18 June 2019:
14 Shawal 1440:Vol: 11, No:224
World
mourns mors’s death
Egypt's ex-President Morsi buried in Cairo
says Son with some family members present
Egypt's former President Mohamed Morsi was
buried on Tuesday in eastern Cairo, his son said, a day after he collapsed in
court and died shortly after.Morsi was buried early in the morning alongside
other senior figures of the Muslim Brotherhood, his son, Ahmed Morsi, said on
his Facebook page.The burial was attended by members of the family in Cairo's
Madinat Nasr after authorities refused to grant permission for a burial in
Morsi's home province of Sharqiya in the Nile Delta, Ahmed Morsi said."We
washed his noble body at Tora prison hospital, performed prayers for him in the
prison mosque ... the burial was at the cemetary for Muslim Brotherhood
spiritual guides," Ahmed wrote. Morsi's lawyer,Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud,
confirmed the burial took place in the public cemetery early on
Tuesday.Meanwhile, observers on social media decried the apparent haste with
which Morsi's burial was carried out. "The sudden, abrupt and restricted
manner in which the Egyptian regime has enforced President #Morsi's burial,
raises even more questions regarding the circumstances of his death, and
intensifies calls for an independent medical enquiry," Anas Altikriti,
founder of Cordoba Foundation, said on Twitter. Mahmoud Refaat, a foreign
policy advisor at the European Institute for International Law and
International Relations said the burial went against Egyptian tradition."In
Egyptian tradition, which is considered quite sacred, we bury our dead during
daylight hours, either after the duhr (noon) or afternoon (asr) prayers,"
Refaat said on Twitter."It is also done where the dead was born. Forcing
Morsi's family to bury him in the middle of the night with only two of his sons
present, and without his wife, only confirms that Egypt (authorities) has no
honour and is being ruled by the Emirates," he added, refering to the
political ties between the govt of el-Sisi and UAE.The news of Morsi's death
quickly spread through Egypt's prison population, sources within 2 prisons
said.A source at a facility in the Nile Delta, who asked not to be identified,
described emotional scenes as prisoners learned about the ex-president's demise.Speeches
were given by senior prisoners, the source said, adding that some inmates were
"crying as if they cried for a dear family member". "We cried
for the symbol that was lost, and we cried of the deterioration of the prison
conditions," prisoner said. Grief quickly turned into anger among some of
the younger inmates, the source said, adding that senior prisoners stepped in
to calm the situation.There have been reports over the years that Morsi had
been mistreated and tortured in jail, with activists saying on Monday his death
should be seen in the context of the Egyptian authorities' systematic isolation
and mistreatment of political detainees.Human Rights Watch called the news
Morsi's death "terrible" but "entirely predictable", citing
the government's "failure to allow him adequate medical care".Amnesty
International said the Egyptian govt bears responsibility for the death of the
former president, amid pressing international demands for a fair and
transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his final hours.
Rami Khouri, from the American University of Beirut, said military governments
in the Middle East and North Africa are now worse than ever in the treatment of
their civilian populations."The extent of the brutality of which the Egyptian
and other Arab governments are doing - jailing tens of thousands of people,
arresting people simply because of an opinion they expressed on social media,
preventing any kind of free media … as well as torture and fake trials - this
is much worse than it's ever been in the Arab world," Khouri said.The
67-year-old, who had been behind bars for nearly 6 years, had a long history of
health issues, including suffering from diabetes, as well as liver and kidney
disease.aljazeera
World mourns Morsi's martyrdom
The international community mourned the
martyrdom of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, who
died Monday during a court appearance to face charges many believed were
politically motivated. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wished God's mercy for
Morsi, whom he called "a martyr who died struggling for his cause",
adding history will never forget the tyrants who caused his martyrdom.Turkey’s
Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Morsi will be remembered as "an
exceptional person in his country's struggle for democracy".Funeral prayers
in absentia for Morsi will be held on Tuesday in mosques across Turkey,
Religious Affairs Directorate said late Monday. Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin
Khalifa Al Thani also mourned Morsi’s demise. "We received with deep
sorrow the news of the sudden death of former President Mohamed Morsi," he
said.Al Thani offered condolences to Morsi's family and the Egyptian people.In
a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry also voiced “sorrow” and “regret” over the
news of the passing of Morsi."While respecting the viewpoints of the great
and brave Egyptian nation, the Islamic Republic of Iran condoles with the
people as well as Morsi’s family, survivors and fans over his demise, and
wishes divine blessing and mercy for him, patience and divine reward for
survivors, and success for great Egyptian nation," the statement said.
Shireen Mazari, Pakistan's minister for Human Rights also expressed grief over
Morsi’s demise."Indeed - sad news. What hope there was and how tragically
it all ended. RIP," Mazari said in a Twitter post. "Morsi's incarceration
& death symbolize the tragedy of democracy struggling under shadow of Uncle
Sam. What promise the Arab Spring held & how it was destroyed - is similar
to what happened to Allende & other democratic nationalist forces around
the world inimical to the powerful!", she added. In addition, Malaysian
Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah also expressed sorrow over “sudden passing
of” Morsi."During his tenure as president, Mr Morsi showed courage and
moral fortitude in his attempt to lead Egypt away from decades of authoritarian
rule and establish true democracy there," Abdullah said.“Morsi’s
contribution to justice and democracy in Egypt will be remembered,” he
added.Prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi said Morsi suffered a lot
while languishing in prison.Morsi "died with patience over his suffering
in his jail," al-Qaradawi said, praying to God to accept him as a
martyr.Tunisian Ennahda Movement said it had received the news with great
sadness and shock and extended condolences to Morsi's family and the Egyptian
people.The movement expressed hope that "the painful incident would be a
reason to put an end to the suffering of thousands of political prisoners in
Egypt" and for starting dialogue for a new democratic political life.
Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood held "the coup authorities in Egypt
responsible for Morsi's death after his detention for seven years in solitary
imprisonment". The group also held the international community responsible
for "the crimes of the coup" in Egypt.The Palestinian Hamas group
mourned the death of Morsi and hailed his efforts in serving the Palestinian
cause."Morsi engaged in a long struggle for Egypt, its people and the
nation's issues, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause,” it said.He also
made great efforts in defending Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque as a member of
Egypt’s parliament, it added, offering condolences to Egypt, its people and his
family.At Al-Aqsa Mosque, dozens of Palestinians held funeral prayers for
Morsi.In Libya, Mohamed al-Amari, a member of UN-recognized Libyan Presidential
Council, described Morsi as a martyr, adding he had "set an example for
his patience, steadfastness and adherence to his principles". On his
Facebook page, Amari expressed his condolences to Morsi’s family, the "free
people of Egypt" and "liberation revolutions" in all Arab
countries.Abderrazak Makri, the leader of Algeria's largest Islamic party, the
Movement for Society of Peace, mourned the "oppressed legitimate Egyptian
president"."On behalf of the movement's institutions and activists,I
extend our sincere condolences to the family of the legitimate Egyptian
president, who was overthrown, to his brothers in the Freedom and Justice Party
and to the Egyptian people," he said. Sudan's Popular Congress Party
expressed condolences to the "Arab and Islamic nation and the Egyptian
people" over Morsi's martyrdom. It stressed that Morsi spent "6 years
of imprisonment and was deprived of his basic and human rights". Mohamed
Mahsoub, ho served as minister of state for parliamentary affairs during
Morsi's presidency, said "we are facing a new murder case: the murder of
the only president elected by the Egyptian people in their history". He
said it was the murder of freedom of choice in order to “keep Egypt's future
bound to the will of a tyrant or the decision of a dictator".HRW also
commented on Morsi's martyrdom, saying it was “predictable"."Morsi's
death is terrible but entirely predictable, given gov't failure to allow him
adequate medical care," Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the
organization’s Middle East and North Africa Division, said on Twitter.Anadolu
Agency
Condemned to a 'slow death': Egypt's Morsi
mourned as a martyr
Ex-Egypt president Morsi is a 'martyr': Wife
The wife of Mohamed Morsi mourned her husband
on Tuesday, describing him as a "martyr". Morsi, Egypt's first
freely-elected president, collapsed and died on Monday during a court
appearance on "espionage" charges."We consider my husband,
President Mohamed Morsi as a martyr," she said on Twitter. AA
Muslim Brotherhood says Mursi death was
'full-fledged murder', calls for mass funeral in Egypt
Cairo:Muslim Brotherhood said that death of
Mohamed Mursi was a “full-fledged murder” and called on Egyptians to gather for
a mass funeral.In a statement on its website, the Brotherhood also called for
crowds to gather outside Egyptian embassies around the world. Mursi, the first
democratically elected head of state in Egypt’s modern history, died after
collapsing in a Cairo court, authorities said.Reuters
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind says Dr. Morsi's death
was a murder, his martyrdom will strengthen Islamic Cause
New Delhi: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has said
death of the first democratic elected President of Egypt, Dr.Mohamed Morsi
cannot be considered natural, rather it was a custodial murder and his
martyrdom will strengthen the ‘Islamic Cause’ all over the world.JIH President
Syed Sadatullah Hussaini said," legally elected President of the Egypt
Dr.Morsi was forcibly ousted from power. His death cannot be considered
natural, rather it was a custodial murder, the sole responsibility of which
lies on the illegitimate Egyptian govt and its self-proclaimed President and
dictator Abdul Fattah Sisi. The martyrdom of Dr.Morsi will strengthen the
‘Islamic Cause’ all over the world, Insha’Allah. May Allah accept his
martyrdom, grant him the highest Paradise and give patience to his bereaved
family members’’. Expressing sorrow over Dr.Morsi’s death, the Jamaat President
said, ‘Islamic world has lost a good leader in the death of Dr Morsi. It was a
blatant murder of democracy when the legitimate government of Dr. Morsi that
came to power through transparent and clean elections, was overthrown using
violence and military power. The Sisi regime carried out fake trials by framing
fabricated charges against Dr. Morsi and by harassing and incarcerating the
legitimate President of Egypt, committed a gross violation of human rights. We
demand that an enquiry be conducted at the international level on the murder of
Dr.Morsi and award exemplary punishment to the guilty’’.newsdigest.in
Funeral prayer in absentia held for Morsi at
Al-Aqsa
A funeral prayer in absentia was held at the
Al-Aqsa Mosque for Egypt's first democratically elected President Mohammed
Morsi, who died Monday during trial.The funeral was held after isha, or the
night prayers, at the mosque in occupied East Jerusalem's Old City. Meanwhile,
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas issued a statement thanking Morsi for his
efforts "in serving the Palestinian cause" and his stance toward the
Gaza Strip, following his sudden death.The group, which governs Gaza, said
Monday it remembers Morsi's "unforgettable and brave positions and his
work to lift its siege."Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on the
Palestinian enclave after Hamas took control in 2007. During Morsi's rule,
Cairo eased travel and trade restrictions from its side significantly.Turkey's
Religious Affairs Directorate also announced that funeral prayers in absentia
would be held today in mosques across the country to honor Morsi's life and his
struggle.Daily Sabah
Hamas mourns Morsi, but PA bans public
expressions of sympathy
Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement —
Hamas — has expressed its sadness at the death of ousted Egyptian President
Mohamed Morsi, who passed away in Cairo on Monday evening. Hamas said that
Egypt’s first democratically-elected President died after a long journey
serving his country, the Egyptian people and the issues of Arab and Islamic
nations.Above all, Hamas added, Morsi served the Palestinian cause, which he
supported at all regional and international levels, not to mention his efforts
to defend Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque when he was a member of the Egyptian
parliament. The movement stressed that the Palestinian people would always remember
his brave and strong positions on the besieged Gaza Strip and the resistance to
the 2012 Israeli offensive on the territory, as well as his efforts to break
the siege imposed on it by Israel and its allies.In light of this grave loss,
Hamas sent its condolences to Egypt and its people, especially Morsi’s family,
relatives and supporters. Condolences were also sent by several other
Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad, Al-Ahrar Movement and
Al-Mujahideen.However, other movements remained silent, while the spokesman of
the Palestinian Security Services in the West Bank, Adnan Al-Dameeri, insulted
Morsi’s memory as well as the Muslim Brotherhood. Amazingly, Fatah official
Al-Dameeri blamed the movement for the unsettled situation in Egypt and linked
it to Hamas, which he blames for the deteriorating situation in the Gaza
Strip.Despite this apparent rebuff by the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah,
the Palestinians in Gaza performed funeral prayers for Morsi. PA itself,
though, banned any public expressions of sympathy for the deceased former
President of Egypt.middleeastmonitor
Morsi is martyr for his cause: Turkish president
Egyptian organization seeks probe into Morsi’s
death
HRW calls for probe into Morsi's death
INDIA
Litchi Toxins, Malnutrition or Heat Wave?
Doctors Explain What’s Causing AES Epidemic in Bihar
The popular terms like ‘Litchi Havoc’, Chamki
Bhukar’, ‘Killer Encephalitis’, ‘Deadly Litchi Toxin’ that are being used to
report the epidemic in Bihar point to the dismal methods of investigating a
disease in India. For, it only serves the purpose of headlines.In June 2019,
cyclic return of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) or Chamki fever to one of
India’s poorest and malnourished states, Bihar, lead to hospitalisation of 309
children in Muzaffarpur. Although over hundred children have already been cured
and discharged from Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), the death
of 85 children at the hospital after a gap of four years necessitates a
four-part enquiry into the investigation of the outbreak: identification,
causation, confusion and malnutrition.The broad characteristics of AES defines
it as a group of clinically similar neurologic manifestations caused by several
different viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites, chemicals or toxins etc.Dr. TJ
John, former president of the Indian Association of Pediatrics (IAP) and
Emeritus Professor of Virology at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, has
called AES “a meaningless term” given that “any brain disease in the child may
be called AES”. “AES is a term used by untrained health workers to say that a
child has some brain disease like convulsion, unconsciousness etc. But when a
doctor examines the child, he must conclude which kind of AES disease it is:
encephalitis (virus causing brain inflammation), meningitis (swelling of the
protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord), encephalopathy (broad
term for any brain disease that alters brain function or structure) or cerebral
malaria (severe neurological complication of infection with Malaria),” he told
News18.Dr John said a doctor must figure out the right disease between these
four main categories when a case called AES is referred by a health worker. One
of his many concerns is the casual use of the term AES by doctors.In
Muzaffarpur, despite intensive study by experts from the National Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC), New Delhi and the Center for Disease Control (CDC),
Atlanta (USA), there are two competing theories of the epidemic: one, caused by
heat stroke, and two, caused by a toxin in locally-grown fruit, litchi.Speaking
to News18, Dr Vipin Vashishtha, a member of the team that studied the epidemic
in Muzaffarpur along with NCDC and CDC from 2011 to 2013, forwarded the litchi
theory.“Whether it is a litchi toxin or some mixed illnesses, the deaths have a
strong relation with litchi cultivation,” he said.Indeed, the report provided
to the government by two expert teams had helped reduce the count of AES cases
in Muzaffarpur after the 2014.Dr John, who was also part of one expert team
that identified the epidemic, said that malnourished children who ate litchis
and went to sleep without a meal fell ill in the pre-Monsoon season between 4
am to 7 am.news18
Encephalitis deaths: Nitish faces protest
outside hospital in Muzaffarpur
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Tuesday had to face
people’s protest outside the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH)
at Muzaffarpur where he had gone to take stock of the situation following the
death of over 100 children due to suspected AES.A group, comprising relatives
of the children and villagers, gathered outside the government hospital shouted
“Nitish Kumar wapas jao” (Nitish Kumar go back) while waving black flags at
him.A large number of policemen were deployed at the hospital gate to control
the protesters.thendu
India will be world’s most populous country by
2027:UN report
India’s population will surpass that of China
by 2027, the UN said in its World Population Prospects report for 2019,
released on Monday. China is currently the world’s most populous country, with
India at the second spot.The 2011 census had put India’s population at 1.21
billion. The next census will be carried out in 2021.The report said that the
world’s population continues to grow, though at a slower pace. It will increase
from the current 7.7 billion in 2019 to 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in
2050 and 10.9 billion in 2100. “More than half of the projected increase in the
global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just nine countries: the
DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan,Tanzania, and
USA,” the report said.Countries of sub-Saharan Africa are likely to account for
more than half the increase in the global population from 2019 to 2050, the
report said. On the other hand, 55 countries or areas will see a reduction in
their populations during this period, due to sustained low levels of fertility,
and high rates of emigration in some places. The populations of Bulgaria,
Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands are expected to
fall by 20% or more during this period.“...populations in Eastern and
Southeastern Asia, Central and Southern Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean,
and Europe and Northern America are projected to reach peak population size and
to begin to decline before the end of this century,” the UN report said.
However, in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people will continue to increase
until 2100 AD. UN report also said that in 2018, for the first time in recorded
history, people over 65 years of age outnumbered children under the age of
five. “Projections indicate that by 2050 there will be more than twice as many
persons above 65 as children under five,” it said. “By 2050, the number of
persons aged 65 years or over globally will also surpass the number of
adolescents and youth aged 15 to 24 years.”scroll.in/
Supreme Court refuses to pass order on plea
seeking security for doctors in government hospitals
The Supreme Court today refused to pass orders
on a plea seeking to provide security to doctors in government hospitals. The
court directed the matter to be listed before an appropriate bench in July,
after the summer vacations, ANI reported.The bench said that the matter of
protection of doctors is serious and needs consideration, but is not urgent any
more, Bar and Bench reported. Indian Medical Association had filed an
intervention application in support of the petitioner, Alakh Alok Srivastava,
in the case.“We agreed to hear the plea today as there was a strike by doctors
and medical fraternity in West Bengal and other states,” the bench of Justices
Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant said according to PTI. “The strike has been called
off and there appears no urgency to hear the petition. List before an
appropriate bench.”scroll.in/
SC to hear Gujarat Congress leader’s plea
against separate bye-polls to Rajya Sabha seats tomorrow
The Supreme Court today agreed to hear tomorrow
a plea by Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly Paresh
Dhanani against the decision of the Election Commission of India to hold
separate bye-polls to 2 Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat. Dhanani had filed the
plea on Monday, Bar and Bench reported. Dhanani, a Congress MLA, asked the
court to direct the poll panel to conduct simultaneous bye-elections for
filling up Rajya Sabha vacancies in all states.The vacancies were created by
the election of Amit Shah and Smriti Irani to Lok Sabha from Gandhinagar and
Amethi seats during 2019 Lok Sabha elections.The poll panel’s notice terms the
vacancies created as “casual vacancies”, a term the petitioner opposed. Dhanani
said the term is a “complete and direct violation of the provisions of
Representation of People Act.”Such vacancies fall under the category of
statutory vacancies under Section 69 of Act, the Congress legislator
added.Dhanani asked the top court to declare the poll panel’s order as
“unconstitutional, arbitrary, illegal, void ab initio” as it was violative of
Article 14 of the Constitution, PTI reported.scroll.in
CBI files case against Indira Jaising’s NGO
Lawyers Collective for alleged FCRA violations
CBI has filed a case against senior advocate
Anand Grover and his non-governmental organisation Lawyers Collective for
allegedly violating rules under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, PTI
reported. Grover is a trustee and director of NGO. Supreme Court advocate
Indira Jaising, who is married to Grover, is a trustee and secretary.The FIR
named Grover and unidentified office-bearers and functionaries of the
organisation, officials said. Some private persons and public servants were
also named as accused under IPC provisions on forgery, cheating and criminal
conspiracy. NGO was in May this year issued Notice by the Supreme Court on
alleged violations of FCRA based on a petition filed by another organisation
called Lawyers Voice. Jaising and Grover had then alleged that they were being
victimised and penalised for speaking up against the procedure followed by the
Supreme Court’s in-house committee that cleared Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi of
sexual harassment charges.scroll.in
Adivasis, human rights activists are
persecuted, torture works in many ways:Stan Swamy
India “is the land of Gandhi and Buddha: we
believe in peace, non-violence and upholding human dignity”, India’s Attorney
General Mukul Rohatgi had stated in the UN in 2017. “As such, the concept of
torture is completely alien to our culture and it has no place in the
governance of the nation.”Fine words, indeed. However, 2015-2016 NHRC annual
report states: “Custodial violence and torture continue to be rampant in the
country. It represents the worst form of excesses by public servants entrusted
with the duty of law enforcement.”Between Septe.2017 and June 2018, news
reports noted 122 incidents of custodial torture, resulting in 30 deaths. There
has been no consistent documentation of torture-related complaints. National
Crime Records Bureau does not document cases of custodial torture, Baljeet Kaur
noted in the Economic and Political Weekly.Torture, says the Association for
the Prevention of Torture, is “any act by which severe pain or suffering,
whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such
purposes as obtaining from him information or a confession, punishing him for
an act he has committed or is suspected of having
committed”.nationalheraldindia
Om Birla, BJP Nominee for Next Lok Sabha
Speaker, associated with Sangh parivar since student days
New Delhi: BJP’s Om Birla is all set to become
the speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha. He will succeed 76-year-old Sumitra Mahajan,
who did not contest the parliamentary elections this time.According to reports,
the two-time MP from Rajasthan’s Kota is considered to be close to BJP chief
Amit Shah.Parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi told reporters that all
the parties have been given notice to support Birla’s candidature for the post
of Lok Sabha speaker.“BJD, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, National People”s Party, Mizo
National Front, Lok Janshakti Party, YSRCP, JDU, AIADMK and Apna Dal have given
the notice to support Birla’s candidature for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. I
have spoken to Congress leaders K Suresh and Ghulam Nabi Azad. They have not
signed till now but I think they would not oppose,” Joshi told
reporters.57-year-old Birla has been associated with the Sangh parivar since
his student days. He was a member of the students’ union from his college in
1979 and then, as a key leader of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, played an
important role in BJP-led Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the 1990s. He has also
served as one of the vice-presidents of BJP.It is interesting that his name was
proposed soon after J.P Nadda, former Union health minister, took over as the
working BJP president. Nadda was the president of BJP youth wing when Birla was
the vice-president, and both are believed to have worked closely.56-year-old
has been associated with BJP youth wing. The election for new Lok Sabha speaker
will be held on June 19.thewire
After Rahul Gandhi's 'No', Congress Names
Adhir Chowdhury Lok Sabha Chief
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/adhir-ranjan-chowdhury-named-leader-of-congress-in-lok-sabha-2055075
Congress today named senior West Bengal leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
its leader in Lok Sabha, after failing to convince Rahul Gandhi to take up the
post. At the long-pending strategy session this morning - where Mr Gandhi and
his mother UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were present - the matter was
discussed. A letter has been written to Lok Sabha, saying Chowdhury would be
the leader of the single largest party from the opposition and represent it at
all important selection committees."I have been given this responsibility.
I was asked to stand in the front. I said okay. I am a foot soldier and foot
soldiers stand in front. So I will fight as a foot soldier," he told
ANI.The party also focused on tomorrow's meeting called by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to discuss his "One nation one election" idea. The
Congress has so far opposed it, arguing against it from practical, logistical
and legal angles.ANI
‘Constitution Zindabad, Allahu Akbar’: 2 MPs’
response to Vande Mataram slogans in Lok Sabha
New Delhi :A Samajwadi Party MP triggered an
uproar in Parliament Tuesday when he said chanting Vande Mataram is against
Islam and he couldn’t say it.For the second straight day of the Parliamentary
budget session, BJP lawmakers continued raising Jai Shri Ram and Vande Mataram
slogans as members took the oath of House.When it was the turn of Samajwadi
Party’s Shafiqur Rahman Barq, he concluded his oath saying “Constitution of
India Zindabad” and clarified that Vande Mataram is against his religion.“Jahan
tak Vande Mataram ka taaluq hai, it is against Islam we cannot follow it,” Barq
said. This created an uproar in the Lok Sabha and members from the treasury
benches were heard raising slogans of Vande Mataram and Jai Shri Ram.The
slogans were also heard as AIMIM MP from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi walked up
to the lectern to take the oath. He was seen signalling the members of the
House to be louder. Owaisi then
concluded his oath with “Jai Bhim, Takbir,Allahu Akbar, Jai Hind!”indianexpress
As more TMC leaders defect to BJP, Mamata says
saffron party ‘collecting garbage’
New Delhi :On the day a Trinamool Congress MLA
and 12 party councillors joined the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee Tuesday came down heavily on defectors, calling them “garbage” and
“traitors”.TMC Bongaon MLA Biswajit Das, 12 TMC councillors and Congress
spokesperson Prasanjeet Ghosh joined the BJP today in presence of BJP leaders
Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy.This comes a day after TMC’s Nowpara MLA
Sunil Singh along with 12 councillors joined the saffron party.“We are not
bothered about a few corrupt and greedy leaders who are switching to some other
party. They joined the BJP as they were afraid they might face consequences for
their activities,” the chief minister said earlier today.Calling them “greedy
and corrupt”, Mamata said the saffron party was “collecting garbage”. TMC
supremo also said she would be replacing the “traitors” with “dedicated
members” and asked those “undecided about joining the BJP” to leave her party
at the earliest.indianexpress
‘Strikes and cricket match can’t be compared’:
Pakistan Army criticises Amit Shah
Pakistan Army has criticised Union Home
Minister Amit Shah’s statement referring to the India cricket team’s victory
over Pakistan at World Cup as “another strike”. Pakistan said the two cannot be
compared. “Another strike on Pakistan by #TeamIndia and the result is same,”
Shah had said on Twitter. Major General Asif Ghafoor, who is the director
general of the Pakistan Army’s media wing, said a cricket match and air strikes
cannot be compared. “Dear @AmitShah yes ur [your] team won a match,”he said on
his Twitter account. “Well played. Two things with different denominators can’t
be compared. So are strikes [and] match. If in doubt please see results of our
Nowshera counter strikes [and] response to IAF violation on 27 Feb 19 downing
two Indian jets. Stay Surprised.”On Shah’s statement that “the result is the
same”, Ghafoor claimed that the Indian air strikes had failed. “...2 IAF jets
shot down, a pilot arrested, Mi17 fratricide, four broad day light successful
PAF Noushera counter air strikes, massive casualties along LOC and damage to
Indian posts [and] artillery gun positions...~Doctor please...”scroll.in
Still no Muslim in Maharashtra govt, rues
community
Mumbai: Non-inclusion of a Muslim in latest
expansion of cabinet by CM Devendra Fadnavis has come under flak from community
leaders, who felt despite PM Modi’s ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas and vishwas’
slogan the promise of an inclusive agenda remains unfulfilled. “Like his
earlier slogans, the new slogan where the PM added vishwas (trust) to sabka
saath and sabka vikas is empty. He wants sabka saath but there is no inclusive
vikas or growth. Leaving out Muslims from the new cabinet is the latest
example,” said deputy opposition leader Arif Naseem Khan. BJP had fielded just
one Muslim (Pasha Patel) in the 2014 assembly elections in the state but he
lost. There are a few more Muslims in the party like BJP city vice-president
and chairman of Maulana Azad Minorities Development Corporation chairman Hyder
Azam who could have been considered for a minister’s post, many said. Senior
cleric Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi said BJP is not serious in winning the
community’s trust.TOI
Centre compulsorily retires 15 more senior tax
officials accused of corruption
New Delhi :Sending across a stern message to
bureaucrats taking kickbacks for facilitation tax evasion by companies, the
Centre sacked 15 senior tax officials facing probes in corruption cases on
Tuesday, reported Reuters.Only last week on June 11, the government had
dismissed 12 senior Indian Revenue Service (income tax) officers following
charges of corruption, extortion and professional misconduct against them.The
officers who have been ousted include Ashok Agarwal (IRS 1985 batch), Joint
Commissioner Income Tax, S K Srivastava (IRS 1989 batch), Commissioner
(Appeal), Noida, Homi Rajvansh (IRS 1985 batch), B B Rajendra Prasad, Ajoy
Kumar Singh (CIT) and B Arulappa (CIT). Other names in the list include Alok
Kumar Mitra, Chander Saini Bharti, Andasu Ravindar, Vivek Batra, Swetabh Suman
and Ram Kumar Bhargava.India improved its ranking, among 180 countries, by
three points to 78th on a global corruption index in 2018, according to the
annual index of the Transparency International, an anti-graft
watchdog.indianexpress
AAMSU
demands appellate authority to challenge foreigners tribunal orders
Guwahati:All Assam Minorities Students’ Union
(AAMSU) has sought a uniform code to regulate the procedure of foreigners
tribunals in Assam.AAMSU adviser Azizur Rahman on Saturday said because of
“lack” of uniformity in procedures followed by the tribunals, common people as
well as lawyers contesting their cases are facing harassment.“As the procedures
of the civil and criminal matters are governed by the Code of Civil Procedure
and the Code of Criminal Procedure respectively, we want a Foreigners Tribunal
Procedure Code,”he said.Following a Barpeta Lawyers’ Association’s decision, advocates
had boycotted proceedings of foreigners tribunals in the district in April to
protest against the system allegedly not following a uniform set of rules and
procedures.Rahman said the tribunals were given power to regulate its own
procedure for disposal of cases, which has made a section of tribunal members
function in an “autocratic” manner. AAMSU has opposed the recent amendments
made to Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, which laid down the modalities for
the tribunals to decide on appeals made by those not satisfied with the outcome
of claims and objections filed against the NRC. AAMSU adviser said as per
amended Section 3 (10) of the order, upon production of the records, if the
tribunal finds merit in the appeal, it shall issue notices to the appellant and
the DM for hearing specifying its date
which should be within 30 days from the date of production of the records.“It
gives the tribunal members power to reject an appeal outright without any
hearing if they feel it was devoid of merit. We want the government to make it
mandatory for the tribunal to hear an appeal before rejecting or allowing it,”
he said.Rahman said it was wrong on the part of the government to vest
tribunals with such unfettered powers, particularly when some of the tribunal
members were found to passing “arbitrary and biased” orders. To buttress his
point, he cited the case of Md Sanaullah, a retired army personnel, who was
declared a foreign national by a foreigners tribunal at Boko in Kamrup district
even after furnishing documents showing that he had served the army for 30
years.“There are many others like Sanaullah, mostly religious and linguistic
minorities, who were declared foreigners and sent to detention camps because of
arbitrary orders passed by the tribunals,” he added.“These tribunals are quasi-judicial
bodies who are headed by members appointed on contractual basis. How can a
quasi-judicial body with a member on a contractual basis can determine a
serious matter like someone’s citizenship? We want these tribunals to be made
judicial bodies with permanent members,”he said. AAMSU has also demanded an
appellate authority to challenge the tribunal orders.telegraphindia
Eviction, violence, NRC: Watch the grim story
of threatened Assamese communities
Nearly 10% of Assam’s population lives in
river islands called chars, formed as a result of Brahmaputra changing its
course. Most char residents are Muslim farmers. Many families are settled in
the area since the end of the 19th century.Apart from living in constant fear
of losing their land and homes to water, the Muslim farmers are scared they
won’t find their names in the National Register of Citizens.NRC is supposed to
be a list of all genuine Indian citizens residing in Assam. Almost 40 lakh
names were left out of the final draft of the NRC prepared in July 2018.
Karwan-e-Mohabbat, a collective that documents incidents of hate crime across
India, recently released a new video depicting the struggles faced by these
char residents in the wake of NRC.Siddique Ali and Shehnaz Parveen live on
river islands and have lost almost all of their land to erosion by river. The
costs of obtaining paperwork for the NRC are high, and these people with meagre
sources of income are being forced to sell their land. Some of them have proper
documentation and are still called foreigners. “We are not foreigners,”
Siddique Ali says. “We have all the documents of 1951 NRC and the land document
of 1953. But they say we are immigrants and keep asking for documents.” Teacher
and poet Dr Hafiz Ahmed asks, “People who change their houses tens of times,
how will they have documents?” There are over 2,200 char villages across 14
districts of Assam.scroll.in
"Attack Not only on Journalists' Right to
Write but also on Readers' Right to Read"
New Delhi:The recent incidences of arrests of
journalists across India and violent assaults inflicted on some other scribes
have left the civil society contemplating about the dangers the advocates of
free speech have been facing increasingly now.Concerned journalists and
activists are speaking their mind more vehemently than before in defense of the
right to freedom of expression and independent press.Caravan magazine’s
political editor Hartosh Singh Bal sees the protests by the intellgensia
against such arrests as a positive sign of acceptance that physical or mental
torture or harassment of journalists by the police on behalf of governments,
has reached the threshold of even those cities which would be hitherto, safe
for scribes.“After 2014, when we used to hold meeting to protest the arrests of
journalists in Chhattisgarh and J&K, we wouldn’t get such a response as we
are getting today because many concerned journalists also would think that such
actions against journalists will be confined to conflict zones in our country.
Nobody was ready to take such actions seriously. Finally, when government
clamped down on NDTV and Gauri Lankesh was murdered, only then, after three
years, journalists realized that it can happen anywhere now. Then people began
to raise their voices. Still, when Zakir Ali Tyagi was arrested in UP, people
thought that such unlawful arrests would not happen in Delhi and then you saw
police picking up Prashant Kanojia. So perhaps journalists would treat it as
their own problem. However these arrests have also a wider context, which is realization
that these actions cannot be taken without the nod of state machinery which has
declared Muslims and any section of the society or journalists who don’t
support the Hindutva agenda as anti-nationalists,” says Bal. For Delhi
University’s Hindi Professor Apoorvanand Jha, it is not the journalist which is
in peril, it is also the reader whose rights to access to factual news is under
threat.They were speaking at the Press Club of India here on Monday where
independent journalist Prashant Kanojia and Ipsa Shatakshi, the wife of
journalist Rupesh Kumar, also spoke. Both Kanojia and Kumar were arrested last
week from Delhi and Ramgarh(Jharkhand) respectively.At the press conference
organized by ‘United Against Hate’, Ipsa, who addressed the media on phone,
narrated how her husband was picked by police on June 4.India Tomorrow
My Arrest was to Intimidate Journalists Not to
Criticise Government, Says Kanojia
Bengaluru Ponzi scam eroded public trust in
Muslim politicians, clergy:TOI
Bengaluru: Numerous Ponzi schemes in Karnataka
have duped people of their money, but I Monetary Advisory (IMA) Group scam has
done irreparable damage to middle-class investors while simultaneously eroding
public trust in Muslim politicians and ulemas. Politicians of the minority
community admitted that their credibility was at stake because some of them
had, through their public association with IMA’s founder-owner Mohammed Mansoor
Khan, given legitimacy to his criminal enterprise. They said the impact of the
swindle by Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltd, whose business model was similar to
IMA’s, would pale in comparison to the negative fallout from the IMA rip-off.
“Politicians were spotted with Mansoor at public functions he hosted such as
mushairas (poetic symposiums),” a source said. “But Mansoor actually got ulemas
to endorse his audit books. Two years ago he brought out a booklet based on
these endorsements, stating that all investments in his firm were halal
(permissible).” A Muslim Congress leader said there is a crisis of confidence
among the community towards politicians and ulemas. “Certain ulemas, instead of
speaking on the Quran’s teachings in their Friday sermons, asked their
congregations to pray for the welfare of Mansoor and his companies,” he said.
“Some of them even issued fatwas endorsing his business, when most of them were
unaware of how financial institutions should operate.” Sources said a majority
of Muslim politicians were beneficiaries of Mansoor’s largesse either through
election funding or projects like renovation of government schools. “The fact
that they were seen with Mansoor gave confidence to people who had some
savings,”one source said. Complaint letters submitted by investors in IMA ponzi
scam are piling up at Commercial Street Police Station. TOI
2005 Ayodhya attack: 4 accused given life
sentence and one acquitted by Allahabad court
A special court in Allahabad today convicted 4
persons and acquitted one in the 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case, PTI reported.
4 convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment. 2 residents and 5 gunmen were
killed in a crossfire that followed the attack on a makeshift temple at the
disputed Babri Masjid site in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar on July 5, 2005.
Police had arrested five persons in the case – one from Saharanpur and the
others from Poonch in J&K. The verdict was announced in Naini Central Jail,
where the accused are lodged. Scroll.in
NIA seeks permission to question three men to
‘unravel larger IS plot’
Mumbai :NIA has sought permission to question
three men, arrested in three separate cases from 2015-16, claiming that it
wanted to unravel a larger conspiracy spread by Islamic State in the country. NIA
sought permission to question the three men in jails where they are lodged as
undertrials currently.The plea seeks permission to question Mohsin Sayyed,
Arshi Qureshi and Naser Yafai. While the court has allowed the plea to
interrogate Sayyed and Qureshi, the plea on Yafai is still pending.Special
public prosecutors for NIA, Geeta Godambe and Sunil Gonsalves, submitted to the
court that permission to question the men in judicial custody is required
regarding a larger conspiracy of IS and on other incriminating
facts.indianexpress
Sessions court to hear Muzaffarnagar riots
eyewitness killing case on July 1
Muzaffarnagar : A court here sent the murder
case of an eyewitness in a Muzaffarnagar riots case to the sessions case for
hearing on July 1.Chief Judicial Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Gautam sent the murder
case against six accused to the sessions court for hearing and asked them to
appear before it on July 1.Ashfaq, who was an eyewitness in the murder case of
his two brothers, was shot dead in Khatauli town of Muzaffarnagar in March this
year.Ashfaq's brothers, Nawab and Shahid, were shot dead during the 2013 riots,
in which more than 60 lives were lost and over 40,000 people were displaced. Police
registered a case and arrested all the six accused, including gangster Sushil
Munch's son.PTI
Hyderabad:Masjid-e-Ek Khana: Muslim clerics to
seek permission for offering Namaz
https://www.siasat.com/news/masjid-e-ek-khana-muslim-clerics-seek-permission-offering-namaz-1514902/
Hyderabad: Demolition of Masjid-Ek-Khana,
Amberpet is a deliberate attempt by miscreants. The only remedy is to get
permission for offering Namaz at that place. Muslims will not keep quiet till
they get permission.This decision was taken in a meeting attended by the
leaders of Muslim parties, Islamic Ulema and Muftis. The meeting was attended
by Maulana Mufti Abdul Mughni, President, Jamiatul Ulema, Hyderabad City,
Azharuddin, Secretary, Jamat-e-Islami, Maulana Syed Hamid Husain Shuttari,
President Sunni Ulema Board, Maulana Mohammed Naseeruddin, President,
Wahdat-e-Islami, Dr. Mohammed Asif Umari, President, Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith,
Maulana Taqui Raza Abedi and others.The meeting was held at the office of
Muslim Shibban, Azampura to discuss the issues arising out of demolition of
Masjid-e-Ek Khana.The Muslim leaders were of the opinion that once a place is
assigned for Masjid, its position cannot be changed till Dooms Day.They decided
to take an appointment from CM of Telangana. A representation will also be made
to Chief Secretary, Commissioner of GHMC, Home Minister, Mahmood Ali, Chairman
of Wakf Board, Mohammed Saleem, MPs of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.They also
decided that if no permission is given for offering Namaz, the leaders will
offer Namaz at the masjid.It was also decided that no other course of protest
would be started.Mohammed Shakeel, Advocate who is pleading the case of the
masjid in the High Court informed the leaders that GHMC has not taken any
action against the officials who dismantled the masjid.In the press note issued
by the Ulema, it was decided that a booklet would be compiled incorporating the
survey report of the Wakf Board, Gazette notification and the letters written
to GHMC for distribution among the public.SIASAT
WORLD
Russia, China warn US over sending 1,000 new
troops to the Gulf
US is "pumping up tensions" and could
open a "Pandora's box" in the Middle East after announcing it will
deploy 1,000 more troops to the already volatile region, Russia and China said
on Tuesday.Fears of a confrontation between Iran and the US have mounted since
Thursday following explosions on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital
shipping lane for the world's oil supplies. Washington and Tehran traded accusations
over the mysterious incidents.China and Russia both expressed concern in strong
statements over the developing situation in the Middle East."We call on
all parties to remain rational and restrained, not to take any actions to
provoke the escalation of tension in the region, and not to open a Pandora's
box," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing."In
particular, the United States should change its practice of extreme
pressure," he said.Wang also urged Iran to "make prudent decisions"
and not "so easily abandon" the 2015 deal.Russia's Deputy Foreign
Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Washington it should drop the plan to boost its
troops in the Middle East or risk war with Iran. Ryabkov told reporters Moscow
had repeatedly warned the US and its regional allies about what he called the
"unthinking and reckless pumping up of tensions in an explosive
region". Aljazeera
US to send 1,000 additional troops to Middle
East
US will send 1,000 additional troops to the
Middle East for "defensive purposes," acting Defense Secretary
Patrick Shanahan said Monday.The decision came in response to a request from US
Central Command (CENTCOM) and with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff and in consultation with the White House, said Shanahan."I
have authorized approximately 1,000 additional troops for defensive purposes to
address air, naval and ground-based threats in the Middle East," he said
in a statement.The decision also follows last week's attacks on two oil tankers
in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz. Washington said Iran was behind
the attacks, an accusation denied by Tehran."The recent Iranian attacks
validate the reliable, credible intelligence we have received on hostile behavior
by Iranian forces and their proxy groups that threaten US personnel and interests across the region," said
Shanahan. Anadolu Agency
Bangladesh Supreme Court starts hearing Jamaat
leader Azhar’s appeal against war crimes verdict
In Bangladesh, the Appellate Division has started hearing
former Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam’s
appeal that challenged his death sentence in a 1971 war crimes case. A 4-member bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud
Hossain conducted the longstanding hearing on Tuesday.This is the 10th appeal
to the top court against the verdict of the tribunal-ICT. Lawyer Zainul Abedin Tuhin who defended Azhar
pleaded more time for hearing.Turning down the request for more time, Justice
Hossain said, “I’ve approved enough time. Why didn’t you prepare? You must
start hearing today."On the day, the chief justice scheduled the next
hearing for Jun 18.bdnews24.com
Refugee girls in Beirut 'face sexual violence,
forced marriage'
More than half of the girls living as refugees
in Beirut have reported that they face sexual violence and sexual harassment
with alarming regularity, new research by Plan International, a development and
humanitarian organisation, has revealed.Based on surveys of 400 girls aged
between 10 and 19, study on Tuesday described the multiple threats of abuse
girls faced growing up in Lebanon's capital city.Close to 70 percent of those
surveyed reported feeling unsafe if they travelled around the city alone during
the day, while nearly 90 percent said they feared for their safety at
night.Girls spoke of being harassed or chased by men and boys, while others
expressed concern about being kidnapped or raped."We're too afraid [to go
out alone].There are always drunk men who harass us and even the ones who
aren't drunk harass us,"an 18-year-old Syrian girl from Burj al-Barajneh,
in the Beirut suburbs, told the researchers.10% of girls surveyed reported
being married or engaged - a practice becoming increasingly common, according
to Plan International."Some girls, their parents oblige them to leave
school to get married. My friends all got married and now they have kids,"
a 13-year-old Syrian girl in Burj al-Barajneh said. The report, launched in the run-up to World Refugee
Day on June 20, called on govts, UN and civil society actors in Lebanon to take
action to support refugee girls.aljazeera
'Systemic failure' of UN ahead of military
crackdown in Myanmar: Review
There was a "systemic failure" of UN
in dealing with the situation in Myanmar ahead of a deadly 2017 military
crackdown because it did not have a unified strategy and lacked UNSC support,
according to an internal report. The crackdown drove over 730,000 Rohingya to
flee to Bangladesh.UN investigators have said the operation was executed with
"genocidal intent" and included mass killings, gang rapes and
widespread arson. Myanmar denies widespread wrongdoing and says military
campaign across hundreds of villages in northern Rakhine was in response to
attacks by Rohingya "insurgents"."Without question, serious
errors were committed and opportunities were lost in UN system following a
fragmented strategy rather than a common plan of action," wrote former
Guatemalan foreign minister and UN ambassador Gert Rosenthal in a 34-page
internal review, seen by Reuters."The overall responsibility was of a
collective character; in other words, it truly can be characterised as a
systemic failure of UN,"said Rosenthal, who was appointed by
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier this year to look at UN involvement
in Myanmar from 2010 to 2018.aljazeera
Shut out from Bangladesh schools, Rohingyas
turn to madrassas
7 Sudan groups call for formation of
technocratic caretaker government
A coalition of Sudanese opposition forces said
yesterday that they continue to demand the formation of a caretaker govt of
independent technocrats. During a meeting in Khartoum with the deputy head of
Sudan’s ruling military council, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the opposition
bloc which is made up of seven political factions, presented its vision to the
ruling military and rejected all forms of “foreign intervention”.The majority
of the political parties had taken part in the national dialogue with ousted
president Omar Al-Bashir before he was forced out of power in April.MEMO/AA
Sudan protesters urge night rallies amid
impasse with military
Sudan's protest leaders have called for
nighttime demonstrations and marches in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in
the country, amid a tense standoff with the ruling military council over who
should lead the transition after the removal of the autocrat Omar al-Bashir. The
protest leaders on Monday said they have begun a "revolutionary
escalation" to pressure Transitional Military Council(TMC) to hand over
power to civilians and condemn the crackdown on a sit-in camp earlier this
month.Thousands of demonstrators who had camped outside the army headquarters
in the capital for weeks were violently dispersed by gunmen in military
fatigues on June 3, leaving dozens dead and hundreds wounded, according to
doctors and witnesses.Protesters blame the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
paramilitary group for the crackdown and TMC says it has launched an
investigation.aljazeera
Israel Supreme Court backs demolition of 13
buildings under PA control
Israel’s Supreme Court has given the green
light for the state to demolish 13 apartment blocks built in “Area A” of the
occupied West Bank, but which now lie inside the route of the illegal
Separation Wall.According to Haaretz, Palestinians say that the ruling “sets a
precedent that will enable the demolition of thousands of buildings in the West
Bank”.The court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, backed the state’s
argument that the buildings do not have the required permits, and thus can be
demolished. The buildings contain roughly 100 apartments, 20 of which are
already inhabited and the rest are under construction.The buildings are in Wadi
Hummus which is located on the edge of Sur Baher, in southeast Jerusalem. As
described by Haaretz, “unlike the rest of the village, this neighbourhood lies
beyond the city’s municipal boundaries, in the West Bank”. Most is designated
“Area A”, under the administrative control of the Palestinian Authority
(PA).middleeastmonitor
S.Lanka abusing UN law to make arrests:rights group
Colombo:Media activists has accused Sri Lankan
police of using a UN convention on hate speech to crack down on media freedom
and the country's Muslim minority.The Free Media Movement rights group said police
Special Task Force(STF) attempted to arrest a respected journalist for his
writing on anti-Muslim riots and Buddhist extremists using UN-backed law. STF
told a magistrate on Friday they were pursuing freelance writer Kusal Perera
under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
Act."Free Media Movement strongly condemns the attempts to pursue legal
action under the provisions of the ICCPR Act and urges all responsible
stakeholders to draw their attention to avoid using the law unfairly," the
group said.Police have also drawn criticism over the detention of a Muslim
woman during anti-Muslim riots last month. She was wearing a T-shirt with a
print of a ship's steering wheel which police mistook for the Dharma Chakra, a
Buddhist symbol.The woman was held in remand custody for 3 weeks before a
senior police officer intervened to press for her release. Award winning author
and poet Shakthika Sathkumara has been held since April under the ICCPR act for
his work hinting at homosexuality among the Buddhist clergy."We feel that
police exceeded their authority in using the ICCPR and we will take action
against those responsible," the officer said, asking not to be named.The
leftist People's Liberation Front (JVP) party said police have arbitrarily
detained several Muslim men and women since the Easter Sunday attacks that
killed 258 people.AFP
Critics denounce Quebec ban on religious
symbols in public sector: Reuters
Civil liberties and Muslim groups on Monday
vowed to challenge a new law in Canadian province of Quebec that bans some
public sector employees from wearing religious symbols during work hours,
arguing it triggered the “politics of fear.”Critics said the long-expected Bill
21 that was passed by the predominately French-speaking province’s legislature
on Sunday mainly targeted Muslim women who wear hijabs.“We will be filing a
challenge to the law,” said Mustafa Farooq, executive director of the National
Council of Canadian Muslims. “I think Bill 21 is a law that will do irreparable
harm to communities in Quebec.”“This creates a second-class citizenship,” he
said, adding that the group would seek a court injunction to block the law that
he called “a recipe for the politics of fear.”The law covers public workers in
positions of authority, including teachers, judges and police officers, but
exempts current government employees and civil servants. It sets province’s
centre-right Coalition Avenir Québec govt on a collision course with Liberal PM
Justin Trudeau, who promotes religious freedom, in a federal election year
where Quebec is a vital battleground.
Syria says it doesn't want to fight with
Turkey
Syria does not want to see fighting with
Turkey, its foreign minister said on Tuesday, after Ankara said one of its
posts in Syria's Idlib region was attacked from an area controlled by Syrian
government forces.Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in
his country's civil war, and Turkey, long a backer of the rebels fighting him,
co-sponsored a de-escalation pact for the area that has been in place since
last year.But the deal has faltered in recent months, forcing hundreds of
thousands of civilians to flee. About 300 people have been killed by Syrian and
Russian air raids and shelling in the area since late April, according to UN.
Idlib, in Syria's northwest along the border with Turkey, is the last remaining
bastion of anti-government rebels after eight years of civil war.aljazeera
'The leaderless': Inside masked face of Hong
Kong's protests
Millions of people descended on the streets of
Hong Kong over past 10 days, stunning the authorities of the semi-autonomous
Chinese territory and forcing city's pro-China leadership to shelve a proposed
extradition bill.Unlike 2014 Umbrella Movement, the protesters this time around
were more willing to take direct action and risk retaliation by the police. On
June 9, an estimated one million people marched in opposition to controversial
bill that would allow suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial,
sending a powerful message to Chief Executive Carrie Lam. 3 days later, tens of
thousands were once again on the streets, surrounding the government complex
where the bill was due to be debated. Some of the protesters, wearing masks and
goggles and carrying umbrellas for protection, attempted to storm the building,
triggering retaliation by the police.By Saturday Lam had capitulated, saying
she would postpone the bill.But protesters wanted more. The next day, an
estimated 2 million Hong Kongers marched through the streets - the third big
rally within a week. This time the police were more low-key.aljazeera
Flash:
views & NEWS
India should abolish state govts since Modi
can run the country all by himself?Shivam Vij
Can Bangla Nationalism Counter Hindi-Hindu
Nationalism in Bengal?Monobina Gupta
India doesn't need hindi to unify masses:ArunavKaul
Is Litchi the Real Culprit Behind 1995's
Mysterious Muzaffarpur Child Deaths?Manasi Gandhi
NRC violates constitutional morality,
principles of international law: Colin Gonsalves
Upper castes continue to dominate social media
usage,Muslims more exposed than Dalits,Tribals: study
Compiled and edited by
Anwarulhaq
(Released at: 8:00 PM)
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment