YouTuber Dhruv Rathee expands reach with regional language channels including Kannada
Popular YouTuber and influential social media figure, Dhruv Rathee, has extended his digital footprint by launching his YouTube channel in five prominent Indian regional languages. Widely recognized for his informative videos covering a spectrum of social, political, and environmental subjects in Hindi, Dhruv's latest endeavor aims to cater to a broader audience base across the country.
The newly inaugurated YouTube channels, introduced on Thursday, April 18, will feature dubbed versions of Dhruv's Hindi videos in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, and Marathi. Among the initial offerings on these channels is the translated rendition of his recent viral video titled, “Is India becoming a dictatorship?”
Originally released in February, the aforementioned video garnered substantial attention, amassing over 24 million views. It delved into contentious topics such as the Chandigarh mayoral election, the ongoing farmers' protest, and voiced apprehensions regarding the trajectory of India's democracy. Drawing comparisons to regimes like North Korea, the video also scrutinized the functioning of India's Election Commission, raising concerns about the state of democracy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
However, the video's critical stance attracted criticism from supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with some dismissing Dhruv's perspective due to his residence in Germany. In response, Dhruv addressed BJP supporters, urging them to approach the video with an open mind. He emphasized that personal attacks on him were merely distractions, urging viewers to focus on the underlying issues at hand. “The real issue is something very serious if you truly care about the nation. Wake up!” he asserted.
Launching in 5 Indian Languages today!
— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) April 18, 2024
Share with your friends from these states! The most important video is already live on these channels.
Tamil-https://t.co/iIAY46UONr
Telugu- https://t.co/uHUFmMWOY2
Bengali-https://t.co/Ps41JJ8VuC
Kannada-https://t.co/UTgIvoU8bf… pic.twitter.com/vuKfLctR8h
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US SC rejects 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s plea seeking stay on his extradition to India
New York, Apr 7 (PTI): The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana's appeal seeking a stay on his extradition to India, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice.
Rana, 64, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles.
He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.
Rana had submitted an ‘Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus' on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan.
Kagan had denied the application earlier last month.
Rana had then renewed his ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan’, and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana's renewed application had been “distributed for Conference” on April 4 and the “application” has been “referred to the Court.”
A notice on the Supreme Court website Monday said that “Application denied by the Court.”
Rana was convicted in the US of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashker-e-Taiba which was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai.
New York-based Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra had told PTI that Rana had made his application to the Supreme Court to prevent extradition, which Justice Kagan denied on March 6. The application was then submitted before Roberts, “who has shared it with the Court to conference so as to harness the entire Court’s view.”
The Supreme Court justices are Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
In his emergency application, Rana had sought a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation (including exhaustion of all appeals) on the merits of his February 13.
In that petition, Rana argued that his extradition to India violates US law and the UN Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, the petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture."
"The likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks,” the application said.
The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto" death sentence in this case.
The US Supreme Court denied Rana's petition for a writ of certiorari relating to his original habeas petition on January 21. The application notes that on that same day, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington on February 12 to meet with Trump, Rana’s counsel received a letter from the Department of State, stating that “on February 11, 2025, the Secretary of State decided to authorise” Rana’s "surrender to India,” pursuant to the “Extradition Treaty between the United States and India”.
Rana’s Counsel requested from the State Department the complete administrative record on which Secretary Rubio based his decision to authorize Rana’s surrender to India.
The Counsel also requested immediate information of any commitment the United States has obtained from India with respect to Rana’s treatment. “The government declined to provide any information in response to these requests,” the application said.
It added that given Rana’s underlying health conditions and the State Department’s findings regarding the treatment of prisoners, it is very likely “Rana will not survive long enough to be tried in India".
During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House in February, President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.
A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.
