Evening NEWS DIGEST
04 Dec.2016: 3 Rabiul Awwal 1438: Vol:8, No:53
Delhi does a fine balancing
act with Iran, Qatar: DNA
New Delhi(Iftikhar Gilani):In
1930, famous poet Iqbal visualised Tehran becoming the Geneva of the East. The
Swiss city was then the headquarters of the League of Nations. Of late, New
Delhi is turning to be a centre for international diplomatic engagements, with
the city on Saturday hosting the PM and
Foreign Minister of arch-rivals Qatar and Iran – Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin
Khalifa Al Thani and Mohammad Javad Zarif, respectively. Qatar, an important
member of the Saudi Arabia-led Sunni Arab alliance, is also an active supporter
of the US-led campaigns in the region. It also hosts a Taliban office in Doha.
Iran, the only Shia Muslim country in the world, disagrees with almost
everything with Arab Gulf states, ranging from Opec's oil production to the US
role in the region as well as conflicts in Syria and Iraq.Both the visiting
dignitaries spoke about ways to curb terrorism. During the bilateral talks with
PM Narendra Modi, Sheikh Abdullah talked about enhancing cooperation and agreed
on a joint action to tackle money-laundering and terrorist financing.Later, Zarif
anaylsed the fight against terrorism and ways to curb the global menace of
extremism. His punchline was to introspect within and provide a vent to
dissents and frustrations through democratic means — a panacea for terrorism.
He also asked for giving the youth the hope for a better future to prevent them
from ending up as suicide bombers.He described alienation and deprivation as
the root cause of radicalisation, blaming the big powers for creating a monster
through their policies. "We are paying the price for the misplaced
perception that Cold War was won by the West," said Zarif. Speaking on issues
like Syria, he said time is long gone for any imposed solution in Syria. He
hinted that his country would support an inclusive govt to end the conflict in
the region.Referring to Iran's commitment to develop trade with India, he said
Chabahar marks an excellent venue for cooperation with India and Afghanistan.
The Iranian Foreign Minister is accompanied by a 38-member delegation from his
country's Chamber of Commerce, 15 knowledge-based companies and eight trade
banks to participate in the Heart of Asia (HoA) conference. He stopped in Delhi
to address a gathering of strategic experts on way to Amritsar.Earlier, at the
swanky Hyderabad House, India and Qatar signed 5 agreements on visa exemptions
for holders of diplomatic, special and official passports, technical
cooperation in cyber space and crime, letters of intent on e-visas for
businessmen and tourists, and an MoU between the Supreme Committee for Delivery
and Legacy of Qatar and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Another MoU
for greater collaboration in port management was also signed.Modi said the
visit of the Qatari PM showed the growing bilateral ties with Qatar, which
India has always regarded as a "valued partner". On energy
cooperation, Modi said: "We should go beyond the buyer-seller relationship
to include joint ventures, research and development and exploration."Indian
companies are ready to invest in both upstream and downstream projects in the
hydrocarbon sector," he said.Qatar is the largest supplier of LNG to
India, accounting for 66% of the total imports in 2015-16.Qatari leader invited
India to participate in infrastructure and investment development in his
country, ahead of FIFA World Cup in 2022. NSA Ajit Doval also called on the
Qatar PM. DNA
Iran offers to 'mediate'
between India and Pakistan
New Delhi: Iranian Foreign
Minister Dr Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed his country's willingness to mediate
between India and Pakistan, if both countries wanted Iran to play a role. "Iran
is a close friend of India as well as Pakistan. We would like the relations
between our friends to improve. We are ready to do whatever we can, if both our
friends so desire," he said while answering a question.Dr. Zarif was
delivering a special address on "Fighting against terrorism and extremism
as a global menace", organised jointly by Observer Research Foundation and
the Embassy of Iran in Delhi on Saturday.Saying the "era of hegemony is
now gone", Dr Zarif cautioned the newly elected US leadership of the
dangers of trying to make the country great once again.The new leadership
should not try to make the US great again, Dr Zarif said, noting that no
country can now exercise hegemony either globally or in the region.He said
America's war against Iran, Afghanistan and now Syria forced people to take to violence
to fight their oppression.Dr Zarif also accused some nations of supporting
perverted versions of Islam through their allies which led to spread of
extremism and violence.He also hoped that the multilateral nuclear agreement
between Iran, US and other P-5 nations would continue despite the threats from
the newly elected US President during the election campaigns. ANI
N-deal is not in jeopardy
after Trump:Iran Foreign Minister
India,Afghanistan plan air
cargo link over Pakistan:Reuters
Amritsar: India and
Afghanistan are planning to set up an air cargo service to help increase trade
that both say is stymied because of their tense political relations with
Pakistan that lies between them, Indian and Afghan officials said on Saturday. The
cargo service will aim to improve landlocked Afghanistan's connectivity to key
markets abroad and boost the growth prospects of its fruit and carpet
industries while it battles a deadly Taliban insurgency, Indian officials said.An
announcement on the service is expected after a meeting between Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani and Indian PM Narendra Modi on Sunday in the northern
Indian city of Amritsar, a short distance from the Pakistan border. 2 leaders are
attending the Heart of Asia conference aimed at stabilising
Afghanistan.Afghanistan depends on the Pakistani port of Karachi for its
foreign trade. It is allowed to send a limited amount of goods overland through
Pakistan into India, but imports from India are not allowed along this route.
Simplistic to blame a
country, says Sartaz Aziz; rakes up Indo-Pak ties
Amritsar;Under severe
attack over terrorism emanating from its soil, Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs
Advisor Sartaj Aziz on Sunday hit back saying it is “simplistic” to blame one
country even as he raked up the issue of strain in Indo-Pak ties at the Heart
of Asia (HoA) conference on Afghanistan.Aziz asserted his attending the meet
despite “escalation” along the LoC was testimony to Pakistan’s “unflinching” commitment
for lasting peace in Afghanistan and expressed unhappiness over cancellation of
SAARC Summit in Islamabad in November, terming it as a setback to regional
cooperation. He did not mention the issue of J&K.PTI
Pakistan says ready to
talk, won’t raise Kashmir at Afghan forum
Ashraf Ghani slams Pakistan
on terror, tells it to end ‘undeclared war’:PTI
'Don't blame one country
for terror', says Pakistan's Sartaj Aziz, after being snubbed by Afghanistan
Modi-Aziz handshake in
Amritsar sets Pak media abuzz
Heart of Asia Summit ends
in Amritsar, India, Afghanistan issue joint declaration
India-US defence ties
closest ever: US defence secretary
Washington: Days ahead of
his visit to India, US defence secretary Ashton Carter on Sunday said that the
defence relationship between the world's two largest democracies has never been
as close it is now."US-India defence relationship is the closest it's ever
been. Through our strategic handshake — with America reaching west in the
rebalance, and India reaching east in what PM Narendra Modi calls his Act East policy — our
two nations are exercising together by air, land, and sea like never
before," Carter said.PTI
Lakhs of Muslims mobilise
in Marathwada for reservation, Muslim Personal Law
Mumbai:In the backdrop of
the ongoing Maratha unrest in Maharashtra for reservation in jobs and
education, there has been a massive mobilisation of the Muslim community in
Marathwada for the same cause. Lakhs of Muslims were seen carrying out silent
marches on Friday in Sillod, Aurangabad. Other major cities of Marathwada,
including Nanded and Latur, have also seen similar marches recently. Their next
rally is slated to be held in Beed.The protests, led by Muslim Aarakshan
Sangharsh Kruti Samiti — an umbrella organisation of all Muslim political,
social and religious organisations — have demanded 10% reservation for Muslims
and the protection of Muslim Personal Law, among other privileges. Marathwada
has the second highest concentration of Muslims in Maharashtra after Mumbai.
Muslims, who make up 11.5% of Maharashtra’s population, constitute over 15%of
Marathwada’s population. One of every third person in the eight major cities
and towns of Marathwada is a Muslim.“These are peaceful silent marches to
pressurise the govt for our demands.
These are not political rallies but a movement that has grown from the
community,” a convenor of the Muslim Aarakshan Sangharsh Kruti Samiti said.
indian express
NCP would raise Muslim
quota issue in House: Munde
No out-of-court settlement
in Babri case, says Muslim body: Tribune India
New Delhi:The
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), a prominent Muslim organisation, today rejected any
possibility of an out-of-court settlement of the Babri Masjid dispute.At JIH’s
monthly press meet here, its president Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari said: “As
the Babri Masjid demolition completes 24 years, we resolve to continue the
peaceful struggle for restoration and reconstruction of the masjid in
cooperation with the AIMPLB, human rights organisations and justice-loving
people of all religions. We rule out any possibility for an out-of-court
settlement towards resolution of the Babri Masjid case.”Umari said Dec.6, 1992,
was one of the darkest days in the history of India. “Unfortunately, the
perpetrators of the demolition are still walking free and successive govt s
have not arrested anyone. The Liberhan
Commission presented its report in June 2009 after 17 years but no practical steps
were taken thereafter. The case is pending before the Supreme Court and we are
hopeful of a verdict in its favour,” he said.Jamaat-e-Islami Hind secretary
general Muhammad Salim Engineer expressed skepticism over the govt’s claim to
curb the circulation of black money by demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
“We are not convinced by the govt’s claim that the scheme will curb black
money. If black money was to be curbed, why the govt has introduced notes of Rs 2,000?” he said. tribuneindia
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
against out-of-court settlement of Babri Masjid dispute:India Today/PTI
JIH against out-of-court
settlement of Babri Masjid dispute: Business Standard /PTI
JIH against out-of-court
settlement of Babri Masjid dispute: New Indian Express
JIH against out-of-court
settlement of Babri Masjid dispute: Indian Express
JIH against out-of-court
settlement of Babri Masjid dispute: The Statesman
Jamaat rejects any out of
court settlement of Babri Masjid dispute: theindianawaaz
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind
rejects out of court settlement of Babri Masjid dispute: risingkashmir
Vigil hiked as Babri
anniversary, Milad fete approach
Hyderabad: With calls being
given to observe the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary on December 6 as
"black day" and celebration of Milad-un-Nabi on December 13 arriving
in rapid succession, the police are geared to keep vigil in South Zone areas
along with a perceptible increase in its presence. The South Zone police, which
covers major chunks of Old City, has witnessed an undercurrent of resentment in
the recent past on account of "objectionable" images related to the
community floating in cyberspace. "We are cautious and alert. It is likely
that Darsgah-e-Jihad-o-Shahadat will try to organise protests. We will take
action against people who do not stick to a democratic manner of protest. We
will exercise the utmost restraint with those who stage protests within the
boundaries of law," said DCP (SZ) V Satyanarayana. The possibility of some
sections raising protests against the encounter of Viquaruddin Ahmed has not
been ruled out, he said. Ahmed was killed along with four other undertrials in
Nalgonda in April 2015. While cops have ruled out giving permission for loud
music from sound mixers, popularly referred to as 'DJs', no new permissions for
tributary processions in neighbourhoods with a mixed population have been
given. "In the past we saw trouble at Moghalpura and Chhatrinaka. We have
not given permission to people who wanted to take out a procession from such
areas," Satyanarayana said, even as he anticipated a sharp rise in number
of participants in Milad.TOI
‘Forbid fete on Black Day’
Mangaluru: Members of
Mangalore Central Committee submitted a memorandum to city police commissioner
M Chandra Sekhar demanding action against groups celebrating vijayotsava in the
city to commemorate the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6. Committee
president Ali Hassan and convener Abdul Azeez urged police to prevent any
victory celebrations of Babri Masjid demolition in the name of religious
rituals. Committee members stated in a memorandum, "While one section of
the society celebrates the demolition of Babri Masjid, another community
observes Black Day on Monday. Such victory celebrations breach communal harmony
and lead to divide in the society." timesofindia
Katiyar brings up Ram
temple issue
Lucknow: Days before the
24th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, the BJP has raked up the issue
of Ram Mandir in poll-bound UP.Addressing a parivartan rally, Vinay Katiyar,
Rajya Sabha member of the party, has said that a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will be
constructed once UP gets a CM like Kalyan Singh, under whose rule Babri
Masjid was demolished. “I am often asked when will the Ram Mandir be
constructed. I want to tell those people, the construction for the Ram Mandir
will be started the day we get a CM like Kalyan Singh. Kalyan Singhji was the
CM when the structure [Babri mosque] was demolished,” Katiyar said in Aligarh.thehindu
DEMONETISATION
RBI to soon issue Rs 50, Rs
20 notes; old notes to remain legal tender
New Delhi: RBI will shortly
issue new notes of Rs 50 and Rs 20. Rs 50 notes will be without inset letter in
both the number panel while the Rs 20 notes will have inset letter ‘L’ in both
the number panels, bearing signature of Urjit R Patel, Governor, RBI, and the
year of printing ‘2016’ printed on the reverse of side.The design and security
features of these banknotes will be similar to old notes of the same
denomination. While there is no change in the colour at the reverse, colour at
the obverse is lighter. As a major relief, the old notes have not been
demonetised and will continue to be legal tender. indianexpress
20 Crore Middle Class Youth
Will Be Jobless Due to Automation by 2025: Mohandas Pai
New Delhi: About 20 crore middle class young people
would have no jobs or less jobs by 2025 due to increasing automation and
improvement in technology,industry veteran TV Mohandas Pai said today. "By
2025 there will be 200 million young people in the age group of 21-41 with no
jobs or less jobs and nobody knows what to do with these people. Govt policy
does not know what to do as they don't have proper data," Pai, who is the
Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, said."We are going to have
demographic nightmare," he said.About 52% of people, compared to 62% 10
years earlier, are employed in agriculture and number of population which
depends on services and industries is growing at 10%,Pai said. "Disparity
between people in agriculture and in service industry is widening and that is
getting social attention all across India which has led to various agitation
across states,"he said.He said that companies are looking at automation,
developing artificial intelligence in machines which have potential to replace
process based jobs. NDTV
W. Bengal: People watch as
45-yr-old man dies of heart attack in ATM queue
Kolkata: Demonetisation led
to another tragic incident in Hooghly district of West Bengal. A 45-year-old
man died of heart attack while standing in a queue outside an ATM here today. The
deceased was a state govt employee,
Kallol Roy Chowdhury, who was posted in Cooch Behar district.Incident took
place near Bandel station in Kolkata at around 7.30am.Chowdhury had got down at
the station while he was on his way back to his home. He was supposed to
withdraw cash and catch another train for Kolkata at the Bandel station. At
Bandel, Roy Chowdhury went to withdraw some cash from ATM outside the station.
While standing in a queue he suddenly complained about chest pain and
collapsed. According to eye witnesses, he kept lying on the road for at least
thirty minutes but no one came to help him because nobody wanted to give up on
their chance to withdraw money. Security guard posted at ATM realised that Roy
Chowdhury was not responding. The guard later he rushed Chowdhury to the
Chinsurah Imambara Hospital in an auto rickshaw where doctors declared him
brought dead."He was standing in queue to withdraw cash. When we saw him
falling to the ground we called a local doctor who advised us to immediately
rush him to the hospital," said one of the eye witnesses. India today
Tamil Nadu: 70 year old
farmer dies waiting in bank queue
Go digital, even beggar
using swipe machine: PM Modi
50 chartered planes to
ferry VVIPs to Nagpur for Gadkari’s daughter’s wedding
Over 10,000 guests, most of
them VVIPs like Union home minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah,
industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray,
Union ministers and CMs, will be flown to the city in 50 charter flights on
Sunday evening. The reason —wedding of Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s
daughter.VVIP guests’ list also include LK Advani and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. Believe
it or not, air tickets from any place to Nagpur on December 3 and 4 are not
available.Among the other VVIP guests are RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Congress
vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, filmstars Hema Malini and
Amitabh Bachchan, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, and industrialist Kumar Mangalam
Birla.The wedding will be solemnised at Rani Kothi in Nagpur.But there are
murmurs of disapproval of such a lavish display of wealth, particularly when
Modi govt demonetised high-value currency notes. “Such a lavish wedding
supposedly goes against the RSS ethos, as Gadkari was groomed in RSS culture
and is still a swayamsevak,” said a senior swayamsevak on condition of
anonymity.HT
Gadkari’ daughter ties knot
at glittering ceremony, ministers, politicians attend function
Andhra IAS officer spends
Rs 500 on her wedding, returns to duty within 48 hours
OTHERS
Persecuted in Myanmar,
Rohingya Muslims find new home in Jammu:HT
Words fail 70-year-old
Mohammed Younus and a much younger Shah Alam when they try to explain how lucky
they are to be alive and, perhaps, safe.They are among hundreds of Rohingya
Muslim migrants from Myanmar, who have taken shelter in and around J&K’s
winter capital.“4 years ago, I came to Jammu. The junta in Myanmar had
unleashed the gravest atrocities on Rohingyas and the world was silent. They
are raping our girls and women, setting our houses on fire, firing at us as if
we are sitting ducks, and chopping people into pieces,” Younus said.As a mark
of proof, he lifted his shirt to show bullet scars on his torso. Rohingyas, a
stateless ethnic group loathed by many of Myanmar’s Buddhist majority, were forced
to leave their homes since a bloody crackdown by the army in their home state
of Rakhine. Many came to India, with nothing but the clothes they were wearing
and with horrifying stories of rape, torture and murder. Several Rohingya
families —majority with UNHCR cards and some without papers —have found Jammu a
safe haven.“I work at a scrap-dealer’s shop; my wife and eldest daughter work
as domestic helps. We have to pay Rs 500 a month for the shanty and Rs 200 for
electricity. Some NGOs help us. Life is not easy, but at least we are alive
here,” said 45-year-old Shah Alam in a pidgin mix of Hindi and Urdu.
J-K journalist booked for
report naming forces
Srinagar: J&K Police
has registered a case against a journalist of banned newspaper Kashmir Reader
for a Sept.28 report on crop-burning, in which villagers were quoted as blaming
“govt forces” for the alleged arson.A
case under Section 505, pertaining to publication or circulation of “statements
of conducing public mischief”, has been registered against Ishfaq Reshi, who
was a trainee reporter with Kashmir Reader, which was banned by J&K govt on Oct.2.Reshi is a student of convergent
journalism at Central University of Kashmir and has been associated with the
paper since April 2016.Reshi was presented before a Munsif court in Magam on
Friday and directed to apply for bail from the sessions court in Budgam. “I was
in police detention during the day (on Friday) and allowed to go home in the
evening,”Reshi said. “There were allegations from villagers. I had gone on the
ground to verify the facts and reported the same.”The report had appeared in
the newspaper as a front-page banner, along with 3 photographs, and quoted
residents of Budran, Aadina, Kanihama and Mazhama villages in Budgam as saying
that “police, paramilitary troopers and soldiers (had) fired incendiary
projectiles into the harvested rice crop that had been left to dry in sun”.In a
statement on Sept.30 rebutting the story, J&K Police Media Centre had said
“incident has been maliciously linked with forces”. “Some anti-social elements
set on fire 2 haycocks at village Adina, Magam. On the receipt of the
complaint, police took cognizance and lodged an FIR no. 159/16 in police
station Magam and investigation has been taken up.”Sub-divisional Police
Officer, Magam, Syed Fayaz Ahmad said that Reshi had circulated a “fake news”
regarding the incident. “It was a normal case of burning for which he had
blamed the forces. We produced him before the Munsif court on Friday. He was
not under arrest,” SDPO Ahmad said.Questioning the case against Reshi, Mir
Hilal, Editor of Kashmir Reader, said, “The story in question is similar to
what others reported. If there are similar stories in other publications too
that were also rebutted by police, why is there an FIR only against this story?
They did not send any rebuttal to us and the statement issued two days later
did not specifically mention our paper.” indianexpress
Dowry death social crime
but can’t convict husband without proof: Delhi court
It is a heinous crime to
hang one’s wife to death but a husband cannot be convicted without any reliable
evidence, a Delhi court has said while acquitting a man and his family members
in a murder and dowry death case.The court freed the man, his father and two
sisters, all residents of east Delhi, saying there was no cogent evidence that
the woman was subjected to cruelty or harassment for demand of dowry.“While it
is proved that husband being the companion in the house ought to be able to
explain as to the circumstances under which his wife was found lying hanged in
the bedroom but there also exists an obligation on the part of the prosecution
to prove the guilt of the accused beyond all reasonable doubt...“Undoubtedly,
it is a social and heinous crime to have the wife hanged to death but without
any proper and reliable evidence, the court cannot by itself justify its
conclusion of murder by the husband,” additional sessions judge Sanjeev Kumar
Malhotra said.PTI
High court declines to interfere
in probe against Zakir Naik
Mumbai: Bombay high court
declined a plea to set up a high power committee headed by a retired judge to
examine whether Zakir Naik's speeches constitute an offence.A bench headed by
Justice Abhay Oka on Dec.2 heard a PIL by Sohail Shaikh which said on the basis
of information given by Bangladesh, NIA and other agencies have begun a probe
against Naik. Terming the investigations illegal, Shaikh said the govt must
appoint a committee and only if it finds something they should proceed against
Naik.The bench agreed with the Centre's advocate Sandesh Patil that PIL is not
maintainable at the instance of Shaikh. Dismissing it, the judges said no
interference is called for in the inquiry which is going on.TOI
AMU students protest
against ban on Zakir Naik
Students of AMU took out a
march opposing the ban imposed on Zakir Naik on Friday.The march call was given
by AMU Students’ Front, even as the office bearers of AMU Students Union stayed
away from the protest. The march began after Namaz-e-Juma from university
mosque and passed through university before culminating at Bab-e-Syed. A small
meeting was also held before dispersing.Students carried banners and placards
opposing the ban on Naik. They claimed that Muslim intellectuals are being
singled out by the govt and action is taken against them. They also denounced
several media outlets for projecting wrong pictures of Muslims. University
proctorial team was also present during the march. The students demanded that
ban on Naik should be lifted and govt should stop its action of witch
hunting.TCN
Why target Zakir Naik ?
Indian constitution allows propagation of religion: Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat
Life term convict Afroz
Khan goes from jail to jail to de-radicalize others: timesofindia
Mumbai: Afroz Khan, serving
a life term in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, is emerging as the state's
poster boy in its fight against radicalization.Qaidi number C-299 in Navi
Mumbai's Taloja jail, Khan speaks against the use of Muslim youngsters by
anti-national forces. He is now taken to prisons across the state to narrate
his story of how he was used in a fight against the country.Khan, 36, is
eloquent and fluent in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and English. Terror outfits disturb
him. "I know how anti-national people misguide Muslim youths, ruin their
careers, destroy their lives and carry on with their subversive plans. I have
been meeting Naxalites, suspected Indian Mujahideen and IS operatives, among
others, in jail. I narrate my story and tell them how I lost my life to these
anti-national elements. I am trying to ensure that no one falls into these
terror organizations' trap," Khan, in a white kurta-pyjama, told TOI
inside Taloja jail.It was the brainchild of Rajvardhan Sinha, inspector-general
of police, prisons, to enrol Khan in the fight against terror. "Since he
narrates his own story, it makes an impact on other prisoners. He says his life
was destroyed after he took the wrong path.Now he says he wants to work for the
country. He meets inmates to convince them to not repeat his mistakes. We plan
to send him to more prisons."A Beed resident and a pharmacist by
profession, Khan had surrendered before a Mumbai court on June 13, 2006. He was
accused of conspiracy in the arms haul case in which the state ATS had arrested
22 people. This August, Khan and six of his associates were sentenced to life
for their role in the case.TOI
Karnataka: Muslim bodies
demand police action in Igoor mosque case
Madikeri: Condemning the
delay in arresting the people involved in burning of Qur’an at Igoor mosque at
Somwarpet taluk recently, Kodagu Zilla Muslim Samaj has warned of severe
protests. Setting a deadline of one week for the police to nab the culprits,
the Samaj has warned of putting up a show of strength by organising a mammoth
convention of 25,000 people, followed by ‘Vidhana Soudha Chalo’ in coming days.
Addressing protest meet, organised opposite Gandhi Mantapa here, working
president of Samaj, PM Khasim said, “While a mosque was stoned in Kushalnagar
two months ago, a car belonging to a community leader was also damaged in
stoning, yet there is no action by the district police. Saying that the police
authorities have refused to give consent, thus thwarting their plans to
organise a massive protest meet, Khasim said ‘We were not born in Pakistan, and
have equal rights in India’.Without taking names of any organisations, Khasim
who likened the situation to attempts to stone honeycomb, warned against
testing the patience of peace-loving community. He also expressed his anguish
over District Minister MR Seetharam and MLC Veena Achaiah for not visiting the
mosque even after several days of the incident. deccan herald
Assam:'Bangladeshi' tag
haunts Muslims in Darrang chars
Guwahati: 9-year-old
Malekuddin, a resident of Dhalpur char (sand bar), has been spending sleepless
nights after receiving an eviction notice from a local court in Darrang
district. A Class IV-student at a madrassa in nearby Dalgaon, Malekuddin has no
idea about what led to the sudden crackdown. Malekuddin is not alone. Members
of the minority community living along the fertile Sipajhar riverine area of
Darrang district are a worried lot. Increasing tension between them and the
local Assamese over the past couple of months has culminated in a malicious
poster campaign. Several posters, of unknown origin, have been circulated in
the area in which members of the minority community have been labelled
'Bangladeshi migrants'.While his elderly neighbours attribute the growing
unease to the installation of BJP in Dispur, Malekuddin, who has no idea about
the persecution faced by his forefathers in Darrang during the height of Assam
Agitation, could only hope for a miracle."I don't know anything about
politics. My request to the govt is to
allow us to live peacefully in our homes. My family makes a living by
cultivating corn but we didn't dare to farm this year because of this eviction
notice," said the weary youngster who, along with some of his neighbours,
was in Guwahati on Saturday.Interestingly, the eviction notice was addressed to
the nine-year-old boy, not his father or any other older family member.TOI
Ashraf Ali Talukdar, head
of Mohimari Senior Madrasa: Shifting of holiday will create problems…So many
other issues need govt attention
Assam madrassas break no
laws by taking off on Friday, but for BJP it is an ‘issue’ that must be
tackled: TCN
AP wakf board headless as
govt fails to hold polls
Hyderabad: AP State Wakf
Board has become headless with the state govt failing to hold elections or extend the term
of the competent authority.Minorities welfare commissioner Shaik Mohammed Iqbal
was appointed the competent authority on Oct.30, 2015. It was extended on May 6
for a period of 6 months. The competent authority, in the absence of an elected
board, looks after the day-to-day affairs of the Muslim endowments body. His
tenure ended on Nov.5. Govt did not issue orders appointing a new competent
authority or extending the term of Iqbal. timesofindia
Malappuram:Vemula's mother
visits Faisal’s mother,family
Malappuram: Radhika Vemula,
mother of the deceased Dalit research student Rohit Vemula, paid a visit to the
family of Faisal who was killed for allegedly accepting Islam at Farooq Nagar,
Kodinhi here.Consoling Faisal’s mother Meenakshi, Radhika said she could
identify Meenakshi’s grief with that of hers. She said that she lost her son to
a dictatorial govt being controlled by
Sangh Parivar.“Govt is under the control of Sangh Parivar. They are suppressing
the minorities and are taking away their rights. We are purposefully targeted
by those holding the power at the Center,” Radhika alleged.She also asked
Meenakshi to be brave and live the rest of the life for the family of Faisal.
new indian express
Mewat gangrape: After rape,
the long, lonely battle
Haryana: “keep thinking
about it all day, I feel scared all the time.”Married at the age of 15, and a
mother by the time she was 18, she has rarely questioned decisions taken by
others for her, she says.Not this time. Gangraped on the intervening night of
Aug.24-25 along with her 14-year-old cousin by four men in Dingerheri village
in Haryana’s Mewat district, she asserts, her face blank, “I will fight and my
husband is fighting too. I want the perpetrators to be hanged.”Since the
incident, the 19-year-old has moved to her uncle’s home, along with her mother.
“My parents-in-law haven’t talked to me since that night. I can’t go to my
village either, as there is all kind of talk. So I have come here,” she
says.It’s a semi-constructed two-storey home, with a few buffaloes tied to a
pole in the courtyard. Fiddling with the ends of the dupatta covering her head,
she says what keeps her going is the occasional visit to the market nearby. “Life
goes on, that’s it.”Her husband now shuttles between the house she stays in and
his parents’ home in Hatim village. 25-year-old says the rape shattered all
that they had planned.indianexpress
Union minister Giriraj
Singh calls for mass sterilisation to control population
Union minister
Giriraj Singh on Sunday said after ‘notebandi’ (demonetisation), there is an
urgent need to make laws for ‘nasbandi’ (sterilisation) in the country.Singh,
who is the minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises, is the
second senior BJP leader who has advocated sterilisation after
demonetisation.Last week, ex Union minister and senior BJP leader Sanjay Paswan
said sterilisation will help control population of the country.Singh, BJP’s Lok
Sabha MP from Nawada in Bihar, advocated the move across sections of society to
control the nation’s “population explosion”. He said India has 16% of world’s
population, and continues to grow at the rate of Australia’s population every
year. “The country is facing population explosion, it has to be controlled
soon.”HT
No to use of pellets on
animals; yes to pellets on Kashmiris:
Rouf Dar for TwoCircles.net
UP has highest number of
convicts, over 55% of undertrials are Muslims and Dalits: NCRB
WORLD
‘UN please do something’:
Malaysian PM leads protest against Rohingya ‘genocide’
Malaysian PM Najib Razak
led a protest rally Sunday against what he called a “genocide” of Myanmar’s
Muslim Rohingya minority, as he urged Asian neighbours and the world to step up
the pressure to stop the violence.Najib said the rally at a stadium in suburban
Kuala Lumpur will send a strong message to Aung San Suu Kyi’s govt that “enough
is enough.” “UN please do something. World cannot sit by and watch genocide
taking place,” Najib said to loud cheers from thousands of Muslims, including
Rohingya refugees. “World cannot say it is not our problem. It is our problem,”
he said.The plight of Rohingya in predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar has galvanized
Muslims in Southeast Asia and beyond.Denied citizenship although they have
lived in Myanmar for generations, Rohingya have faced persecution that exploded
in intercommunal violence in Rakhine state in 2012 that left hundreds dead and
forced more than 100,000 into squalid camps.AP
Malaysia's PM leads protest
against 'genocide' against Muslims in Rohingya
Egypt upholds law banning
protests
Egypt’s Supreme
Constitutional Court upheld today a law that effectively bans protests,
settling a years-long court battle and protecting the law from further challenges.middleeastmonitor
Egypt court rules parts of
protest law unconstitutional
Syrian forces seize half of
Aleppo's east from rebels
Govt forces continue to
advance in the besieged city of Aleppo, pushing opposition forces out of
several areas in the latest twist in the 6-year-old Syrian conflict. aljazeera
Iran has shares in German
firm producing top secret Israeli weapons
An Iranian govt firm owns
shares in a German company which manufactures Israel’s most classified weapons,
including submarines and Sa’ar 6 Class corvette warships for the Israeli navy,
Israeli news website Ynet News revealed yesterday. Israel claims that it has
been doing its best to avoid deals with international firms that have
connections with Iran, but the Israeli website said that it came to light that
Israeli money ends up in Iranian hands through this German firm.According to
Ynet News, the Iranian Foreign Investment Company (IFIC) holds nearly five % of shares in the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems
(TKMS), further noting that the IFIC is the Iranian govt ’s main avenue for
investing abroad.It also reported Israeli fears about the level of access the
Iranian shareholders would have to one of the most classified projects for the
Israeli military.Based on an interview conducted with IFIC’s Farhad Zargari,
The Business Year revealed that that Iran owns 4.5 % of ThyssenKrupp shares.“As the central body
responsible for foreign investments for the govt , the IFIC has a huge
responsibility in strengthening Iran’s world economic relations,” Zargari told
The Business Year. middleeastmonitor
Jerusalem’s Greek Orthodox
Church sacks Palestinian archbishop
Patriarch Theophilos III of
the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem has sacked Archbishop of Sebastia
Attalla Hanna, a statement issued by office of the Archbishop said yesterday.
“Patriarch Theophilos and his Holy Gathering decided today to stop the salary
of Archbishop Attalla Hanna,” the statement said, noting that Hanna is the only
Palestinian archbishop in the Greek Orthodox Church.The statement cited “the
latest stances” of the Archbishop Hanna and his “clear support” for many other
issues, stressing that this measure aimed to “blackmail him and put pressure on
him and all the Arab clergymen.”Meanwhile, the statement noted that the salaries
of other Arab clergymen were “arbitrarily stopped” by Patriarchate of the Greek
Orthodox in Jerusalem.In addition, the statement said that the Orthodox Church
took several other “punitive” measures against Arab clergymen such as moving
Archimandrite Christophoros from his monastery in Jordan to Jerusalem. Middleeastmonitor
Over 1,300 Israelis storm
Al-Aqsa in November: Official
Jerusalem: More than 1,300
Jewish settlers and Israeli security forces stormed East Jerusalem’s flashpoint
Al-Aqsa Mosque compound last month, according to a Palestinian official.For
Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their
part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the
site of two Jewish temples in ancient times. Anadolu agency
Syrian forces seize half of
Aleppo's east from rebels
Govt forces continue to advance in the besieged
city of Aleppo, pushing opposition forces out of several areas in the latest
twist in the six-year-old Syrian conflict.Syrian warplanes, artillery, and
mortar rounds on Saturday pounded opposition-held areas in eastern Aleppo,
killing at least three people, according to opposition activists.Syrian state
media reported govt and allied troops
were moving in on new neighbourhoods, pushing a kilometre deeper into the
rebel-held enclave.Syrian army spokesman Brigadier General Samir Suleiman said
the military has regained control of 45 to 50 % of east Aleppo, and he accused
rebels of hiding among civilians.The advances have caused massive displacement.
UN estimated more than 31,000 have already fled their homes, either to govt or Kurdish areas, or deeper into the besieged
enclave.
8 killed as Syrian jet
shells civilians fleeing Aleppo
IS exploits rain, hits
Iraqi militias west and south of Mosul:AP
Islamic State militants
have staged near simultaneous attacks on positions of state-sanctioned militias
west and south of Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, apparently taking advantage of
bad weather conditions that normally disrupt air support, 2 militia officials
said on Saturday.One official said IS militants breached the defenses of Shia
militiamen at a village west of the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar. Reached by
telephone near Tal Afar, he said the attack on the village of Sharea took place
Friday night. Fighting continued into Saturday, he added, without giving
details. On Saturday, an IS statement said the attack on the village began with
a suicide car bombing that killed and wounded “dozens” of militiamen. A
“multi-pronged” attack on the village followed, forcing the militiamen to flee,
it added.IS fighters seized from the militiamen 9 all-terrain vehicles fitted
with machine guns, two Humvees, weapons and munitions, according to the
statement.In the second attack, the militants targeted a Sunni tribal militia
deployed in the town of Shirqat south of Mosul on Friday night, according to an
official from the militia. He gave no details and IS had no immediate word on
the attack.Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to brief the media.Bad weather persisted in northern Iraq on
Saturday, with thick fog, rain and a dust storm. Such conditions normally
reduce to a minimum air activity by the Iraqi military or the allied US-led
coalition.
Russian security service
says it killed IS ’emir’ in raid:AFP
Moscow:Russia’s FSB
security service on Sunday said it had killed an “emir” of the Islamic State
group in the North Caucasus along with 4 other militants in a raid in the
Dagestan region. The FSB said in a statement that “among the neutralised
bandits was the head of the Caucasus region’s branch of the Islamic State
Rustam Aselderov, and four of his close associates.”35-year-old warlord pledged
allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Dec.2014, the first major
militant to do so in the Caucasus. IS has since claimed responsibility for a
number of attacks on police in Dagestan.IS named Aselderov, also known as
Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Qadari, the governor of a new province after Islamist
militants in the region pledged allegiance to the jihadist group. The Russian
North Caucasus is one of the major sources of foreign jihadists fighting in
Syria and Iraq. AFP/indianexpress
Compiled and edited by Anwarulhaq (Released at: 8:01 PM)
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