Category Archives: ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD, LATEST, OPENION, WORLD

“Hindutva’s Unrelenting Attacks on Religious Minorities – RSS-Backed Plan to Convert India into Hindu Rashtra Threatens Communal Diversity”

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On 21st September 1949, Manipur, which was once an Independent Princely State, was merged with the Indian Union. The state was taken over by the British in 1891. Manipur subsequently became a Union territory of India in 1962 and achieved full statehood in 1972. Moreover, Article 371C of the Indian Constitution provides protection to tribal areas and prohibits people from the valley or outside buying land in hill districts inhabited by Scheduled Tribes (ST). However, the attempt to alter the ST status is fueled by the political desire of the Hindutva movement, with an objective to acquire resources/land of the ST community for the Meitei community (predominantly Hindus).

The RSS, which has mentored Modi, has plans to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra, creating a Hindutivized polity that threatens the communal diversity of the country. As a result, religious minorities like Muslims, who make up 14.23% of the total population (over 200 million), are being oppressed and subdued.

Exposing the Darkness: The Brutal Reality of Hindu Extremism and the Plight of Dalits in India

Hindu extremists have committed heinous acts like the Gujarat pogrom, Delhi riots, and Babri Mosque demolition. The recent daylight murder of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in police custody by Hindu goons is just the latest example. Similarly, Dalits (over 20.14 million population) are also being treated as sub-humans with frequent occurrences of rape/molestation of Dalit women, harassment/murder of Dalit men, and social discrimination against them- such as not being allowed to use the same water tape as Brahmins.

Despite the fact that Christians in India make up only 2.3% of the population, they are facing severe persecution due to anti-conversion laws passed by BJP-ruled states. This has resulted in attacks on bishops, religious leaders, and even nuns. In addition, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat dehumanized Noble Laureate Mother Teresa, accusing her of proselytizing and claiming she didn’t deserve the Nobel Prize.

“Standing Strong Amidst Adversity: The Plight of Christians in India”

The recent case of Indian Catholic priest Stan Swamy, who was imprisoned under anti-terror law and died in custody, illustrates the lack of attention given by Prime Minister Modi to the persecution of Christians. This is exemplified by the case of Manipur, which has a diverse religious population, including 41.29% Christians, yet Christian victims are frequently ignored.

The predominantly Christian ST population in Manipur is facing targeting due to their opposition towards the High Court’s decision to award ST status to the predominantly Hindu Meiteis community. The tribal population in Manipur has certain privileges protected under Article 371C, including job quotas, admission in educational institutes, and a bar on non-Scheduled Tribes from buying land in hill districts.

“Betrayal and Targeting: The Plight of Manipur’s Christian ST Community in Demand for a Separate State”

The BJP-led Manipur State government is seeking to undo Article 371C, similar to Modi’s actions in IIOJK, which has led the ST (Christians) to demand for a separate or independent state. Therefore, the situation in Manipur justifies the demand for a separate or independent state.

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ISLAMABAD, LATEST, WORLD

“Yasin Malik Faces Death Penalty Again: India’s Pursuit for Justice Continues”

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According to official sources, India’s top anti-terrorism investigation agency has requested the death penalty for Yasin Malik, chief of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), after he received a life sentence. Last year, the JKLF leader pleaded guilty to funding the separatist movement but refused to accept a government-appointed lawyer or to defend himself against the charges. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had previously sought the death penalty, but the court rejected the plea, citing that capital punishment was reserved for crimes that “shocked the collective consciousness” of society. The NIA has now filed a petition in the High Court to seek the death penalty for Malik, as confirmed by a senior official in Srinagar. The hearing for the petition is scheduled for Monday.

In 1989, JKLF led the armed resistance in India-held Kashmir, and in response, India launched a military campaign resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians and troops. Malik ceased armed resistance in 1994 and has since campaigned peacefully for independence.

ISLAMABAD, WORLD

DFP THANKS G20 NATIONS FOR BOYCOTTING G-20 SRINAGAR MEETING

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Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), headed by incarcerated senior APHC leader, Shabbir Ahmed Shah has expressed its profound gratitude to the G-20 countries that skipped the meeting of the working group on tourism hosted by India. While terming it as a great diplomatic setback to India that a number of important countries including China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and Indonesia have refused to be a part of the event held in the disputed territory. 

It said that on the one hand, key stakeholders’ refusal to attend the meeting has vindicated the Kashmiris’ stand and their claim, while on the other, the protests held by the Kashmiris on the day have highlighted the Kashmir dispute at the global level. The DFP said, “The people of Kashmir owe a debt of gratitude to all those countries who realized the sensitivities involved in the meeting, took a pragmatic and principled stance by staying away from the meeting,” adding that the decision to skip the meeting has boosted the morale of the Kashmiris who have been reeling under India’s relentless and brutal suppression for the past several decades. The statement said, normalcy and peace in IIOJK are directly linked to granting the Kashmiris their right to self-determination and the Modi government can’t change the reality of the Kashmir dispute by conducting international events in IIOJK. G-720-like events in IIOJK have no meaning for the Kashmiris as they continue to suffer under brutal Indian occupation.

It added India will never succeed in fulfilling its nefarious agenda of normalizing its occupation through staging G20-like events in Kashmir. The statement maintained that some local and international media outlets have busted India’s so-called normalcy narrative in occupied Jammu and Kashmir by releasing pictures of Indian armed forces hiding behind the promotional banners erected on the roads leading to the venue of the meeting. The DFP also appreciated the Kashmiri social and political activists, particularly the diaspora community, for staging protests in influential world capitals including Washington, London, and other cities of the world, and expressing their resentment over India’s controversial move to organize the G20 event in the disputed territory. It urged India to realize the fact that it cannot hoodwink the world by promoting fake normalcy in IIOJK and peddling lies about Kashmir.

It is high time for G20 and other world powers to fulfill their commitment made to the Kashmiris about the right to self-determination and the UN must redouble its efforts to urgently resolve the Kashmir dispute to ensure permanent peace in South Asia, it added.

ISLAMABAD, LATEST, WORLD

OPPOSITION PARTIES BOYCOTT INAUGURATION OF NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDING

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19 national and regional opposition parties have decided to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Modi on 28 May. In a joint statement, Opposition parties said, “Prime Minister Modi’s decision to inaugurate the new Parliament building by himself, completely sidelining President Murmu, is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy which demands a commensurate response..” The statement added, “When the soul of democracy has been sucked out from the Parliament, we find no value in a new building. We announce our collective decision to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building. We will continue to fight — in letter, in spirit, and in substance — against this authoritarian Prime Minister and his government, and take our message directly to the people of India.”

The signatories to the joint statement are the Indian National Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Janata Dal (United), Aam Aadmi Party, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Communist Party of India, Indian Union Muslim League, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, National Conference, Kerala Congress (Mani), Revolutionary Socialist Party, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and Rashtriya Lok Dal.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party General Secretary (organization) K.C. Venugopal had reached out to other Opposition leaders to get their sense and conveyed their reservations about Prime Minister inaugurating the building and not the President. An Opposition MP said MPs got invites for the function on Tuesday on WhatsApp. “Perhaps they the government] will send in a formal invite. But surely they could have done better.”  

Some of the politicians have also criticized scheduling the event on the birth anniversary of VD Savarkar, the Hindutva ideologue who shared views radically divergent from Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation.

ISLAMABAD, LATEST, WORLD

One dead in fresh violence in India’s northeastern state of Manipur

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One person was shot dead and houses were set on fire as fresh ethnic violence erupted in India’s restive northeastern state of Manipur, officials said Thursday.

Manipur has been on the boil after an explosion of inter-ethnic violence this month killed at least 70 people and left tens of thousands displaced.

Some 2,000 houses were also burned down across the state that borders Myanmar.

The violence was sparked by anger among the Kuki tribal group at the prospect of the majority Meitei community being given guaranteed quotas of government jobs and other perks in a form of affirmative action.

This also stoked long-held fears among the Kuki that the Meitei might also be allowed to acquire land in areas currently reserved for them and other tribal groups.

The military has deployed thousands of troops to the state, where curfews have been imposed and the internet cut for several weeks.

An indefinite curfew was reimposed on Wednesday in the flashpoint Bishnupur district after suspected militants fired at a group of people, fatally wounding one person.

“Two persons, who had been living in a relief camp, were injured during the firing by the militants and one of them later died in a hospital,” a local police officer, who did not want to be identified, told AFP.

Before the shooting, suspected militants torched some abandoned houses close to a relief camp set up for those displaced during the violence, the officer said.

The house of local minister Govindas Konthoujam was also attacked and ransacked when the family was away.

India’s northeast has seen decades of unrest among ethnic and separatist groups seeking more autonomy or even secession from India, with at least 50,000 people killed in Manipur since the 1950s.

Such conflicts had waned over the years, with many groups striking deals with New Delhi for more powers.