MatrixSpeechAI/palki_sharma · Datasets at Hugging Face

audio audioduration (s) 10 23	text stringlengths 29 362
	Hello, Namaskar. This is first post and you are watching Vantage with me, Palkishan. The unrest in Bangladesh is getting out of hand. Yesterday we told you about violent protests and clashes in which students were killed.
	Today we will tell you about the arrest of a Hindu priest. New Delhi has condemned him. At a time when Hindus are being targeted in Bangladesh, what message is the UNICE government sending with this arrest?
	China claims jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait with Taipei and Washington dispute that saying the Strait is an international waterway. The former chairman of the Bank of China gets a suspended death sentence for corruption.
	That's 214 crores every single month. And that's just the official figure. A lot of people don't even report such crimes. They're either ashamed or they think the police won't help anyway.
	The impeachment voters on Friday if the lawmakers approved the motion it will go to a constitutional court. The bench of nine judges will hear this case. Six of these judges must vote yes
	for the impeachment to stand. And if that happens, President Yoon will be removed from office. Although he won't be the first president to face impeachment. But his exit could be the most humiliating one yet.
	We've seen a lot of people asking the same questions. Why did this happen? And how in South Korea? Isn't it supposed to be a stable democracy?
	We'll try to answer both these questions tonight and here's the first thing that you need to know. President Yoon is struggling politically. His approval ratings are low. He does not control the parliament
	and he's mired in corruption scandals. Instead of riding it out, he chose the nuclear option, a risky and amateur move. Let me take you back to the year 2022.
	That's when Yoon, Suk-Yul, won the presidential election in South Korea. He came with an ambitious agenda. Just one problem though. His party did not control the parliament.
	The opposition Democratic party held the majority in parliament, meaning President Yoon could not get work done. His policies and his proposals were shot down in parliament.
	Elections happened again in 2024. And once again, the opposition got a majority. So Yoon was reduced to a lame duck president. The opposition would pass their own legislations and Yoon would veto them.
	He used the veto at least 11 times since taking office. Yesterday, he did allude to this problem. Yoon cited policy paralysis in government. Basically, he was frustrated about being powerless.
	That was the first factor. The second factor was the corruption scandals. Most of them involved his wife. She's accused of stock manipulation, accepting gifts in exchange for favors
	This issue is so widespread. Even the Prime Minister spoke about it recently. So what exactly is a digital arrest? It's a deceptive tactic used by cyber criminals.
	and of election meddling. All of this has dropped Yoon's approval ratings to 25. It was almost 53% after his inauguration. Now it's 25%.
	So to recap, Yoon was stuck and unpopular. A seasoned leader may have wrote it out, wrote out the storm, or found a tactical solution. But President Yoon is a political novice.
	He was a prosecutor for most of his life. His first foreign to politics was the 2022 presidential election and clearly the inexperienced showed. Which brings us to the second question we are addressing tonight.
	How did this happen in South Korea? The democracy is new in this country. Until the late 1980s, it was ruled by dictators and strongmen. They used to impose martial law regularly.
	They have been 16 instances since 1948. I know it seems unthinkable in modern days of Korea. But look at their history. It is riddled with takeovers, assassinations and crackdowns.
	The first military coup was in 1961. Army officer Park Chung-hee led soldiers into Seoul. He declared martial law and banned political activities.
	Park went on to rule for almost 20 years. The second coup was in 1979. Less than two months after Park's death. Another general led soldiers and tanks into Seoul.
	That's two military takeovers in seven decades. Even otherwise South Korea's presidents have had troubled careers. Some have been overthrown, some have been jailed,
	a couple have been impeached and one died by suicide. A lot of these presidents turned to martial law. Most of them gave the same reason as President Yoon. A supposed communist threat from North Korea.
	Now we're not saying that Pyongyang is not a problem. But the last threat we saw was poopful balloons flying over the border. I'm sure that does not merit a martial law.
	They create a sense of panic and fear and use it to extort money. Here's how it works. The first step is to come up with a good story. The scam begins with an SMS or an email or even a WhatsApp message.
	They know what comes after martial law is declared. Critics get rounded up. Politicians get arrested. Protesters are brutally silenced. That's what happened in 1960.
	Korean students were protesting against South Korea's first president. He used martial law to suppress them. More than 180 people were killed in the crack down that followed. The same thing happened in 1980 citizens in the city of Gwanzhu.
	Protested against the president. In response, martial law was declared and some 200 people were killed. There are very painful memories. Pass out Korean's here and yesterday they briefly relived it.
	But credit to them because they fought to protect their freedoms. Even in the dead of the night, they turned up. Protesters blocked military vehicles, opposition parties mobilized. And even Yoon's own lawmakers stood up to him.
	Martial law could be declared unilaterally. No parliament approval was required. Korean politicians added that clause in the 80s. And that's how this crisis was averted.
	I wish I could say all's well, that ends well. But this is a warning to South Korea and all other democracies never take your freedoms for granted. And keep strengthening your laws and institutions
	because leaders like Yoon will always exist. Our best option is to be alert and build guardrails. Now let's shift our focus to Syria.
	The conflict against the Assad regime has intensified. Today the Syrian army launched a counter attack. They're trying to push back the rebels. We're challenging Bashar al-Assad.
	He's the president of Syria. His forces are going after rebel groups. And caught in the crossfire as always are civilians. The pictures are from a hospital in Idlib.
	It's a city in northwest Syria. A rebel stronghold. Russia has been bombing them. What you saw was the impact of Russian bombs. More than two dozen civilians have died. Reports say the fighting has intensified in the last 24 hours.
	It says that you are linked to some serious crime. Financial embezzlement, drug trafficking, or pornography fraud, they use all kinds of excuses. Now this sends the victim into a state of panic.
	The rebels have captured at least four new towns. They're advancing towards Hamas. A city in central Syria. But taking Hamas going to be difficult because here, Assad's forces are pushing back hard.
	And aiding them is aerial support from allies like Russia. This conflict played up last week. But it has been on for more than 13 years now. The Syrian civil war broke out in the year 2011.
	It began as an uprising against Assad regime. And most into a complex conflict. That's when ISIS or the Islamic State took shape and captured territory. So, ISIS became enemy number one for Assad.
	It hijacked the popular rebellion against the president. And it took five years of fighting to beat the ISIS. But peace was not restored in Syria.
	It still remains in a state of turmoil. The government does not control the entire country. There are regions where rebel groups hold sway. And they keep launching offensives against Damascus.
	The latest offensive was launched by a group called HTS, the Hayat, the Harir, al-Sham. It split from the al-Qaeda in 2016. Since then, it has grown both in resources and numbers.
	The group has recruited other opposition forces. And it is now testing Assad's grip on power. This escalation will draw in regional players like Iran.
	The Iran is a key backer of Bashar al-Assad. When rebels took control of Aleppo earlier this week, the Iran responded swiftly. Their foreign minister flew down to Damascus, the Syrian capital.
	Iran also sent militia forces to support the Assad regime. And now the Iran is considering direct involvement. Iran's art rival is also being pulled into the conflict. I'm talking about the United States of America.
	The US carried out a strike yesterday. They're calling it, the Americans are calling it, a self-defense strike. They have a military base in eastern Syria. It's called Euphrates, like the river.
	Step number two, the victim is already worried. So the scammers ask them to call on a specific number, which is mostly a video call, either through WhatsApp or Skype.
	Euphrates. American forces say their military base came under attack. Rockets fell near it and mortars were fired at American forces.
	So who was operating these weapons? Washington did not say who was behind the attack but both Assad's forces and Iranian fighters operate in this area, so it could have been any of both of them.
	The Americans neutralized multiple rocket launchers, mortars, and a military tank deployed near their base. So they're clearly stepping into this conflict. And when the Americans enter, how can the Russians
	stay on the sidelines? Just like Iran, Russia is a key ally of Assad. It has provided military support to the regime since 2015. Moscow is pledging unconditional support to Assad.
	It is also using this conflict to gain diplomatic edge. Russia has also made a big claim. It says the Ukrainians are supporting the rebels in Syria.
	We cannot independently verify any of these claims but what's undeniable is the rapid escalation of this war. West Asia has been going through a dangerous phase of never-ending conflicts.
	It started in Gaza, it spread to Lebanon, and now it has spilled into Syria. Where rivals like the US, Russia, and Iran are already locked in a dangerous game.
	West Asia is teetering on the edge. If Syria becomes the epicenter, the consequences could ripple across the region and the already fragile West Asia may not be able to withstand the fallout.
	Yesterday's joke on the show was about Justin Trudeau. On how Trump taunted him, Trudeau was in Florida to meet the president-elect. He wanted to discuss tariffs with Donald Trump.
	But Trump refused to budge. He delivered a joke slash insult to the Canadian Prime Minister. Trump said to Trudeau, if you can't pay the tariff,
	On the other side are government officials, your police officers, your CBI agents, narcotics bureau officers. Of course, they're not real. The scammers are just impersonating them. But they go to great lengths to make the act believable.
	just join the United States, become our 51st state. Apparently, Trudeau laughed nervously at this. His ministers also called it a joke.
	But with Donald Trump, who knows? This is a man who tried to buy Greenland from Denmark, who suggested drinking bleach to cure the Wuhan virus. So nothing is off the table.
	Trump also posted this picture on social media. It's an AI-generated image. It shows him standing over Canadian mountain ranges. And look at the caption, oh Canada, could Donald Trump be hinting at something here?
	Well, his joke does have some history. There's a Wikipedia page on Canada joining the US. A few Canadian parties have pushed for this merger. But none of them really took off.
	Today, there is no appetite for such a move. The mere suggestion is controversial. And you can see why America is a very powerful neighbor to have. Their economy, their military, their culture,
	all of it looms large over Canada. And financially, they are dependent on the US. Nearly 75% of Canada's exports go to just one country.
	And that is the United States. Even politically, there's alignment on NATO, on West Asia, on Europe, on the Indo-Pacific. Their foreign policies often mirror each other.
	Add to that, a massive border. It's almost 9,000 kilometers long. It's the longest international border in the world, the US and Canada. Most Canadians live near this region.
	The North is too cold and often uninhabitable. So 80% of all Canadians live within 160 kilometers of the US border. Hence this worry of being gubbled up by the US.
	And it's not a recent concern. It dates back to the 18th century to the revolutionary war against Britain, sort of like America's war for independence. During this war, the US Army tried to invade Canada.
	They wear official uniforms. They use government flags behind them. So people fall for it. Step number three is doubling down. These fake officials accuse the victim. They create an environment of fear.
	Back then, Canada was occupied by Britain. So British soldiers beat them back. Another attempt was made through America's first constitution. It was adopted in 1777.
	And it invited Canada to join the United States. No strings attached. But again, the British rulers rejected it. Years later, in 1812, the US invaded again
	and once again, the British beat them back. They also burnt the White House for good measure. Which pretty much settled the debate. But in the 1980s, it emerged once again.
	The reason was not an invasion or a political document. It was a free trade agreement. Canada and the US were discussing a trade deal in 1988. Canada's conservative party supported this deal,
	but the liberal party did not. That's the party of the Prime Minister, just in true row. It was led by a politician named John Turner back then. He said a trade deal would dilute Canada's sovereignty.
	That it would eventually reduce Canada to the 51st state of America. Listen to this. A lot of people shared this view including the new Democrat party,
	which is a party of Jagmeet Singh. So did the number of activists and political commentators. But the conservatives prevailed in 1988. They signed that free trade agreement with Washington DC
	and as it turned out, Canada is still a country. But let's come to the present day. Donald Trump's joke about Canada is not new. His advisors say that he used the same line
	in his first term as well. He also followed that up with tariffs. Back then, Justin True Rho responded in kind. He imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on US import.
	He could have actually stood his ground. I mean, just look at the numbers. The Canadian border made up just 0.08% of all drug seizures by US officials. Only 0.08%.
	The victim who's already worried, panics, even more. That's when the scammers throw the bait. That is step number four. They put the victim on a so-called digital arrest.
	Same with illegal migrants. American officials caught 23,000 migrants at the Canadian border for the entire year. 23,000, which makes up just 1.4% of the total.
	So the fact is that Trump is exaggerating the threat from Canada. His tariff threat is simply unfair. But to question that, you need strong footing.
	You need a decisive and a popular leader. You also need a diversified economy that can sustain pressure. Canada does not have any of that.
	What they do have is Justin True Rho. Unless Canadian exporters start talking about Khalistan, don't bet on him to protect them. Speaking of Khalistanis, they nearly struck again in India.
	That too, at one of the holiest sites in the country, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the target was Sukpeer Singh Badal. He's a leader of the Shirumania Khalidal, which is a political party in the state of Punjab.
	He's also a former deputy chief minister of the same state. We'll get to more details in a bit. But first, look at how the attack unfolded. It doesn't get closer than that.
	The attacker managed to take out the gun. He also pointed it at Sukpeer Singh Badal, but his security detail intervened at just the right moment as a result, the gunman could only fire into the air.
	First of all, Kudos to that official. His quick response avoided bloodshed. And what about the gunman? He was apprehended by the crowd. He was handed to the police.
	His identity has now been revealed. His name is Narayan Singh Chora, a 68-year-old Khalistani. In the 1970s, he was a student at the Sikh missionary college
	in Amritsar. That's where he was reportedly radicalized. In 1982, he founded the Akal Federation, which was a group of Khalistani hardliners.
	It's basically a video call that does not end. You have to be on that call. So you are under surveillance 24, 7. That's a digital arrest. Now, once the victim takes this bait,
	And in 1984, he traveled to Pakistan. This was after the military operation at the Golden Temple. In the official say, Chora was trained in Pakistan. He went on to form the Khalistani National Army.
	He was also linked to Babar Khalsa International. Now both of these are terror groups. From Pakistan, he smuggled weapons and explosives into India. And in the 1990s, he returned to Punjab.
	From there, he took part in militant activities again. And I know what you're thinking at this point. How was this man not in jail? Well, he was. Chora has served multiple stints in prison.
	In 1995, in 2004, and then again in 2013, he has faced charges of terrorism and raging war against the state. Yet each time, he was acquitted.
	Chora does have more cases pending against him, but he was released on bail in 2022. Now this whole episode raises a number of questions. Like, why did the charges against Chora never stick?
	And why wasn't Badaal better protected? This is a leader with Z-plus security cover. That's the highest that India can offer Z-plus. Yet an assassin simply walked up to him.
	Plus, Badaal's visit was not out of the blue. He was at the Golden Temple for a religious commitment. Seek authorities had asked him to serve punishment. Punishment for what?
	For mistakes committed when his party was in power. That's from 2007 to 2017. So, so, Basing Badaal had to stand guard outside the temple.

Hello, Namaskar. This is first post and you are watching Vantage with me, Palkishan. The unrest in Bangladesh is getting out of hand. Yesterday we told you about violent protests and clashes in which students were killed.

Today we will tell you about the arrest of a Hindu priest. New Delhi has condemned him. At a time when Hindus are being targeted in Bangladesh, what message is the UNICE government sending with this arrest?

China claims jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait with Taipei and Washington dispute that saying the Strait is an international waterway. The former chairman of the Bank of China gets a suspended death sentence for corruption.

That's 214 crores every single month. And that's just the official figure. A lot of people don't even report such crimes. They're either ashamed or they think the police won't help anyway.

The impeachment voters on Friday if the lawmakers approved the motion it will go to a constitutional court. The bench of nine judges will hear this case. Six of these judges must vote yes

for the impeachment to stand. And if that happens, President Yoon will be removed from office. Although he won't be the first president to face impeachment. But his exit could be the most humiliating one yet.

We've seen a lot of people asking the same questions. Why did this happen? And how in South Korea? Isn't it supposed to be a stable democracy?

We'll try to answer both these questions tonight and here's the first thing that you need to know. President Yoon is struggling politically. His approval ratings are low. He does not control the parliament

and he's mired in corruption scandals. Instead of riding it out, he chose the nuclear option, a risky and amateur move. Let me take you back to the year 2022.

That's when Yoon, Suk-Yul, won the presidential election in South Korea. He came with an ambitious agenda. Just one problem though. His party did not control the parliament.

The opposition Democratic party held the majority in parliament, meaning President Yoon could not get work done. His policies and his proposals were shot down in parliament.

Elections happened again in 2024. And once again, the opposition got a majority. So Yoon was reduced to a lame duck president. The opposition would pass their own legislations and Yoon would veto them.

He used the veto at least 11 times since taking office. Yesterday, he did allude to this problem. Yoon cited policy paralysis in government. Basically, he was frustrated about being powerless.

That was the first factor. The second factor was the corruption scandals. Most of them involved his wife. She's accused of stock manipulation, accepting gifts in exchange for favors

This issue is so widespread. Even the Prime Minister spoke about it recently. So what exactly is a digital arrest? It's a deceptive tactic used by cyber criminals.

and of election meddling. All of this has dropped Yoon's approval ratings to 25. It was almost 53% after his inauguration. Now it's 25%.

So to recap, Yoon was stuck and unpopular. A seasoned leader may have wrote it out, wrote out the storm, or found a tactical solution. But President Yoon is a political novice.

He was a prosecutor for most of his life. His first foreign to politics was the 2022 presidential election and clearly the inexperienced showed. Which brings us to the second question we are addressing tonight.

How did this happen in South Korea? The democracy is new in this country. Until the late 1980s, it was ruled by dictators and strongmen. They used to impose martial law regularly.

They have been 16 instances since 1948. I know it seems unthinkable in modern days of Korea. But look at their history. It is riddled with takeovers, assassinations and crackdowns.

The first military coup was in 1961. Army officer Park Chung-hee led soldiers into Seoul. He declared martial law and banned political activities.

Park went on to rule for almost 20 years. The second coup was in 1979. Less than two months after Park's death. Another general led soldiers and tanks into Seoul.

That's two military takeovers in seven decades. Even otherwise South Korea's presidents have had troubled careers. Some have been overthrown, some have been jailed,

a couple have been impeached and one died by suicide. A lot of these presidents turned to martial law. Most of them gave the same reason as President Yoon. A supposed communist threat from North Korea.

Now we're not saying that Pyongyang is not a problem. But the last threat we saw was poopful balloons flying over the border. I'm sure that does not merit a martial law.

They create a sense of panic and fear and use it to extort money. Here's how it works. The first step is to come up with a good story. The scam begins with an SMS or an email or even a WhatsApp message.

They know what comes after martial law is declared. Critics get rounded up. Politicians get arrested. Protesters are brutally silenced. That's what happened in 1960.

Korean students were protesting against South Korea's first president. He used martial law to suppress them. More than 180 people were killed in the crack down that followed. The same thing happened in 1980 citizens in the city of Gwanzhu.

Protested against the president. In response, martial law was declared and some 200 people were killed. There are very painful memories. Pass out Korean's here and yesterday they briefly relived it.

But credit to them because they fought to protect their freedoms. Even in the dead of the night, they turned up. Protesters blocked military vehicles, opposition parties mobilized. And even Yoon's own lawmakers stood up to him.

Martial law could be declared unilaterally. No parliament approval was required. Korean politicians added that clause in the 80s. And that's how this crisis was averted.

I wish I could say all's well, that ends well. But this is a warning to South Korea and all other democracies never take your freedoms for granted. And keep strengthening your laws and institutions

because leaders like Yoon will always exist. Our best option is to be alert and build guardrails. Now let's shift our focus to Syria.

The conflict against the Assad regime has intensified. Today the Syrian army launched a counter attack. They're trying to push back the rebels. We're challenging Bashar al-Assad.

He's the president of Syria. His forces are going after rebel groups. And caught in the crossfire as always are civilians. The pictures are from a hospital in Idlib.

It's a city in northwest Syria. A rebel stronghold. Russia has been bombing them. What you saw was the impact of Russian bombs. More than two dozen civilians have died. Reports say the fighting has intensified in the last 24 hours.

It says that you are linked to some serious crime. Financial embezzlement, drug trafficking, or pornography fraud, they use all kinds of excuses. Now this sends the victim into a state of panic.

The rebels have captured at least four new towns. They're advancing towards Hamas. A city in central Syria. But taking Hamas going to be difficult because here, Assad's forces are pushing back hard.

And aiding them is aerial support from allies like Russia. This conflict played up last week. But it has been on for more than 13 years now. The Syrian civil war broke out in the year 2011.

It began as an uprising against Assad regime. And most into a complex conflict. That's when ISIS or the Islamic State took shape and captured territory. So, ISIS became enemy number one for Assad.

It hijacked the popular rebellion against the president. And it took five years of fighting to beat the ISIS. But peace was not restored in Syria.

It still remains in a state of turmoil. The government does not control the entire country. There are regions where rebel groups hold sway. And they keep launching offensives against Damascus.

The latest offensive was launched by a group called HTS, the Hayat, the Harir, al-Sham. It split from the al-Qaeda in 2016. Since then, it has grown both in resources and numbers.

The group has recruited other opposition forces. And it is now testing Assad's grip on power. This escalation will draw in regional players like Iran.

The Iran is a key backer of Bashar al-Assad. When rebels took control of Aleppo earlier this week, the Iran responded swiftly. Their foreign minister flew down to Damascus, the Syrian capital.

Iran also sent militia forces to support the Assad regime. And now the Iran is considering direct involvement. Iran's art rival is also being pulled into the conflict. I'm talking about the United States of America.

The US carried out a strike yesterday. They're calling it, the Americans are calling it, a self-defense strike. They have a military base in eastern Syria. It's called Euphrates, like the river.

Step number two, the victim is already worried. So the scammers ask them to call on a specific number, which is mostly a video call, either through WhatsApp or Skype.

Euphrates. American forces say their military base came under attack. Rockets fell near it and mortars were fired at American forces.

So who was operating these weapons? Washington did not say who was behind the attack but both Assad's forces and Iranian fighters operate in this area, so it could have been any of both of them.

The Americans neutralized multiple rocket launchers, mortars, and a military tank deployed near their base. So they're clearly stepping into this conflict. And when the Americans enter, how can the Russians

stay on the sidelines? Just like Iran, Russia is a key ally of Assad. It has provided military support to the regime since 2015. Moscow is pledging unconditional support to Assad.

It is also using this conflict to gain diplomatic edge. Russia has also made a big claim. It says the Ukrainians are supporting the rebels in Syria.

We cannot independently verify any of these claims but what's undeniable is the rapid escalation of this war. West Asia has been going through a dangerous phase of never-ending conflicts.

It started in Gaza, it spread to Lebanon, and now it has spilled into Syria. Where rivals like the US, Russia, and Iran are already locked in a dangerous game.

West Asia is teetering on the edge. If Syria becomes the epicenter, the consequences could ripple across the region and the already fragile West Asia may not be able to withstand the fallout.

Yesterday's joke on the show was about Justin Trudeau. On how Trump taunted him, Trudeau was in Florida to meet the president-elect. He wanted to discuss tariffs with Donald Trump.

But Trump refused to budge. He delivered a joke slash insult to the Canadian Prime Minister. Trump said to Trudeau, if you can't pay the tariff,

On the other side are government officials, your police officers, your CBI agents, narcotics bureau officers. Of course, they're not real. The scammers are just impersonating them. But they go to great lengths to make the act believable.

just join the United States, become our 51st state. Apparently, Trudeau laughed nervously at this. His ministers also called it a joke.

But with Donald Trump, who knows? This is a man who tried to buy Greenland from Denmark, who suggested drinking bleach to cure the Wuhan virus. So nothing is off the table.

Trump also posted this picture on social media. It's an AI-generated image. It shows him standing over Canadian mountain ranges. And look at the caption, oh Canada, could Donald Trump be hinting at something here?

Well, his joke does have some history. There's a Wikipedia page on Canada joining the US. A few Canadian parties have pushed for this merger. But none of them really took off.

Today, there is no appetite for such a move. The mere suggestion is controversial. And you can see why America is a very powerful neighbor to have. Their economy, their military, their culture,

all of it looms large over Canada. And financially, they are dependent on the US. Nearly 75% of Canada's exports go to just one country.

And that is the United States. Even politically, there's alignment on NATO, on West Asia, on Europe, on the Indo-Pacific. Their foreign policies often mirror each other.

Add to that, a massive border. It's almost 9,000 kilometers long. It's the longest international border in the world, the US and Canada. Most Canadians live near this region.

The North is too cold and often uninhabitable. So 80% of all Canadians live within 160 kilometers of the US border. Hence this worry of being gubbled up by the US.

And it's not a recent concern. It dates back to the 18th century to the revolutionary war against Britain, sort of like America's war for independence. During this war, the US Army tried to invade Canada.

They wear official uniforms. They use government flags behind them. So people fall for it. Step number three is doubling down. These fake officials accuse the victim. They create an environment of fear.

Back then, Canada was occupied by Britain. So British soldiers beat them back. Another attempt was made through America's first constitution. It was adopted in 1777.

And it invited Canada to join the United States. No strings attached. But again, the British rulers rejected it. Years later, in 1812, the US invaded again

and once again, the British beat them back. They also burnt the White House for good measure. Which pretty much settled the debate. But in the 1980s, it emerged once again.

The reason was not an invasion or a political document. It was a free trade agreement. Canada and the US were discussing a trade deal in 1988. Canada's conservative party supported this deal,

but the liberal party did not. That's the party of the Prime Minister, just in true row. It was led by a politician named John Turner back then. He said a trade deal would dilute Canada's sovereignty.

That it would eventually reduce Canada to the 51st state of America. Listen to this. A lot of people shared this view including the new Democrat party,

which is a party of Jagmeet Singh. So did the number of activists and political commentators. But the conservatives prevailed in 1988. They signed that free trade agreement with Washington DC

and as it turned out, Canada is still a country. But let's come to the present day. Donald Trump's joke about Canada is not new. His advisors say that he used the same line

in his first term as well. He also followed that up with tariffs. Back then, Justin True Rho responded in kind. He imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on US import.

He could have actually stood his ground. I mean, just look at the numbers. The Canadian border made up just 0.08% of all drug seizures by US officials. Only 0.08%.

The victim who's already worried, panics, even more. That's when the scammers throw the bait. That is step number four. They put the victim on a so-called digital arrest.

Same with illegal migrants. American officials caught 23,000 migrants at the Canadian border for the entire year. 23,000, which makes up just 1.4% of the total.

So the fact is that Trump is exaggerating the threat from Canada. His tariff threat is simply unfair. But to question that, you need strong footing.

You need a decisive and a popular leader. You also need a diversified economy that can sustain pressure. Canada does not have any of that.

What they do have is Justin True Rho. Unless Canadian exporters start talking about Khalistan, don't bet on him to protect them. Speaking of Khalistanis, they nearly struck again in India.

That too, at one of the holiest sites in the country, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the target was Sukpeer Singh Badal. He's a leader of the Shirumania Khalidal, which is a political party in the state of Punjab.

He's also a former deputy chief minister of the same state. We'll get to more details in a bit. But first, look at how the attack unfolded. It doesn't get closer than that.

The attacker managed to take out the gun. He also pointed it at Sukpeer Singh Badal, but his security detail intervened at just the right moment as a result, the gunman could only fire into the air.

First of all, Kudos to that official. His quick response avoided bloodshed. And what about the gunman? He was apprehended by the crowd. He was handed to the police.

His identity has now been revealed. His name is Narayan Singh Chora, a 68-year-old Khalistani. In the 1970s, he was a student at the Sikh missionary college

in Amritsar. That's where he was reportedly radicalized. In 1982, he founded the Akal Federation, which was a group of Khalistani hardliners.

It's basically a video call that does not end. You have to be on that call. So you are under surveillance 24, 7. That's a digital arrest. Now, once the victim takes this bait,

And in 1984, he traveled to Pakistan. This was after the military operation at the Golden Temple. In the official say, Chora was trained in Pakistan. He went on to form the Khalistani National Army.

He was also linked to Babar Khalsa International. Now both of these are terror groups. From Pakistan, he smuggled weapons and explosives into India. And in the 1990s, he returned to Punjab.

From there, he took part in militant activities again. And I know what you're thinking at this point. How was this man not in jail? Well, he was. Chora has served multiple stints in prison.

In 1995, in 2004, and then again in 2013, he has faced charges of terrorism and raging war against the state. Yet each time, he was acquitted.

Chora does have more cases pending against him, but he was released on bail in 2022. Now this whole episode raises a number of questions. Like, why did the charges against Chora never stick?

And why wasn't Badaal better protected? This is a leader with Z-plus security cover. That's the highest that India can offer Z-plus. Yet an assassin simply walked up to him.

Plus, Badaal's visit was not out of the blue. He was at the Golden Temple for a religious commitment. Seek authorities had asked him to serve punishment. Punishment for what?

For mistakes committed when his party was in power. That's from 2007 to 2017. So, so, Basing Badaal had to stand guard outside the temple.