Evening NEWS DIGEST
18 Aug. 2016: 13 Dzulqa'dah 37: Vol:7, No:141
After sedition accusation,
Amnesty International closes offices, postpones events: Reuters
New Delhi: Amnesty
International India has temporarily closed its offices and postponed events
aimed at raising awareness of rights abuses over safety concerns for its staff
after the charity was accused of sedition by protesters, a spokeswoman said on
Wednesday.Political activists held demonstrations against the rights group on
Tuesday and Wednesday, accusing it of inciting hatred against the state during
an event it hosted on abuses by Indian security forces in the troubled Kashmir
region. "The allegations mentioned in the complaint are without any basis.
The event was an open door event and people were coming and going. No staff
members were involved," said Himanshi Matta, Amnesty International India's
spokeswoman in India."They are preventing the families of victims of human
rights violations in J&K from having their stories heard. And preventing
civil society organisations from enabling these families to exercise their
constitutional right to justice."Following protests by hundreds of
right-wing activists in Bengaluru on Tuesday and in Delhi on Wednesday, Matta
said the charity had decided to temporarily close its main office in the city,
as well smaller ones in Pune, New Delhi and Chennai.The seminar - aimed at
raising awareness over the lack of justice for families of victims in Kashmir -
was planned to take place in Mumbai and New Delhi next week, but has been
postponed due to security concerns for the families and staff, she added.Rights
groups have for years accused Indian forces battling a separatist insurgency in
Kashmir and parts of northeast India of violating civilian rights through a
controversial law which gives them sweeping powers to search, arrest or shoot
people.
Amnesty India asks
employees to work from home
Space for civil society and dissent in
India is shrinking: Amnesty India chief
Sedition law being
misused,review all cases:plea in SC
New Delhi: A PIL was filed
Wednesday in the Supreme Court seeking a review of all the cases filed under
the sedition charge and to make approval from the DGP or Commissioner of Police
a must before lodging an FIR for sedition.Complaining against “blatant” misuse
of sedition law by successive governments despite the Constitution bench’s decision
on narrowing down its scope 54 years ago, NGO Common Cause has requested the
top court to lay down extensive guidelines to prevent “arbitrary” arrest of
people in such cases. The petition has sought direction for strict compliance
with the apex court’s ruling in Kedarnath vs State of Bihar (1962) case. Court
had held in this case that only those acts which involved incitement to
violence or violence constituted a seditious act under Section124A of the
IPC.“In carrying out arrests and slapping charges, the police and the
governments have rarely, if ever, respected this restriction. Successive govts
have blatantly used Section 124A to stifle the voice of dissent and to further
their political goals,” the petition, to be argued by advocate Prashant Bhushan,
stated.Citing NCRB report, it pointed out that 47 cases of sedition were filed
in 2014 alone, with a total of 58 people being arrested in connection with
these cases. But the govt has managed only one conviction. Petition listed
cases lodged against noted writer Arundhati Roy, cartoonist Assem Trivedi,
civil rights activist Binayak Sen, 67 Kashmiri students in UP, actor Aamir
Khan, Tamil folk singer S Kovan and JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar to
“threaten” them.Indianexpress
NGO moves Supreme Court
over sedition law, says it harasses students, intellectuals
FIR against Amnesty: Rahul
Gandhi steps in, Congress says no ground for sedition case
New Delhi: After Bengaluru
police registered an FIR on charges of sedition against representatives of
Amnesty International India on an ABVP complaint, Congress vice-president Rahul
Gandhi stepped in, reflecting the unease in the party over the development.
Rahul got in touch with Digvijaya Singh,AICC in-charge of Cong-ruled Karnataka,
who then conveyed to CM Siddaramaiah that a case of sedition was not made
out.Singh spoke to Chief Minister, who assured him that “no arrests would be
made pending investigation”. “It is obligatory on the part of the police to
file an FIR if there is a complaint. Even if you want to file an FIR against
the PM, you can do that. But then the preliminary enquiry is held. In this
case, there is no question of any sedition charge,” Singh said. Singh said
there was a need to review the sedition clause in the IPC. indian express
10yrs after Sachar report,Muslims
still 3% in IAS, IPS
Mumbai:Among its various
recommendation for the welfare of Muslims, Sachar Committee had stressed the
need for increasing the share of Muslims in IAS and IPS. 10 years on, the share
of Muslims among IAS officers has risen marginally while that among IPS
officers has fallen.Sachar reported submitted in Nov.2006 had shown that in
IPS, there were 128 Muslims, or 4 per cent, among the 3,209 officers serving then.
As of Jan.2016, there are 120 Muslim officers, or 3.19 per cent of the 3,754
serving IPS officers. An individual is absorbed into the Union civil services
cadre in either of two ways: by clearing UPSC or by being promoted from the
state civil service.What has dropped significantly is the share of Muslims
among IPS officers who have been promoted to IPS from the state cadre. Seven
per cent in 2006, this had fallen to 3.82 per cent in Jan.2016. Out of 912
officers promoted to IPS from the state cadre, Sachar report listed 65 Muslims.
In 2016, there were 44 Muslims among the 1,150 IPS promotees.Among IPS officers
who took the UPSC route, the share of Muslims has risen. At the time of the
Sachar report, there were 63 Muslim officers who made up 2.7% of the 2,297
directly recruited IPS officers. That share is now 2.91%, with 76 Muslims among
the 2,604 directly recruited officers.The share of Muslims in IAS, meanwhile,
has improved slightly, from 3 per cent at the time of the Sachar report to 3.32
per cent as of Jan.2016— 164 Muslims in a total of 4,926 serving IAS
officers.indian express
VK Singh tried to deny me
promotion via false charges, malafide intent: Army Chief Dalbir Singh
New Delhi:In the first
instance of a serving Army chief speaking out against a predecessor and a
serving minister, General Dalbir Singh, Chief of Army Staff, has accused
General (retired) V K Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, of trying
to stall his promotion “with mysterious design, malafide intent and to
arbitrarily punish” him for “extraneous reasons”.In an affidavit submitted in
his personal capacity to the Supreme Court Wednesday, General Dalbir Singh has
said that in 2012 “I was sought to be victimised by the then COAS” General VK
Singh “with the sole purpose of denying me promotion to the appointment of Army
Commander”. “False, baseless and imaginary allegations of lapses were levelled
against me in the show cause notice” of May19, 2012 and consequent imposition
of an “illegal” discipline and vigilance (DV) ban, Army chief has stated in his
affidavit.The affidavit was filed in response to a petition moved by Lt.Gen
(retd) Ravi Dastane who alleged favouritism in Dalbir Singh’s selection as Army
Commander, making him next in line to succeed General Bikram Singh. indian
express
VK Singh victimised me,
imposed 'illegal' ban: Army chief Dalbir Singh
BJP member killed for
transporting cows in Udupi
Udupi: A group of activists
from Hindu Jagrana Vedike attacked two people alleging that the cows were being
transported to an abattoir.One person was killed and another injured when a
group of activists belonging to the right wing group Hindu Jagrana Vedike
thrashed them for transporting three cows in a van at Kajike near Hebri in
Udupi district on Wednesday. The deceased was a member of the local BJP unit.KT
Balakrishna, SP, said on Thursday that Praveen Poojary (29) and Akshay (22)
were transporting three cows in a van. On receiving information about this, a
group of activists belonging to Hindu Jagrana Vedike, stopped their van at
Kajike at around 8.30 p.m. and beat them, alleging that the cows were being
transported to an abattoir.The injured were then rushed to a hospital in
Brahmavar, where Praveen Poojary died. On getting the information about the
incident at around 11 pm, police arrested Srikanth and 16 activists of the
Hindu Jagran Vedike on charges of assault and murder. A case had presently been
booked at Brahmavar police station, Balakrishna said. Thehindu
Tension in Baghpat as 150
kg cow meat seized, 2 arrested
Baghpat: Nearly 150 kg meat
suspected to be of cow was seized and two persons, including a 60-year-old
woman, were arrested in a village, in Baghpat district, triggering tension in
the area as right wing Hindu groups staged protests.Acting on a tip off about
cow slaughter, a police team raided the house of Nazim in Gauspura village in Singhavali
Ahir police station area on Tuesday and recovered 150 kg meat, ASP Aziz-ul Haq
said on Thursday.Haq said veterinary doctors suspected it to be meat of “cow or
its progeny” and a sample has been sent for laboratory test.PTI
PM Modi's remarks on Balochistan
not surprising: Govt official
New Delhi: India's humanity
does not stop at its border and PM's remarks on Balochistan did not come out of
blue as he has been receiving reports on atrocities in that part of Pakistan, a
senior govt source remarked on Wednesday. "When PM speaks from the Red
Fort it is state of union inside & outside. The issue of Balochistan was
there in PM's mind," the source said. "Statement on Balochistan did
not come out as blue. We are clearly troubled with human rights violations in
Balochistan. What PM said it was an expression of concern. We feel for people
inside & outside. My humanity doesn't stop at my border. It was expression
of sentiment for suppressed people some distance away," sources said,
adding that India has spoken for human rights violation in other parts of the
world.economic times
Modi crossed ‘red line’ by
talking about Balochistan: Pakistan
Islamabad:Pakistan on
Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi crossed the “red line” by talking about
Balochistan and asserted that it will “forcefully” raise the Kashmir issue at
the UN General Assembly session next month.“Prime Minister strongly pleaded the
case of Kashmir during General Assembly session last year and we will again
forcefully raise the issue,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria
said.Zakaria, in his weekly news briefing here, also took strong exception to
the remarks by Prime Minister Modi on Balochistan. Prime Minister Modi had
brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Balochistan and PoK in his
Independence Day speech. “It is the violation of the UN Charter. He (Modi)
crossed the red line by talking about Balochistan,” Zakaria said.He alleged
that India was involved in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi.
Zakaria also claimed that India was referring to Balochistan to cover up its
human rights violations in Kashmir.Zakaria said Prime Minister Sharif will lead
the official delegation at the General Assembly session. He said the UN
Secretary General and most of the UN members had already been informed about
the “precarious situation” in Kashmir. Zakaria said the UN and international
community should remind India that it must fulfil its commitment to give the
right of self-determination to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as per Security
Council resolutions.PTI
NIA sets off to track flow
of ‘terror funds’ in Kashmir
New Delhi: NIA has
registered a preliminary enquiry to track the flow of funds in several bank
accounts in the valley, which are suspected to have been used for financing
terrorist and unlawful activities. NIA launched the probe even as the unrest in
the valley entered 41st day. “Based on technical inputs, information has been
collected that certain bank accounts in J&K have seen huge inflow and
outflow of funds during the last few months. These accounts are in names of
persons whose income doesn’t warrant such banking transactions,” a NIA
spokesperson said. The official said that the information available with the
agency also indicates flow of funds into and disbursement there from in bank
accounts of some persons of interest in J&K.“To verify the details and to
ascertain the end users of the flow of funds, NIA has registered Preliminary
Enquiry into the subject and would submit its findings to Home Ministry in due
course,” said the official.Running the risk of getting caught by the security
and intelligence agencies, the militant organisations and their sympathisers
have begun jettisoning the hawala channels for transferring money and are wooing
Kashmiris who travel to gulf countries for work, PTI reported. the hindu
CRPF says it has fired over
3000 pellet cartridges in Kashmir since July 8
Srinagar: CRPF has fired
over 3000 pellet cartridges – each containing 450 metallic balls – in the
Valley since July 8 and said it was “difficult” to follow Standard Operating
Protocol (SOP) while both the armed forces and protesters are on move during
the unrest. Responding to a PIL seeking a ban on pellets, the CRPF told the J-K
High Court that 3765 cartridges of .9 number have been fired from the pump
action guns since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last
month. Since a cartridge contains around 450 pellets, it means over 1.3 million
pellets have been fired by CRPF on protestors till August 11.
BJP corporator proposes
mandatory Yoga, Surya Namaskar in Mumbai Municipal schools including Urdu
medium
Mumbai: A BJP corporator
has moved a proposal to make Yoga and Surya Namaskar mandatory in schools run
by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). While a discussion on the proposal
is awaited, Shiv Sena, larger party in the BMC, said it believed training in
martial arts would be more welcome. The proposal is expected to be hotly
opposed by the Samajwadi Party, which has said this would amount to “mixing of
education and religion”. BJP corporator from Mulund Samita Kamble moved the
proposal a fortnight ago, saying Yoga and Suryanamaskar would help students of
the 1,285 BMC schools maintain fitness. “Yoga is a world renowned exercise for
fitness. Surya Namaskar is also categorised under Yoga. Kamble said she wanted
to make these exercises mandatory in all civic schools, including the nearly
400 Urdu-medium ones. SP has already raised its objection to the proposal,
which is slated for discussion at the BMC’s general body meeting on Aug.23.Shiv
Sena, which controls the BMC, said it would be better to offer martial arts
training to students than Yoga and Suryanamaskar. indian express
Kashmir unrest: 30-year-old
lecturer beaten to death, toll reaches 66
Srinagar: A civilian was
beaten to death by Army in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, taking the toll of
people killed since July 8, to 66. Jammu and Kashmir Police has registered an
FIR into the killing.Shabir Ahmad Mangoo, a 30-year-old contractual lecturer,
was killed when army raided Sharshali village in Khrew and beat the youth in
the village.“He (Shabir) was brought dead to hospital,” Block Medical Officer
(BMO) Pampore, Dr Saba told The Indian Express. “He was brought to hospital by
police and he had external injuries on face and chest”. Dr Saba said that
Shabir’s body was brought to hospital around 5.30 in the morning and was then
taken back by the police.Police has admitted that Shabir was killed when raided
the village in Khrew. indianexpress
Farooq Khan: From J&K
cop to BJP leader to charge of UT Lakshadweep
New Delhi: Newly appointed
Lakshadweep administrator Farooq Khan, 61, is a retired IPS officer who led
anti-militancy operations in Kashmir. He led the police action that led to the
clearing of the Hazratbal shrine in 1996. The 1994-batch IPS officer retired in
2013 in the rank of inspector general of police.Khan joined the BJP ahead of
the Jammu and Kashmir elections last year. Dogri-speaking Punjabi Muslim was
subsequently given charge of the BJP’s minority morcha and the party’s affairs
in Nagaland. Last year, Khan had said that the RSS is the “cleanest”
organisation whose “leaders have given up worldly things”. indianexpress
Muslim youth killed,
tension in Muzaffarnagar; 2 arrested
Agra, Meerut: A Muslim
youth was shot dead, allegedly by the uncle of his Hindu girlfriend, in
Muzaffarnagar district on Tuesday night, leading to communal tension in the
area. According to the police, the body of Mohd Nazim, 21, was found inside the
girl’s house in Vehalna village, under Kotwali police station. At about 1:30 am
on Wednesday, the girl’s father, Arvind Kumar, reportedly called up the police
to inform that they had shot a thief.“We rushed to the spot to find the body.
What raised suspicion was the fact that the youth was in his undergarments. We
interrogated all the family members individually,” said Muzaffarnagar SSP
Deepak Kumar. “The girl, about 20 years old, then told us that she was in love
with the youth, and her uncle, Pradeep, had killed him after finding the two
together in her room,” he said.While the girl’s family claimed Nazim had
entered their house forcibly, the victim’s family said the girl’s brother had
called him. Nazim’s father, Mohammad Nasir, told the police that he was not
aware of the relationship between his son and the girl.Nazim’s uncle, Wahid,
claimed the girl’s cousin, Praveen, had called the victim to his house at
around midnight on Tuesday to repair his truck. “Wahid told us that Praveen and
Nazim had a heated exchange a few days ago over pending bills for vehicle
repair. The boy’s family owns a vehicle repair shop while the girl’s family
runs a transport business. Wahid said Praveen’s family owed them about Rs
50,000,” said SSP Kumar. indianexpress
Mumbai suburb Muslim
dominated Padgha, with Arabic footprints, saw Muslim women in freedom struggle
For the last decade,
Borivli Padgha located 53 km north of Mumbai has been intertwined in news and
public perception as a centre of subversive activities. The quaint little
village along with its narrow winding alleys and century-old houses also has a
surprisingly large role in the country’s cultural and independence
history.Tucked away off the bustling Mumbai-Agra Highway, Padgha first found
its mention in the annals of history during the reign of the Shilahara dynasty.
The feudal clan had established itself in northern and southern Konkan, present-day
Mumbai and southern Maharashtra and governed the area between the seventh and
the tenth century.Inhabited by a largely indigenous population, the village had
its first tryst with Arabs who would land at Bhiwandi port for trade. Over a
period of time, the Arabs had set up a base along the shoreline. A small
settlement of these Arab traders came up at Borivli, adjoining Padgha, sometime
in the 12th century which has now transformed into 7,000-population village
with a 95%Muslim population.“Our ancestors were probably Arabs who used to
trade along the Mumbai coast and settled down here with the local population.
It may look small but this village has played vital role in almost all ages,
including the country’s independence movement,” Nasir Mulla,a septuagenarian,
who was born on the cusp of Pakistan and India’s independence days, said.Old
timers say local Muslim women had played a stellar role during the independence
movement, when the ladies stepped out of their houses during the freedom
movement to burn a huge bonfire of British goods in Borivli’s public
square.“Agitation was mainly of Muslim women who had invited Sarojini Naidu for
the protest. A huge bonfire of British goods was raised in the centre of the
village. It was an event that almost all the old timers talked about,” Nasir
said.Its residents have also played a strong role in promoting education in the
area setting up schools around the village.This political and social awareness
among people is also the reason why the village was a fertile ground for Muslim
activism with communists and Islamists all finding a place in the small
village.This year,4 residents from village were convicted by a sessions court
on charges of terrorism.indian express
WORLD
Boy in the ambulance:
shocking image emerges of Syrian child pulled from Aleppo rubble
A photograph of a boy
sitting dazed and bloodied in the back of an ambulance after surviving a regime
airstrike in Aleppo has highlighted the desperation of the Syrian civil war and
the struggle for control of the city. The child is reported to be 5-year-old
Omran Daqneesh, one of five children injured late on Wednesday by a military
strike on the city, scene of the most decisive battle in the war.The image
shows him covered head to toe with dust and so disoriented that he seems barely
aware of an open wound on his forehead. Sources on the ground said his
condition is now stable.The startling image is a still from a video filmed and
circulated by the Aleppo Media Centre. The anti-government activist group has
been contacted to confirm details about when and where the footage was shot.The
group posted the clip to YouTube late on Wednesday local time, shortly after
Omran was injured. It shows the boy being lifted from the rubble of a damaged
building and taken to the ambulance. A local doctor told the Telegraph’s Middle
East correspondent that four other children, one woman and two young men were
also hurt in the attack on the rebel-held Qaterji neighbourhood. Omran was
treated for his head injury at the M10 hospital and released later that night.
The Telegraph reported that about 12 other children, all under the age of 15,
had been treated there on Wednesday.The image has been shared thousands of
times by people on social media, including the International Rescue Committee
president and former UK foreign secretary, David Miliband. The initial photo of
Omran tweeted by the Telegraph reporter Raf Sanchez had been retweeted more
than 12,000 times.theguardian
Image of injured Aleppo boy
encapsulates horrors of Syria war
Compiled and edited by
Anwarulhaq (Released at: 5:42 PM)
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