NEW DELHI, May 6 : Animated videos shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party targeting opposition Congress and the Muslim community have evoked complaints and outrage, as the political climate in India heats up midway through its six-week long election.
The videos, shared by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on social media platforms Instagram and X over the last ten days, depict the Congress giving disproportionate benefits to India’s minority Muslim community, at the cost of certain disadvantaged tribal and Hindu caste groups.
The Congress, in a complaint to the poll watchdog Election Commission, said on Sunday that the video has been shared “clearly with an intention to wantonly provocate rioting and promote enmity between different religions.”
A set of guidelines mutually adopted by political parties for how they should conduct themselves during the election period prohibit them from creating “mutual hatred” between caste, religious or linguistic groups.
Manipulated videos on social media have also become a contentious issue in this election, such as fake videos showing top Bollywood stars criticizing the prime minister.
On Monday, the commission warned parties against the misuse of AI tools to create deep fakes and told them not to publish and circulate such videos. It also said parties had been directed to remove such content within three hours of it being brought to their notice.
Modi, the face of the Hindu-nationalist BJP, seeking a rare third consecutive term, had focused his campaign largely on his government’s performance on economic growth and welfare benefits.
But he changed tack after the first phase of voting on April 19 and his campaign speeches have since become more polarizing on religious lines, accusing Congress of planning to redistribute the wealth of the majority Hindus among minority Muslims, who he called “infiltrators” who have “more children.”
The videos shared by the BJP over the last ten days, one of which has since been taken down, illustrated the same message.
A 17-second video shared by a state unit of BJP on May 4, with over 8.5 million views, shows a character resembling Congress leader Rahul Gandhi feeding “funds” to a bird in a skullcap, which eventually pushes out from their common nest three other birds representing other disadvantaged groups.
The Congress has filed a police complaint against BJP leaders for the video, BJP’s head of information and technology Amit Malviya said on X.
“The Congress should in fact thank the BJP for taking their manifesto to the people in a manner that even they couldn’t,” he wrote.
The video has elicited outrage. Nitasha Kaul, a politics professor at London’s Westminster University said on X that the video was a “straightforward 1930s Germany style cartoon.”
In its manifesto for the elections, the Congress has promised to tackle India’s economic inequality by conducting a socio-economic caste census and extending affirmative action. It said it will ensure that minorities receive “their fair share” of education, economic and health care opportunities.
An Election Commission spokesperson, the BJP’s Malviya and Congress spokespersons did not respond to requests seeking comment.
India BJP’s election videos targeting Muslims and opposition spark outrage
https://arab.news/gregm
India BJP’s election videos targeting Muslims and opposition spark outrage
- Videos shared by BJP depict Congress giving disproportionate benefits to Muslims over tribal and Hindu groups
- Manipulated videos have become contentious issue in polls, such as fake videos of top Bollywood stars criticizing Modi
Rubio to meet Russia's Lavrov as strikes pound Kyiv
Rubio’s first visit to Asia as secretary of state also comes as US President Donald Trump ramps up his trade war, threatening more than 20 countries with punitive tariffs.
The top US diplomat is to meet Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur, a senior State Department official said.
Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least two people, the city’s military administration said Thursday, after earlier warning of incoming missiles and reporting around a dozen wounded.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard loud blasts echoing over the city throughout the night and saw flashes from air defense system lighting up the sky.
Dozens of residents of the capital took shelter in a central metro station, an AFP reporter said, sleeping on mats, calming pets and waiting out the attack on camping furniture.
That came a day after Russia’s biggest missile and drone attack on Ukraine in more than three years of war — and after Trump launched an expletive-filled attack on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Trump accused Putin of talking “bullshit” about Ukraine, saying that the United States would send Kyiv more weapons to defend itself.
Rubio and Lavrov last met in February in Saudi Arabia, following a rapprochement between Trump and Putin. The two diplomats have also spoken multiple times by phone.
After Malaysia, Lavrov will visit North Korea this weekend, the latest in a series of high-profile visits by top Moscow officials as the two countries deepen military ties.
Pyongyang has emerged as one of the Kremlin’s main allies during its Ukraine invasion, sending thousands of troops to Russia’s Kursk region to oust Kyiv’s forces and providing the Russian army with artillery shells and missiles.
US officials said ahead of Rubio’s trip that Washington was “prioritising” its commitment to East Asia and Southeast Asia.
Speaking in Malaysia, Rubio said the United States has “no intention of abandoning” the region.
But his visit comes after Trump threatened more than 20 countries, many in Asia, with tariffs ranging from 20 to 50 percent, and announced a 50 percent toll on copper imports and a possible 200 percent duty on pharmaceuticals.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned Asia’s top diplomats on Wednesday of a new era when tariffs are among the “sharpened instruments of geopolitical rivalry.”
Trump said Monday that duties he had suspended in April would snap back — even more steeply — on August 1.
Among those targeted were top trade partners Japan and South Korea, which each face 25 percent tariffs.
Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Myanmar — all members of ASEAN — face duties ranging from 20 percent to 40 percent if they do not strike deals with Washington by Trump’s new deadline.
The levels were not too far from those originally threatened in April, although some rates were notably lower this time.
Vietnam, which is also an ASEAN member, is one of only two countries — Britain being the other — to have reached a tentative agreement with Trump.
In Malaysia, Rubio will attend a post-ministerial conference and a meeting by East Asian foreign ministers — which will also see Japan, South Korea and China participating.
He will also meet with Anwar and hold trilateral talks with the Philippines and Japan.
Rubio’s Chinese counterpart Wang Yi is also at ASEAN, but details of any meeting between the pair have not been announced.
The superpowers remain locked in a range of disputes on issues from trade and fentanyl, to Taiwan and cutting-edge technology.
Without mentioning the United States, Wang on Thursday called for a “fairer and more reasonable” international order.
Pakistan police arrest 149, including 48 Chinese, in scam center raid
- The agency said they were acting on a tip-off about the network
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan police arrested 149 people — including 71 foreigners, mostly Chinese — in a raid on a scam call center, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency said Thursday.
“During the raid, a large call center was uncovered, which was involved in Ponzi schemes and investment fraud,” the agency said in a statement.
“Through this fraudulent network, the public was being deceived and vast sums of money were being illegally collected.”
The agency said they were acting on a tip-off about the network, operating in the city of Faisalabad, a manufacturing center in the east of the country.
It said the raid was at the residence of Tasheen Awan, the son of the former chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority, a government agency.
All those arrested were in custody, including 78 Pakistanis and 48 Chinese, as well as citizens from Nigeria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Myanmar.
Some 18 of the 149 were women, it added.
China says ‘verifying’ case of citizens held for alleged spying in Ukraine
- Ukraine’s SBU security service said the son was a 24 year old former student of a technical university in Kyiv, and that the father, who lives in China, had traveled to Ukraine to coordinate his son’s “espionage activities”
BEIJING: Beijing said Thursday it was still “verifying” the case of a Chinese father and son detained by Ukraine for allegedly trying to smuggle navy missile technology out of the war-torn country.
“If Chinese citizens are involved, we will... safeguard Chinese citizens’ legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Relations between Kyiv and Beijing, a key Russian ally, are strained.
Ukraine and the West accuse China of enabling the Russian invasion through trade and of supplying technology, including for deadly drone attacks.
Ukraine also says dozens of Chinese citizens have been recruited by Russia’s army and sent to fight.
Ukraine’s SBU security service said Wednesday the son was a 24-year-old former student of a technical university in Kyiv, and that the father, who lives in China, had traveled to Ukraine to coordinate his son’s “espionage activities.”
The two were “attempting to illegally export secret documentation on the Ukrainian RK-360MC Neptune missile system to China,” the agency said.
Moscow and Beijing struck a “no limits” partnership on the eve of Russia’s February 2022 invasion, and have since deepened political, military and economic cooperation.
Hundreds of migrants moved from Crete to Greek mainland as island struggles with Libya arrivals
- EU officials earlier this week were turned away from eastern Libya following an apparent disagreement on the format of talks planned on curbing crossings
LAVRIO: More than 500 migrants arrived at the port of Lavrio near Athens Thursday after being intercepted south of the island of Crete, as Greece implements emergency measures to address a surge in Mediterranean crossings from Libya.
The migrants, consisting mostly of young men, were transferred overnight aboard a bulk carrier after their fishing trawler was intercepted by Greek authorities. Service vessels helped bring them ashore at the mainland port. They will be sent to detention facilities near the capital.
Their transfer to the mainland was ordered because makeshift reception centers on Crete have reached capacity, with roughly 500 news arrivals per day on the Mediterranean island since the weekend.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced Wednesday that Greece would suspend asylum processing for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa for three months. The measure targets arrivals on Crete and was taken during a diplomatic strain between the European Union and Libya over migration cooperation. EU officials earlier this week were turned away from eastern Libya following an apparent disagreement on the format of talks planned on curbing crossings.
Authorities on Crete are struggling to provide basic services, using temporary facilities to house migrants, primarily from Somalia, Sudan, Egypt and Morocco, according to island officials.
Ukraine to launch Starlink mobile Internet in 2026, becoming Europe’s first, Kyivstar says
ROME: Ukraine will become the first European nation to offer Starlink mobile services when leading operator Kyivstar launches messaging by year-end and mobile satellite broadband in mid-2026, Chief Executive Oleksandr Komarov said.
Field tests have begun under an end-2024 deal with Space X’s commercial broadband constellation to allow tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s company to launch direct-to-cell services in the war-torn country.
Direct-to-cell devices connect to satellites equipped with modems that function like a cellphone tower, beaming telephone signals from space directly to smartphones.
“The first phase is over-the-top (OTT) messaging ... so messaging via WhatsApp, Signal, and other systems ... it will be in place at the end of this year,” Komarov told Reuters in Rome.
“And probably at the beginning of 2026, let’s be on the safe side, Q2 2026, we will be able to propose mobile satellite broadband data ... and voice.”
SpaceX did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
US carrier T-Mobile will introduce a data service on its satellite-to-cell network, powered by Starlink, at the start of October, the company said in June.
Komarov was speaking ahead of a Ukraine recovery conference Italy is hosting three years after the Russian invasion, with President Volodymyr Zelensky also due to attend.
He said his main aim at the conference, the fourth since the war began in February 2022, was to support the Ukrainian government and establish new business ties, some with Italian firms willing to expand in the country.
Kyivstar, owned by telecoms group VEON, is also working toward a US listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Komarov said the project was “moving forward” and hoped to finalize it in the third quarter of this year.
“I think it will be an exemplary move,” he added. “The first in history, the direct placement of (a) Ukrainian entity on the American stock exchange ... during the war.”
Komarov said Ukrainian telecom infrastructure was holding up well under Russia’s escalating assaults in recent weeks.
Last year one of its attacks on power grids and transmission lines caused daily blackouts in major cities after it knocked out about half Ukraine’s available generation capacity.
“I think that we are much more resilient than we used to be in 2022. Right now we can run our fixed and mobile services up to 10 hours during the blackouts, even national blackouts.”
