NEWS
DIGEST, MID-DAY
21 July 2018:07 Ziqada 1439: Vol:10, No:70
INDIA
Days after SC calls Centre to make law against
Mob violence; Another Muslim man lynched in Rajasthan's Alwar on suspicion of cow-smuggling
Jaipur:In yet another instance of lynching, a
28-year-old Muslim man was allegedly beaten to death by a group of people on
the suspicion that he was smuggling cows in Rajasthan’s Alwar district on
Friday night.The victim, Akbar Khan, was a resident of the neighbouring
Haryana’s Ferozepur Jhirka region. Akbar and another man were walking with two
cows through a forest area in Ramgarh’s Lalawandi village, when the villagers
surrounded the two men, accused them of smuggling cows to their native village,
and started thrashing them. Akbar’s companion managed to escape.Police reached
the spot on getting the information about violence and took a profusely
bleeding Akbar to a government hospital in Ramgarh. The doctors declared him
brought dead. The body was shifted to a mortuary in Alwar on Saturday morning
and the post-mortem will be conducted after the arrival of Akbar’s family
members from his village, Kolgaon.Police have registered a case under Section
302 (murder) of IPC against unidentified persons. The police said it was not
clear if the two persons were in fact smuggling the cows.thehindu
Alwar Lynching: 2 People Arrested For
Allegedly Killing Akbar
2 people were arrested on Saturday in
connection with brutal lynching of a 28-year-old Muslim in Alwar district on
suspicion of cow smuggling. IG, Jaipur range, Himant Pridarshu, said: "2
suspects were taken to police station from the spot and later arrested after we
found their involvement in the killing of the man. The investigation is being
carried out to find other culprits. Postmortem of the body is being
done."Narrating his ordeal to media, Suleiman, the father of the deceased,
said that he wanted a speedy justice for his son's killing and demanded arrest
of the remaining accused at the earliest. "We want justice. The culprits
should be arrested soon," he said. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara
Raje condemned the incident and assured stern action against the
perpetrators.ANI
Alwar Lynching: As PM Modi becomes more
popular, more such incidents will happen, says Union Min Meghwal
As another incident of mob lynching, allegedly
by cow vigilantes, took place in Rajasthan's Alwar, Union Minister Arjun Ram
Meghwal on Saturday said that more incidents like this will happen as the
popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi rises. "The more popular Modi
ji becomes, more such incidents will happen. In Bihar election, it was 'Award
Wapsi', UP election it was mob lynching. In 2019 elections it will be something
else. Modi ji has given schemes and their effect is being seen, this is its
reaction," Meghwal said. "We condemn mob lynching but this isn't a
single incident. You have to trace this back in history. Why does this happen?
Who should stop this? What happened with Sikhs in 1984 was the biggest mob
lynching of this nation's history," minister said in reaction to the
lynching incident.dnaindia
WhatsApp curbs India services after spate of
lynchings
Instant messaging giant WhatsApp has announced
limits on the forwarding of messages by its some 200 million users in India
after authorities called for curbs to the service following a spate of
lynchings.WhatsApp said on Thursday it would restrict users' capacity to
forward on content to five other "chats" at once and remove an
inbuilt feature allowing media messages to be passed on quickly."We
believe that these changes - which we'll continue to evaluate - will help keep
WhatsApp the way it was designed to be: a private messaging app," the
company said.Whatsapp, which is owned by Facebook, Inc, announced the changes
shortly after India's government threatened legal action against the platform
for allowing viral messages encouraging violence to be shared among users
within the country.Prakash Singh, ex senior police officer, said that
"WhatsApp has become an addiction in India"."The kind of fake
news being spread through these platforms is scary and is getting out of
control," Singh, currently the chairman of the Police Foundation of India,
told Al Jazeera.aljazeera
‘SAD will voice concern over lynching even at
the cost of breaking alliance’ : Balwinder Singh Bhunder
On a day when concerns about the incidents of
lynching across the country were raised in Lok Sabha during a no-confidence
motion against NDA government senior SAD leader and MP in Rajya Sabha Balwinder
Singh Bhunder on Friday said minorities are living in fear and that his party
will continue to voice its concern even if it breaks the alliance with the
BJP.“If the alliance breaks, let it be. We will continue to put our viewpoint,”
Bhunder said, invoking nearly “100 years’ history” of SAD and “message of Guru
Nanak Dev 500 years ago to treat everyone equally”.“Ours is political alliance.
That does not mean, we will stop raising issues. This is democracy,” Bhunder
said.He added lynching is a big issue, be it in the name of cow protection or
caste. “It is not that only Muslims have been targeted. Others have also been
targeted. This is bad.It is 70 years since the nation has got freedom. Guru had
said 500 years ago that there is God in every human being and that poor should
not be discriminated against. Guru had made the poor stand equally (in
society).We (SAD) are following that vision. And it will have an impact,”he
said.indianexpress
Andhra CM for stringent law to curb mob
violence
New Delhi:Calling incidents of mob-lynching
unfortunate, AP CM N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday said stringent law is
necessary to curb mob violence.Reacting to the latest Alwar mob-lynching
incident in which a Muslim died, Naidu told the media: "It is very
unfortunate. Even the Supreme Court has directed to bring strong laws on this.
Problems of SC/STs, minorities, women are increasing. All governments should be
very firm. We have to bring new laws to curb this type of mob
violence."ANI
BJP hatao, says Mamata as she blames party
for lynchings
Kolkata:
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee denounced the frequent
incidents of mob violence occurring across the country. “The way people are
being lynched everywhere, one can see they are creating Talibanis among the
people. I respect some good people in the BJP and RSS, but others are playing
dirty games,” said West Bengal chief minister on Saturday. She predicted that TMC
will register a resounding victory over BJP at the state level in the upcoming
Lok Sabha elections.“We will win all 42 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections from
West Bengal,” PTI quoted her as saying during her address at the party’s annual
Martyr’s Day Rally in Kolkata. Banerjee also announced the launch of a “BJP
hatao-desh bachao (remove BJP, save the country)” campaign with the cooperation
of like-minded Opposition leaders on Aug15 – India’s Independence Day. “2019
Lok Sabha polls will be a big blow for the NDA, and Bengal will show the path,”
she said.HT
5 Congress MLAs, former BJP MP Chandan Mitra
join Trinamool Congress
Kolkata:West Bengal Congress suffered a major
defection on Saturday with 5 of its MLAs joining Trinamool Congress at the
ruling party annual Martrys Day rally in Kolkata.Ex-Rajya Sabha member of BJP,
Chandan Mitra also joined Trinamool Congress at the rally in presence of Mamata
Banerjee. Congress MLAs who switched sides are Sabina Yasmin, Apurba Sarkar,
Akrurzaman, Samar Mukherjee and Moinul Hasan.They are from Malda and
Murshidabad district.the hindu
"You May Call Me Pappu, I Don't Hate
You": Rahul Gandhi Hug Startles PM
New Delh:"You may call me Pappu,but I
don't hate you," Rahul Gandhi said, looking directly at Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and then walking across to embrace him. It may not have been the
"earthquake" he had promised once, but the Congress president's
jaw-dropping gesture during the no-confidence motion debate in parliament came
close to it, many lawmakers said. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, disapproved and
admonished Rahul Gandhi.In his sharpest attack on the Prime Minister, on
subjects ranging from the Rafale deal to GST, demonetisation and foreign
policy, Rahul Gandhi had said repeatedly: "You can't look me in the
eye." PM, sitting directly across, smiled. Then came the twist."You
can abuse me, you can call me Pappu, but I don't have a speck of hatred against
you. I will take out this hatred out of you and turn it into love. I am the
Congress," said Gandhi, making an astonishing reference to the pejorative
rivals use for him."You taught me what it means to be a Hindustani, what
it means to be a Hindu. It means to love somebody even if they attack
you."He left his seat, strode across the floor and wrapped his arms
awkwardly around the prime minister, who looked startled. Known for his
bear-hugs for world leaders, PM Modi froze in his seat.ndtv
No-confidence motion updates: Rahul calls PM's
speech weak, NDA sails through no-trust vote with 325 votes
After a 12-hour-long session of the Lok Sabha,
Modi government defeated the no-confidence motion brought against it with a
thumping majority. The government sailed through the voting with 325 votes in
its favour, while the Opposition gathered support of 126 MPs.Rahul Gandhi has
reacted to France's statement on Rafale deal and said that the French
government may deny it if they want but he stands by what he said. "Let
them deny it if they want. He (French President) said that before me. I was there,
Anand Sharma and Dr.Manmohan Singh were also present," Rahul
said.According to ANI, the French government has taken note of Rahul Gandhi's
statement in the Parliament and issued a statement clarifying that India did
sign a confidentiality agreement in 2008, which legally binds the 2 States to
protect the classified information provided by the partner. French government
further said: "These provisions naturally apply to IGA concluded on 23
September 2016 on the acquisition of 36 Rafale aircraft and their weapons."Reports
said that BJP will move a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi for misleading
the Parliament and leveling 'false accusations' against Union ministers without
substantial proof.firstpost
Are mosques integral to Islam? SC reserves
order on need for larger bench
New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Friday reserved
its order on a plea by Muslim groups of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title
dispute seeking reconsideration by a larger bench the observations made by it
in a 1994 verdict that a mosque was not integral to Islam. M. Siddiq, one of the original litigants of
the Ayodhya case who has died and is being represented through his legal heir,
had assailed certain findings of the 1994 verdict in the case of M. Ismail Faruqui
holding that a mosque was not integral to the prayers offered by the followers
of Islam.It was argued by Muslim groups before a special bench of CJI Dipak Misra and justices Ashok Bhushan and S.
A. Nazeer that the “sweeping” observation of the SC in the verdict needed to be
reconsidered by a 5-judge bench as “it had and will have a bearing” on the
Babri Masjid-Ram Temple land dispute case.”The order is reserved,” the bench
said and asked the parties to give written submissions by July 24. Senior advocate
Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for legal representative of Siddiq, said the
observations that mosques are not essential for practising Islam were made by
the SC without conducting any enquiry or considering the religious texts.”It
was a sweeping observation which requires to be reconsidered before the apex
court hears the title dispute,” he said.At the outset, sharp exchanges of words
took place when a lawyer objected to Dhavan's earlier remarks that “Hindu
Taliban” had destroyed the Babri mosque in 1991.”He cannot be allowed to use
such words against the entire Hindu community,” the lawyer said.”The
destruction of Babri mosque was a terrorist act. I will not take back my words.
I stand by my words,” Dhavan said.The bench termed the use of words (Hindu Taliban)
as inappropriate and said that the decorum of court should be maintained.It
asked the security guards to escort the lawyer, who had entered into verbal
duel with Dhavan, outside the court room. PTI
SC reserves verdict on plea to refer 1994
judgment on namaz to a larger bench
Ram Janmabhoomi lawyer rushes towards Babri
lawyer over “Hindu Taliban” remarks, evicted from court
Hindus acted like Taliban during Babri Masjid demolition:
Lawyer tells SC
SC Collegium reiterates Justice K M Joseph’s
name, recommends two others
New Delhi:Despite the Centre’s reservations,
the Supreme Court Collegium has “reiterated” its decision to recommend
Uttarakhand Chief Justice K M Joseph as an apex court judge. The Collegium also
said that it had found “nothing adverse regarding” his “suitability” in two
letters sent by Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asking the Collegium to
reconsider its decision.Collegium met on July 16 and said in its resolution:
“Collegium, on due consideration of all the aspects mentioned in the aforesaid
two letters, resolves to reiterate the afore-mentioned recommendation,
especially since nothing adverse regarding suitability of Mr Justice KM Joseph has
been pointed out in the aforesaid letters.”“We have carefully considered the
observations made by the Law Minister in his letters dated 26th April, 2018 and
30th April, 2018 addressed to CJI referring back, for reconsideration,
recommendation made by us on 10th January, 2018 for appointment of Justice KM Joseph, Chief Justice of
Uttarakhand High Court, as Judge of the Supreme Court.”Collegium headed by CJI
Dipak Misra and comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph
and AK Sikri also recommended the names of Madras High Court Chief Justice
Indira Banerjee and Orissa High Court Chief Justice Vineet Saran as Supreme
Court judges.In the resolution, the Collegium said that “one of these vacancies
is going to be filled up in terms of our recommendation for elevation of
Justice KM Joseph, which has separately been reiterated by us today”. The
“separate” reiteration is significant because once the Collegium reiterates a
name for elevation to the Supreme Court, the Centre is duty-bound to accept
it.Sources said that no additional names were considered by the Collegium for
elevation to the Supreme Court and the decision to recommend the two names, and
the reiteration of Justice Joseph was taken unanimously.While the Collegium met
and took the decisions on Monday, sources said that the delay in posting the
resolution on the SC website Friday was because one consultee judge was on
leave. A consultee judge is a Supreme Court judge, who is not a member of the
Collegium but has served with the High Court Chief Justice being recommended
for elevation.indianexpress
Bareilly leader announces reward for stoning
and shaving head of anti-triple talaq crusaders
Lucknow:The head of a Bareilly NGO on Friday
allegedly announced rewards for anybody who stones and shaves the heads of two
women who went public with their grievances after being divorced through
triple-talaq, a controversial Islamic practice that permits instant separation
of married partners.The women in question are Nida Khan, who was the target of
a fatwa issued by Barelvi clerics 4 days ago, and Farhat Naqvi, the sister of
Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.“Our group will award Rs 11,786 to anyone
who stones Nida Khan and Farhat Naqvi, shaves their heads and scares them away
from India,” declared All India Faizan-e-Madina Council head Moin Siddique
Noori.Incidentally, PM Narendra Modi is set to meet both Khan and Naqvi during
a rally at Shahjahanpur on Saturday. The 2 were formally invited by Rajesh
Kumar Mishra, BJP MLA from Bareilly.This is not the first time Noori has made a
controversial announcement. Last year, he had promised to reward anybody who
succeeds in decapitating Shia Waqf Board chairperson Waseem Rizvi and Tarek
Fatah.HT
PM Modi to meet triple talaq victim, speak in
Shahjahanpur
Sedition row: Delhi HC sets aside JNU’s order
imposing penalty on Kanhaiya Kumar, calls it ‘illegal’
New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Friday set
aside JNU’s order imposing fine against its former student’s union president
Kanhaiya Kumar. Calling the university’s order “illegal, irrational and
irregular,” the court directed the administration to decide the matter after a
proper hearing. A Rs 10,000 fine was imposed on Kumar by an appellate authority
of the university in connection with a 2016 incident in which anti-India
slogans were allegedly raised at an event relating to Parliament attack convict
Afzal Guru’s hanging. To protest against the penalty imposed on him, Kumar had
moved the Delhi High Court. Earlier this week, the Delhi High Court directed
JNU to not take any coercive step on the fine till today’s hearing. The last
date to pay the fine was July 18, 2018. A high-level panel of JNU had in 2016
recommended a fine of Rs 10,000 on Kumar. It also recommended that another
student, Umar Khalid, be rusticated in connection with the incident. Besides,
financial penalty was imposed on 13 other students for violation of
disciplinary norms.In a Facebook post, earlier this week Khalid vowed to fight
the university’s order and added that the students would not “lie low”.“An
administration that has been running at the orders of the ruling BJP and the
RSS, was at no point of time in a position of impartiality to conduct this
enquiry. The court has repeatedly found faults with the enquiry process and
have vindicated our apprehensions,” Khalid wrote in the post. PhD scholar said
that they were being “targeted in a systematic and a malafide manner by an
enquiry that was prejudiced against us from day one”.indianexpress
In New Govt Rule, Foreign Journalists Need
Prior Permission to Visit Kashmir
New Delhi: In a move that is reminiscent of a
brief period during the early days of the Kashmir insurgency in 1990 when the
Indian government made it impossible for foreign journalists to report from the
valley, the Ministry of External Affairs has written to all foreign
correspondents stationed in India that they will have to apply in writing for
permission to travel anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir.Off the record, MEA sources
insist the diktat is merely reiteration of long-standing policy governing the
entry of foreign reporters to “restricted and protected areas” and that there
is no bar on reporting trips to the state. However, the MEA’s own note makes it
clear the Modi government is now treating the entire territory of J&K as a
restricted area, in contrast to the earlier policy in which only the strip
along the Line of Control required prior clearance for a visit.Since the introduction
of this new restriction, The Wire is aware of at least one instance of the
government failing expeditiously to grant a reporter permission to visit the
state, thus effectively voiding the intended story. In letters sent out to
foreign news organisations based in Delhi on May 22, 2018, MEA’s external
publicity division said it was addressing the “important issue” of foreign
journalists travelling to circumscribed areas “without official
clearance”.thewire
J&K: Muslim League chairman booked under
PSA
Srinagar:J&K government booked Muslim
League (ML) chairman Mushtaq-ul-Islam under Public Safety Act (PSA) for his
anti-national activities and has shifted him to Jammu.Official sources said
that Mushtaq was arrested from his Batmaloo residence recently for his
'anti-national' activities.However, he was booked under PSA by DM, Srinagar on
Friday and shifted to Kotbalwal jail, Jammu.Mushtaq was first arrested on
October 12, 1983 when he damaged pitch during India and West Indies one-day
international cricket match at SK cricket stadium here, since then, he was
imprisoned several times under PSA and other acts.UNI
Kathua rape case: J&K High Court issues
notice to govt over dismissal of accused cop
J&K High Court today issued a notice to
the state government seeking its reply within two weeks over a petition filed
by a policeman, one of the eight accused in the Kathua rape and murder case,
challenging his dismissal from the service, a defence lawyer said. High Court
Judge Justice M K Hanjura issued the notice to Chief Secretary and DGP after
hearing the argument over the petition filed by the constable Tilak Raj.
Besides Raj, govt has dismissed sub-inspector Anand Dutta and 3 SPOs Deepak
Khajuria and Surender Verma for their alleged involvement in the rape and
murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl whose body was recovered from a forest
in Kathua district in January, a week after her abduction.The sub-inspector and
the constable are accused of destroying the crucial evidence for money to save
the culprits. The petition was filed in the High Court here yesterday after
getting a nod from the district and sessions judge Pathankot where the rape and
murder case is under trial on the orders of Supreme Court,defence lawyer AK
Sawhney said.
Owaisi’s Poser To Modi: Do You Want A
Congress-Mukt Bharat Or A Muslim & Dalit-Mukt Bharat?
New Delhi: Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi asked
seven questions to Prime Minister Narendra while speaking in the Lok Sabha on
Friday.Cornering the Modi government, Owaisi, while addressing to PM Modi,
said: You had said you want to see Quran and computer in the hands of Muslim
children. Why has the allocation for pre- and post-matric scholarship for
minority children hasn’t been changed since 2013?Third-time Lok Sabha MP from
Hyderabad, Owaisi asked: Do you want a Congress-mukt Bharat or a Muslim &
Dalit-mukt Bharat? The present dispensation has created an atmosphere of hatred
in the country.Why was the judge, who diluted the SC/ST (Prevention of
Atrocities Act, appointed the chairperson of National Green Tribunal? You don’t
have the guts to promulgate an ordinance against dilution of the Act.Owaisi
also said that PM Modi’s aggressive foreign trips costing around Rs 1500 crores
to the public exchequer were futile exercise given India’s relations with its
neighboring countries.caravandaily
Telangana govt planning to use Wakf lands for
edu institutions
Telangana government planned to utilise Wakf
lands for building more educational institutions for Muslim youth, state Chief
Secretary SK Joshi said today.Joshi, who held a meeting with officials on
minorities welfare, sought a detailed report on Wakf lands in all districts.Our
plan is to utilise the Wakf lands in a productive manner to boost education of
Muslims, he said.He said that over 64,000Muslim students were studying in 204
minorities residential schools in the state.The state government was determined
to provide jobs to Muslim youth by imparting necessary training and skills, the
Chief Secretary said.PTI
Kapil Sibal to appear for AMU in minority
status case
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader, former
union minister and senior advocate of Supreme Court Kapil Sibal has agreed to
appear for AMU in its minority status. A delegation led by president AMU
students’ union and former MP Mohammed Adeeb met advocate Kapil Sibal at his
residence and discussed Aligarh Muslim University minority status issue.The
delegation comprised of Supreme Court advocate Z K Faizan, Haji Salamatullah,
Dr Azam Mir Khan Vice President Aligarh Muslim University, former president AMU
students’ union Shahzad Barni. The delegation spoke at length about the
minority status issue.Later speaking to Inquilab bureau Mohammed Adeeb told
that Kapil Sibal has agreed to appear for Aligarh Muslim University in minority
status case. siasat
Haryana priest Amarpuri arrested for raping
120 women after video clips went viral
Haryana police on Friday arrested a
60-year-old Mahant, Baba Amarpuri aka Amarveer, from Baba Balaknath Temple in
Tohana district of Fatehabad. The following arrest came in after several videos
of Amarpuri raping several women surfaced on various social media platforms. As
per reports, Baba Amarpuri is accused of raping 120 women. The arrest came in
after police found various rape clips, each with a different victim. The clips
were shot by the accused himself using his cell phone. The accused has
reportedly been sent on 5-day police custody. The investigating police have
also raised his premises and have reportedly seized a number of suspicious
articles.The following matter was highlighted after a relative of one of the
accused approached police with a number of clips showing Baba raping his known
associate. newsx
Noted Barelvi cleric Azhari Miyan dies
Bareilly: Chief cleric of the influential
Dargah Aala Hazrat here, Mufti Mohammad Akhtar Raza Khan Qadiri aka Azhari
Miyan, died on Friday night. Azhari was in his 70s and had been suffering from
illness for a long time. A renowned Sunni Barelvi cleric, Azhari had occupied
24th place in the annual list of 500 “most powerful and influential Muslims” across
the world, a record prepared by the Jordanian think tank, Royal Islamic
Strategic Study Centre (RISSC), affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute
for Islamic Thought in Amman. He was the great grandson and successor of
Maulana Ahmad Raza Khan. TOI
WORLD
Hamas: Deal reached with Israel to restore
calm in Gaza
Hamas has said a deal to restore calm in the
besieged Gaza Strip has been reached, ending the Israeli onslaught on Hamas
positions and other violence that resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians
and one Israeli soldier on Friday.Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum announced early
on Saturday morning that the deal, brokered by Egyptian and UN officials, was
active from midnight local time on Friday."We reached [an agreement] to
return to the previous state of calm between [Israeli] occupation and the
Palestinian factions," Barhoum said. Israel has yet to confirm the
agreement, but the army said in a statement on Saturday that communities near
Gaza could return to normal activity, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
"At the end of an assessment by the southern command this morning it was
decided to maintain a full civilian routine in the communities close to the
Gaza Strip," Haaretz quoted the statement as saying. The deal comes after
Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Friday.Israeli
soldiers fired live bullets and tear gas canisters towards Palestinian
protesters gathered along the fence with Israel, killing 27-year-old Mohammad
Sharif Badwan and wounding 120 others, according to health officials in Gaza.
Hamas also said three of its members were killed earlier in the day after
Israel launched large-scale attacks in the southern part of the enclave.While
it appeared that relative calm had returned to the area on Saturday, Phyllis
Bennis, a programme director at the US-based Institute for Policy Studies, said
it was unlikely that any ceasefire agreement would hold.aljazeera
Gaza truce holds after Israeli air strikes
across Palestinian enclave
Hamas: Kushner and Greenblatt spokespeople for
Israeli occupation
Palestinian leaders have condemned senior US
officials for blaming Hamas for the suffering of Gaza's population and
presenting an argument which entirely excludes Israel's position as the
occupier.In an opinion piece published by The Washington Post on Friday, the
two US officials in charge of Washington's Middle East policy - Jared Kushner,
who is US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, and Jason Greenblatt - along
with David Freedman, the ambassador to Israel, blamed Hamas for the poverty and
unemployment in Gaza over the past 70 years, attributing it to "corrupt
and hateful leadership". "Despite the billions of dollars invested
for the benefit of Palestinians in Gaza over the past 70 years, 53 percent of
the people there live below the poverty level, and the unemployment rate is a
crippling 49 percent," the article, titled Help is at hand for
Palestinians, it's all up to Hamas, read."The Palestinians of Gaza are
stuck in a vicious cycle where corrupt and hateful leadership has provoked
conflicts leading to reduced opportunities and the poverty and hopelessness
that follow," it added.In response, officials in the besieged Gaza Strip
said on Friday that the US had lost its regional credibility and prestige for
ignoring Arab and Palestinian positions and blindly following Israeli
ones.aljazeera
Israeli minister : Palestinians have a culture
of terror
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/danny-ayalon-palestinians-culture-terror-180720104453553.html
Israel's former deputy foreign minister has
said the Hamas movement is solely to blame for the recent bloodshed in the
besieged Gaza Strip, claiming that Palestinians represent a "culture of
terror" while absolving Israeli forces for the killings of more than 130
protesters, journalists and medics at the border. Danny Ayalon told Al
Jazeera's Mehdi Hasan that the killings by Israeli snipers of unarmed
Palestinians, including paramedic Razan al-Najjar and journalist Yasser
Murtaja, were unfortunate but justified because "they came with harm
intention". "They [Hamas] are sending them to die. It's a culture of
death," he said in an interview with Head to Head Al Jazeera TV programme. aljazeera
‘Jewish state’ law sparks outrage among Jews
JERUSALEM:A recently-approved Israeli law that
recognizes Israel as the “nation-state of the Jewish people” has invited a
storm of condemnations and outrage in Israel and among Jewish groups. Approved
by Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Thursday, the legislation also states that
a “united Jerusalem” is the capital of Israel and that Hebrew is the country's
official language, stripping Arabic of its earlier designation as an official
language while recognizing its “special status.” Tamar Zandberg, chairwoman of
the left-wing Meretz Party, described the law as “shameful”. “Zionism is no
longer a national movement, but a forceful nationalism that humiliates the
minority and establishes racial supremacy,” she said. Opposition leader Isaac Herzog said “it is
sad that the last speech for him as the head of opposition will be against this
backdrop.” “History only will determine whether the law will benefit Israel or
not,” he said. Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni said the legislation was
only to benefit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Netanyahu wants the law for
his fight,” said Livni, a member of the Zionist Union. Her party, the largest
opposition party with 24 seats in Knesset, had voted against the law during its
three readings. Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel has
decried the legislation as “colonial” and “features key elements of apartheid”.
New Israel Fund a US-based non-profit organization, described the legislation
as “tribalism as its worst.” Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the head of Union of Reform
Judaism, the largest Jewish denomination around the world, said the law would
do an “enormous damage” to Israel. The American Jewish Committee, a prominent
Jewish advocacy groups in the United States, for its part, said it was
disappointed by the law. Anadolu Agency
Saudi slams new Israeli law, says it
‘perpetuates racial discrimination’
New Delhi:Days after Israeli government
announced a legislation defining the nation as the state of Jewish people,
Saudi Arabia on Saturday slammed the law terming it as “perpetuating racial
discrimination” against Palestinians, news agency AFP reported. The law which
was adopted by Israel’s parliament on Thursday defines the establishment of
Jewish communities as being in the national interest. It also downgrades Arabic
from an official language to one with special status.A report in AFP stated
that the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Friday night released a statement
saying that the kingdom “rejects and disapproves” of the new legislation,
adding it contradicts international law. A Saudi foreign ministry official has
called on the international community to “confront such a law and or other
Israeli attempts, aimed at perpetuating racial discrimination against the
Palestinian people”, SPA reported. The Gulf nation said adoption of such law
will act as a hurdle in ending the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.The law was also condemned by the 6-nation Gulf Cooperation Council,
comprised of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. Commenting
on the law, GCC secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani said that it “reflected
the regime of racism and discrimination against the Palestinian
people.”indianexpress
America rejects plans to extradite Gulen for
US preacher held in Turkey
America has rejected plans to link the case of
an American pastor held for almost two years with US-based preacher Fethullah
Gulen, whom Ankara blames for the failed 2016 coup bid, a senior US official
said on Friday. A Turkish court on Wednesday ruled to keep in jail on
terror-linked charges US pastor Andrew Brunson, who ran a Protestant church in
the city of Izmir and has been held since October 2016.Meanwhile, Turkey is
continuing to press for the extradition of Gulen, who lives in a secluded
compound in the state of Pennsylvania from where Ankara says he masterminded
the coup bid. Gulen denies the charges.The two issues, added to disputes on
Syria and the detention of two Turkish US diplomatic mission staffers, have
caused significant strains in the relationship between the NATO
allies."One of the aspects of the tension in the relationship has been
when people, including people in the government, have drawn very direct
linkages [between Gulen and Brunson]," said the official, asking not to be
named."Very senior people have suggested that," he said. "We do
not think it is appropriate to link these cases, partly because the legal
systems are very different in the two countries, and the cases are very
different."middleeasteye
South Africa rejects Saudi, UAE pressure to
boycott Qatar
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180721-south-africa-rejects-saudi-uae-pressure-to-boycott-qatar/
South Africa has
rejected Saudi and UAE pressure to severe relations with Qatar, Al-Khaleej
Online reported Pretoria’s envoy to Doha saying.During a celebration to
remember South African freedom icon Nelson Mandela in Doha on Wednesday, Faizel
Moosa said that his country rejected such pressure “because it was against the
values that Mandela fought for – not to interfere in the others’ internal
affairs.”“Qatari-South African relations are developing continuously,” Moosa
said at the event. Commercial exchange between the two countries rose to 70 per
cent after the siege imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and egypt in
June last year, and there would be more mutual investments, he
added.middleeastmonitor
Egypt postpones Morsi’s trial
The Cairo Criminal Court has adjourned the
trial of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and other defendants until 5
August in the case known as “trespassing Egypt’s eastern borders”.Morsi, who
hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, was the country’s first
democratically-elected civilian president. Since he was ousted in a military
coup by his then-defence minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in 2013, Morsi as well
as hundreds of members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood group have
faced a string of trials in court cases described by human rights groups as
“political”.
Turkish police detains wife of slain Islamic
State 'war minister' Shishani:Reuters
ISTANBUL:Turkish authorities detained the wife
of Abu Omar al-Shishani, a senior Islamic State commander killed in combat two
years ago, in a counter-terrorism operation in Istanbul this month, police
said.Dubbed Islamic State’s “war minister” and a close adviser to Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, the Georgian Shishani was killed in action in the Iraq district of
Shirqat, south of Mosul, in July 2016. His wife was one five people detained in
simultaneous raids across Istanbul on the night of July 4 that targeted people
believed to have connections with conflict zones and actively seeking to carry
out attacks, police said in a statement.Her identity as Sishani’s wife was only
discovered following several days of questioning, after her passport was
determined to be fake, police said. They identified her only by the initials
“S.D.”.She was formally arrested by an Istanbul court on July 17 and jailed,
police said. She had two sons with Shishani, police said, although the
whereabouts of the children was unclear. Reuters
Militants kill 10 Iran Guards at Iraqi border
post: agency
Militants killed 10 Iranian Revolutionary
Guards in an attack on a post on the Iraqi border on Saturday, Iran's
semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, the latest deadly clash in an area
where armed opposition Kurdish groups are active.The agency quoted a
Revolutionary Guards statement as saying that several of the attacking
“terrorists” were also killed in the fighting in which a munitions depot was
blown up.Provincial security official Hosein Khosheqbal told state television
that 11 members of the Guards' voluntary Basij forces were killed in the
overnight violence in the Marivan area, which he blamed on the Kurdish armed
opposition group PJAK.“The latest news is that the Basij and Guards forces are
in hot pursuit of the attackers,” Mr. Khosheqbal said.The Party of Free Life of
Kurdistan (PJAK) -- an outlawed group that seeks self-governance for Iran's
Kurds and has links to Turkey's militant Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) --
operates in the border area, along with other armed Kurdish groups based in
northern Iraq.Earlier this month, the Revolutionary Guards said they had killed
three militants in a security operation near the border with Iraq, and nine
militants were reported killed by the Guards last month further north on the
border.REUTERS
Syria's war: Evacuation of rebels from
Quneitra begins
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/07/syria-war-evacuation-rebels-quneitra-set-180720084710181.html
Rebels in the southwest province of Quneitra
in Syria have started leaving the area after giving up their fight against
government forces near the frontier with Israel, according to Syrian state
media.A convoy of buses on Friday mid-afternoon carried the first batch of
rebels, their family members and assorted civilians to opposition-held
territory in the north where they will live among more than one million others
displaced by Syria's seven-year-long civil war.The surrender in Quneitra, in
line with a deal that was struck between rebels and pro-government forces, is a big victory for President Bashar
al-Assad whose troops are close to reclaiming complete control of the country's
south.aljazeera
Myanmar violated UN child rights pact in
Rohingya crackdown, experts find
Myanmar violated its obligations to the United
Nations child rights convention in its crackdown on the Rohingya that led to an
exodus of hundreds of thousands of people from the minority community, legal
experts have found.Children make up around half of the more than 700,000
Rohingya Muslims who have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar to neighbouring
Bangladesh since the start of a military crackdown last August. UN has called
the Myanmar military operations a "textbook example of ethnic
cleansing". Myanmar denies the allegation and has said it waged a
legitimate counter-insurgency operation after Muslim militants attacked
security posts.Legal experts commissioned by Save the Children Norway analysed
research by UN bodies and international human rights groups who have alleged
that mass killings, arson, and torture were conducted by Myanmar security
forces on Rohingya.Reuters
Terrorism not a clash between Christian West
and Islam: David Cameron
Kolkata:Former British Prime Minister David
Cameron has said terrorism should not be seen as a battle between the Christian
countries of the West and the Islamic countries in the Middle East. It is all
about identifying and wiping out a small section that believes in extremism.
Criticizing US President Donald Trump's view on terrorism, he said it is more
of an intellectual battle against those who believe in the "perverted
view" of the Islamic religion."When at times I listen to President
Trump, it seems he thinks of terrorism like a clash of civilizations between
the Christian West and the religion of Islam, which I think is completely
wrong," said Cameron, also the former Conservative Party
chief."What's happening now-a-days is a civil war in the Islamic states
between a vast majority willing to practice their religion peacefully and a
very small minority that have taken up a radicalized and perverted view of the
religion and turned it into a kind of belief."What we have to do is
recognize those who are involved in this," he pointed out while addressing
the Annual General Meeting of the Indian Chamber of Commerce here.IANS
US court awards 21 Indians up to 20 years in
jail for call centre scam
Washington:US authorities on Friday announced
the sentencing of 21 members of a “telefraud scam” run out of India-based call
centres that defrauded Americans and legal immigrants of millions by
threatening them with arrest, deportation, imprisonment and fines for unpaid
dues to the government. All the 21 sentenced are either Indians or naturalised
Americans of Indian descent, and some of them have consented to be deported
back to India after the completion of their jail terms, up to 20 years for
some. All of them were linked to call centres based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. 5 of
the convicts were sentenced on Friday by the same Texas federal court that had
sentenced the rest earlier this week. Including the three sentenced earlier,
this brings the total to 24, making it perhaps the single-largest arrest and
sentencing of Indians and Indian-descent people in a single case.HT
Pakistan General Elections: 4 days before
polls, political parties intensify campaigns amid accusations of foul play
Islamabad: With only four days left for the
general elections in Pakistan, all mainstream political parties in the country
intensified their acrimonious campaign against each other, with some expressing
reservations over the impartiality of the polls.According to the electoral
rolls published by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 105.96 million
voters will be able to cast their vote in the upcoming elections.According to
the data released by the ECP, 3,459 candidates are running for 272 general seats
of the National Assembly, while 8,396 candidates are contesting for 577 general
seats of the four provincial assemblies.PTI
Grave consequences if elections turn
controversial: Pak Jamaat chief
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI) Ameer Senator
Sirajul Haq has called upon the care taker government, the Election Commission
of Pakistan (ECP) and concerned institutions to take the masses in confidence
regarding the questioned being raised about the elections.Addressing election
meetings in Chakdara and Talash, he said that it was the government and ECP’s
responsibility to hold free, fair and transparent elections. He added that if
the elections were controversial, the federation and the national unanimity
could face serious threats.Siraj said that the only way to prevent chaos and
bloody revolution in the country was to restore the people’s confidence in
elections. He said that the impression that the government was patronizing a
particular party should end.nation
FLASH: VIEWS & NEWS
The Urdu Press: Congress and Muslims;Seema
Chishti
Minority & the party: Ghazala Jamil, JNU
BJP is done marginalising Indian Muslims. It
has now started demonising them:Nazia Erum
Why the Muslim Brotherhood was blamed for
Egypt's World Cup woes:Abdullah Al-Arian b
If serious, Modi, Bhagwat should purge
supporters of mob lynching: Swami Agnivesh, interview
Why Modi Walked Out in 2007 and BJP Now Shuns
Me:Karan Thapar
In Modi's Rhetoric and Silences, More Than a
Hint of Unease:Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
Draft UN Declaration on TB: Reference to
Affordable Medicines Dropped:Anoo Bhuyan
“Muslim” Meal On Air India To Protect Hindus
From “Halal”: Saeed Naqvi
“He Was Cruel, Like A Mad Dog”: Survivors
Speak About Forced Sodomy By Members Of The Security Forces In Kashmir:Haziq
Qadri, Qadri Inzamam, caravanmagazine
Constructing Muslim Enemy: RSS/BJP game plan
for 2019 Parliamentary Elections:Shamsul Islam
Don’t just blame social media. We, too, are at
fault for lynching deaths:Karan Thapar
Compiled and edited by
Anwarulhaq (Released at: 6:13 PM)
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