,000 Sikhs were murdered in broad daylight by the supporters of Indira Gandhi, while police watched silently so as to provide the Hindus with free hand to massacre Sikhs.

Afterwards, other operations such as ‘Operation Black Thunder’ Operation Woodrose’ and ‘Operation Black Thunder-II’ were conducted against the Sikh community, which also killed them extra-judicially.

After these barbaric operations, Sikhs organised themselves into an armed power in order to fight the Indian state terrorism. Many Sikhs left India to escape religious persecution. Sikhs have spread out all over the world to keep the struggle for Khalistan alive.

As regards other incidents, on the midnight of 18-19 February 2007, India-Pakistan Samjhauta Express train was bombed in which 68 Pakistani nationals were killed. A Hindu extremist Swami Aseemanand, a leader of RSS has confessed that he was involved in several bombings incidents. He also claimed to have been a part of the incident.

In fact, ideology of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) prevails in every field at the cost of other minority groups. It is even supported by Indian defense forces secretly. This could be judged from the incident, when on April 6, 2008 in the house of Bajrang Dal fundamentalists in Nanded, a bomb went off. The investigation proved that these militants were found in the bomb-making and attack on a mosque in Parbhani in 2003. Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra arrested a serving Lt. Col. Srikant Purohit along with other army officials, indicating that they were helping in training the Hindu terrorists, providing them with the military-grade explosive RDX, used in the Malegaon bombings and terrorist attacks in other Indian cities. ATS further disclosed that Lt. Col. Purohit confessed that in 2007, he was involved in bombing of Samjhauta express.

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) was convinced that Sadhu Swami Aseemanand, a Hindu right-wing leader was directly involved in the Samjhauta Express blast. Sources in NIA further pointed out that besides Lt. Col. Purohit, other Indian army officials were also behind that train-bombing. In this regard, a court in Panchkula, Haryana has recorded Aseemanand’s statement which confirmed the NIA inquiry.

In this connection, exposing the nexus between the BJP and the RSS, the then Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde disclosed on January 20, 2013 that organized training camps run by the fundamentalist parties, RSS and BJP were promoting Hindu Terrorism. He also explained that these extremist parties were behind the Samjhauta Express, Meccca Masjid and Malegaon blasts. He added, “We will have to think about it [Saffron terrorism] seriously…Hindu extremist parties BJP and RSS were involved many times in Hindu Muslim violence in India, especially Gujarat and Babri masjid incident.”

The then India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid endorsed Shinde’s statement, saying that it was based on facts.

While, India has always accused Pakistan’s primary intelligence ISI of these acts of terrorism, but it is quite silent over Hindutva-terror which has obtained a new face, under the fundamentalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Indian RAW, country’s high officials and prejudiced parties have co-relationship.

New Delhi has also blamed Islamabad particularly regarding assault on Indian Parliament on January 12, 2001 and simultaneous terror attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. While on July 19 2013, Indian former home ministry and ex-investigating officer Satish Verma revealed that terror attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 and assault on Indian Parliament on January 12, 2001 were carried out by the Indian Government to strengthen anti-terrorism laws.

Meanwhile, the EU DisinfoLab continued unraveling gradually, India’s terror-network and anti-Pakistan propaganda campaign.

In its report, titled “Indian Chronicles”, the EU DisinfoLab, published on December 9, 2020, exposed an Indian disinformation network, operating since 2005 to discredit nations, particularly Pakistan. It aims to reinforce pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan and anti-Chinese feelings.

In this context, Indian plot against Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) was also confirmed, when on various social media platforms on February 1, 2021, a youth from that region Mehdi Shah Rizvi, son of late Syed Haider Shah Rizvi, admitted that how he and his father who was also a sub-nationalist worked for his handlers from abroad to achieve their desired objectives under the close patronage and linkage with the RAW—international forums, operating under the cover of accredited NGOs working with the United Nations misled his father and forced him to make anti-Pakistan statements.

In the recent past, world’s renowned newspapers reported that the then Prime Minister Imran Khan’s number was among those targeted for surveillance by India, using Israeli spyware–Pegasus software.

Surprisingly, India which, apparently, claims to be the largest democracy, acting upon the principles of liberalism and secularism has broken all the records of mistreatment of religious and ethnic minorities by acceleration of violence, genocide and massacre, perpetrated especially on Muslims, Christians and Sikhs as well as Dalits.

It is noteworthy that the 41st Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group was held from 7-18 November at the UNHRC in Geneva. During the session, India’s national report for the fourth UPR cycle was reviewed on November 10, 2022. The report was prepared by UNHRC and various official and non-official entities, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, NGOs, joint groups and individuals working with the states.

These human rights groups and entities have emphatically insisted upon the Indian government to revoke the discriminatory acts and policies which amount to gross human rights violations in India, including the disputed territory of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

In these terms, Indian ban on Pakistan-based OTT platform Vidly TV only shows New Delhi’s double standard.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

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