#Violence in Haryana elections | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

meetdheeraj · 5 months ago

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There was a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir (what is the new name after dividing the state into three parts?).

I can see some of you who don't otherwise post “political” opinions about it. Honestly, I'm happy to see all of you sticking your neck out. I'm not suggesting I know better but do you know what terrorism or terrorists mean? Forget dictionary meaning or legal definition. In your head, what does it mean? Is it terrorism when a section of people in Manipur are mercilessly killed, their houses are burnt, women approach police and police hand them to a mob from the majority community and later videos of them being paraded go viral; Is that terrorism? There's murder, burning, rapes and still, it doesn't sound like terrorism. Why is it? Is it because the media is not calling it so? Or because so many of you are not posting “I condemn terrorists rampaging havoc in Manipur”?

Okay. Okay. Manipur is too much stressful. Probably it'll harm your mental health if you start knowing about Manipur. Forget it then.

How about that man in uniform on the train taking his service gun and shooting Muslims while chanting religious and political slogans, is that terrorism? Why do we still not refer to him as a terrorist? We went so far as to call him mental! Not terrorist. He killed people, and chanted religious and political slogans but somehow for you and so many others, his wasn't an act of terror. We know terrorism is bad and terrorists are bad guys. But what exactly is terrorism? And who are terrorists? Should people have to topple a bus to be named terrorists? Should the violence happen in Jammu and Kashmir for it to be termed as terrorism? Like Jats in Haryana or Rajasthan can remove railway tracks while demanding reservations but we don't refer to them as terrorists but a Kashmiri pelting a pebble at an Indian army gunman is definitely termed a terrorist. Perhaps where violence takes place has to do with the definition in your head. If so…

Have you heard of Kunan Poshspora where Indian armed forces carried out mass rapes? Have you heard of that girl in the northeast who had gun wounds in her private regions and traces of semen? Oh, wait! We don't refer to men in uniform as terrorists. They have the legal right to kill and maybe rapes are also allowed under AFSPA. I don't know but I have never heard an armyman tried for it. So who is a terrorist then? My head hurts trying to think about the answer. It appears you all have some clarity on the subject. Unlike me, you don't post regularly. Perhaps your lives are important, you all have life and you all are busy. Once in a while something happens and it shakes you so much that you leave out your “I'm not political” rule and post political opinion. Maybe Palestine is too far for you to bother about but Jammu and Kashmir is a piece of land that belongs to you. I'm still trying to think about how your brain works. What motivates it and why.

On a separate note, I'll not force myself to post any such things. Terrorists will do what they do and are known to do, rapists will rape, thieves will steal, robbers will rob and scammers will scam. It's what they do. It's the job of the media to inform us when so and so happens. And it is the job of the government, and administration to first, stop such things from happening and second, if in case they happen then to investigate, catch and punish the perpetrators. I believe ordinary citizens and people in positions of influence must speak out when people in power aka govt do not do their job. For example, Kashmir is the world's most militarised region. What does that mean? It has the highest ratio of citizens to gunmen. Kashmir is also directly ruled by the Modi govt. Modi hasn't conducted elections there since he divided the state into three regions. Only recently a vehicle full of ammunition was rammed into an army base causing huge damage and embarrassment. How did such a vehicle with such large quantities of arms go past multiple army checkposts? Were army men involved with terrorists to aid them in committing such a heinous crime? We didn't bother to ask Modi these questions and he didn't bother to inform us anyway. We don't know what happened. Then recently some fraud from Gujarat claimed he was close to Modi and was visiting all sensitive army regions. In fact, he was taken around by Indian army officials. What kind of security does the Indian army have? What sort of verification procedures. No one asked, and no one answered. Modi demonetised and created havoc with the Indian economy but told us it broke the backbone of terrorism in Kashmir. There was the abrogation of article 370 defended on the same lines. So how's it still happening? Who is letting it happen? Is the Indian army incompetent? Or is Modi not letting them function? Do you want Modi to answer these questions or do you want to forget and wait until it repeats?

Here's a bit of truth. The reason why you post this is because it aligns with your politics. You're political. No one's apolitical. Your endgame is demonising a community. You're not bothered about lives lost. If you did, you would have spoken about Manipur, or about multiple Muslims murdered on Indian streets and video-graphed. A cabinet minister nonetheless went and garlanded convicts of lynching cases. Don't forget. Or when the rapists of Bilkis Bano were released by the Modi govt just before the Gujarat elections. Hindu organisations welcomed them with garlands and honoured them on a stage. Nice photographs. See. You're not bothered about rapes and deaths of people. You don't care who was killed in Jammu and Kashmir. You have a carefully curated politics in your head. You know it's awful. That's why you want to pretend apolitical about other matters where posting about it does not align with your politics. But here, you have to post. You don't want to lose the chance to dehumanise a community. Subtle huh?

I'm not suggesting you should not post. Please do. But also invest some time into thinking why are you bothering to post about it. Are you trying to inform your followers? Why? Is it because the media is not covering it? It actually is. Media didn't cover Manipur, Brijbhushan, Prajwal Devanna etc., but then you kept quiet. So why are you posting? Are you feeling sad? You are against terrorism and you want to tell it to your followers? What kind of followers do you have that think anyone would be in favour of terrorism? Aren't we all against violence, rape, child marriages, slavery etc? Are you trying to say yes? But read again, it doesn't appear like you are against rape and murder, right? That's what perplexes me.

Lastly, "all eyes on.." is copy of "All eyes on Rafah". Do you understand what it implies? With respect to Palestinian atrocities, the aim or charge was that Israel is killing people and administration (in this case everyone from UN, world powers etc have failed to stop the genocide) and because they have failed we need more eyeballs to force their attention onto the ongoing massacre. In case of Jammu and Kashmir then, who are we saying has failed? Who is in charge here? Who was supposed to stop terrorism? Who is supposed to find and charge terrorists? Narendra Modi right? So are you saying the god that you otherwise praise unlimitedly has failed to do his job? Again? If that was the case you would target Modi, ask him what is he doing? What did he do last time that terrorists could strike again? Well well well, you see, you're not asking that.

Anyway, good luck with your non-consequential outrage whose only aim is to foster animosity between two communities which is exactly also what fundamentalists and terrorists want. The same thing Modi tried throughout his election campaign. You all want same same thing. For both to hate each other.

#india #politics #life #religion #terrorism #violence

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newslime · 9 months ago

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Farmers Resume 'Delhi Chalo' March: Police Heightens Vigil at Borders

Welcome back to the latest developments in the ongoing farmers' protest! As the 'Delhi Chalo' march gains momentum once again, tensions are high at the Tikri, Singhu, and Ghazipur borders. Let's dive into the updates shaping this significant movement.

The Call to Action

On Wednesday, farmers will resume their 'Delhi Chalo' march with renewed determination. Following the call from the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), farmer leaders are urging their peers from across the nation to join the protest in Delhi. This resumption marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing struggle for farmers' rights.

Vigilance Amidst Tensions

In response to the march, the Delhi Police has escalated vigilance efforts at key border points. With tensions running high, authorities are closely monitoring the situation at the Tikri, Singhu, and Ghazipur borders to maintain order and security.

Ongoing Protests and Future Actions

Since the initial 'Delhi Chalo' march was halted by security forces, protesting farmers have remained steadfast at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points. Not content with just one action, farmers have announced a countrywide rail roko on March 10, signaling their unwavering commitment to pressing their demands.

Farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal have vowed to continue the protest, undeterred by potential obstacles such as the Model Code of Conduct for elections. Their determination underscores the gravity of the issues at hand and the resilience of the farming community.

A Call for Attention: Mahapanchayat and Stalemates

Looking ahead, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has called for a Mahapanchayat in Delhi on March 14 to spotlight critical issues ranging from MSP guarantees to pension rights for farmers and farm laborers. Despite numerous rounds of talks, the deadlock between farmers and the government persists, highlighting the depth of unresolved grievances.

Voices of Demand and Action

The demands of the farmers echo loudly: a legal guarantee of MSP on all crops, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, debt waivers, and justice for victims of past violence. These demands reflect not just economic concerns but also a cry for justice and dignity for the farming community.

Ongoing Developments and Roadblocks

As tensions simmer, authorities reopened the Ambala-Chandigarh national highway after a three-week closure. However, the barricades at the Haryana-Punjab border in Shambu near Ambala remain, underscoring the ongoing challenges in the region.

Conclusion

The farmers' protest is not just a movement; it's a testament to the resilience and resolve of those fighting for their rights. As the 'Delhi Chalo' march resumes and tensions escalate, the eyes of the nation are on the farmers and their unwavering quest for justice and dignity.

Stay tuned for more updates as this crucial saga unfolds, and let's continue to stand in solidarity with those on the front lines of change. Together, we can amplify their voices and work towards a fairer, more equitable future for all.

Keep marching, keep fighting, and keep the spirit of resistance alive!

#FarmersProtest #DelhiChalo #MSPGuarantee #SamyuktaKisanMorcha #SocialJustice

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gojackenmitracoolas · 1 year ago

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विधानसभा चुनाव नजदीक आते ही सियासी तल्खियां बढ़ने लगी है। https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNbwtSzgdFU युग चरण के साथ देखिये देश-विदेश की सभी महत्वपूर्ण और बड़ी खबरें | आंध्रप्रदेश में एक शख्स ने अपनी लिव-इन पार्टनर से झगड़ा होने के बाद उसे और उसकी 2 बेटियों को नदी में धक्का दे दिया। A man in Andhra Pradesh pushed his live-in partner and his two daughters into a river after a quarrel. एशियाई लोगों के खिलाफ हेट क्राइम विरोध में लंदन के चाइना टाउन में कई एक्टिविस्ट ग्रुपों की रैली में प्रदर्शनकारियों के बीच झड़प हुई। Clashes broke out between protesters at a rally by several activist groups in London's Chinatown during a hate crime protest against Asians. कूनो में नामीबिया और दक्षिण अफ्रीका से 20 चीतों को लाया गया। Twenty cheetahs were brought to Kuno from Namibia and South Africa. विधानसभा चुनाव नजदीक आते ही सियासी तल्खियां बढ़ने लगी है। Political tension has started increasing as soon as the assembly elections are near. हरियाणा नूंह में हुई हिंसा के बाद गुरुग्राम में रविवार की रात खांडसा मंडी में कुछ शरारती तत्वों ने एक धार्मिक स्थल में आग लगाई। Following the violence in Haryana's Nuh, some miscreants torched a religious place in Khandsa Mandi in Gurugram on Sunday night. Watch the latest Hindi news Live on the World's Most Loved News Channel on YouTube. Latest News about Politics , Sports , Entertainment, Crime at Yugcharan Channel. Un Biased News Reporting ! Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group to get Latest News Updates : https://chat.whatsapp.com/ESor6YJXGEIL9y7DZRCtim Subscribe our channel for the latest news: https://www.youtube.com/@yugcharan Like us: https://www.facebook.com/theyugcharan Follow us: https://twitter.com/theyugcharan Telegram : https://t.me/TheYugCharanpaper Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/theyugcharan/ Website : https://yugcharan.com #today_breaking_news #Breaking_news #Latest_news #Hindi_News #News #NewsHindiLive #LiveTVNews #HindiNews #haryananews #rajasthannews #election2023 #rajasthannews #rajasthanelection #ashokgehlot #cheetah #haryananews #londonnews #crime #crimenews #criminal via Yugcharan News https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbT6O9BlRulH48ph5QmCYEg August 08, 2023 at 04:06PM

#Yugcharan News #Youtube

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ivisonguitars · 1 year ago

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youtube

विधानसभा चुनाव नजदीक आते ही सियासी तल्खियां बढ़ने लगी है। https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNbwtSzgdFU युग चरण के साथ देखिये देश-विदेश की सभी महत्वपूर्ण और बड़ी खबरें | आंध्रप्रदेश में एक शख्स ने अपनी लिव-इन पार्टनर से झगड़ा होने के बाद उसे और उसकी 2 बेटियों को नदी में धक्का दे दिया। A man in Andhra Pradesh pushed his live-in partner and his two daughters into a river after a quarrel. एशियाई लोगों के खिलाफ हेट क्राइम विरोध में लंदन के चाइना टाउन में कई एक्टिविस्ट ग्रुपों की रैली में प्रदर्शनकारियों के बीच झड़प हुई। Clashes broke out between protesters at a rally by several activist groups in London's Chinatown during a hate crime protest against Asians. कूनो में नामीबिया और दक्षिण अफ्रीका से 20 चीतों को लाया गया। Twenty cheetahs were brought to Kuno from Namibia and South Africa. वि��ानसभा चुनाव नजदीक आते ही सियासी तल्खियां बढ़ने लगी है। Political tension has started increasing as soon as the assembly elections are near. हरियाणा नूंह में हुई हिंसा के बाद गुरुग्राम में रविवार की रात खांडसा मंडी में कुछ शरारती तत्वों ने एक धार्मिक स्थल में आग लगाई। Following the violence in Haryana's Nuh, some miscreants torched a religious place in Khandsa Mandi in Gurugram on Sunday night. Watch the latest Hindi news Live on the World's Most Loved News Channel on YouTube. Latest News about Politics , Sports , Entertainment, Crime at Yugcharan Channel. Un Biased News Reporting ! Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group to get Latest News Updates : https://chat.whatsapp.com/ESor6YJXGEIL9y7DZRCtim Subscribe our channel for the latest news: https://www.youtube.com/@yugcharan Like us: https://www.facebook.com/theyugcharan Follow us: https://twitter.com/theyugcharan Telegram : https://t.me/TheYugCharanpaper Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/theyugcharan/ Website : https://yugcharan.com #today_breaking_news #Breaking_news #Latest_news #Hindi_News #News #NewsHindiLive #LiveTVNews #HindiNews #haryananews #rajasthannews #election2023 #rajasthannews #rajasthanelection #ashokgehlot #cheetah #haryananews #londonnews #crime #crimenews #criminal via Yugcharan News https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbT6O9BlRulH48ph5QmCYEg August 08, 2023 at 04:06PM

#Yugcharan News #Youtube

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xtruss · 4 years ago

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Kiranjit Kaur, far left, came to the Tikri protest site from Talwandi, Punjab, on Feb. 23 with a group of 20 women, including her mother-in-law and children. “It is important for all women to come here and mark their presence in this movement. I have two daughters, and I want them to grow up into the strong women they see here.” Kanishka Sonthalia for TIME

WORLD INDIA

'I CANNOT BE INTIMIDATED. I CANNOT BE BOUGHT.' THE WOMEN LEADING INDIA’S FARMERS’ PROTESTS

— Text By Nilanjana Bhowmick | Photographs By Kanishka Sonthalia For TIME | MARCH 4, 2021 | TIME Magazine

The message to women was clear: Go back home. Since November, hundreds of thousands of farmers had gathered at different sites on the outskirts of the Indian capital to demand the repeal of three agricultural laws that they say would destroy their livelihoods. In January, as the New Delhi winter set in, the Chief Justice of India asked lawyers to persuade elderly people and women to leave the protests. In response, women farmers—mostly from the rural states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh—scrambled onto stages, took hold of microphones and roared back a unanimous “No!”

“Something snapped within us when we heard the government tell the women to go back home,” says Jasbir Kaur, a sprightly 74-year-old farmer from Rampur in western Uttar Pradesh. It’s late February and Kaur has been camping at the Ghazipur protest site for over three months, only returning home once. She was stung by the court’s suggestion that women were mere care workers providing cooking and cleaning services at these sites—though she does do some of that work—rather than equal stakeholders. “Why should we go back? This is not just the men’s protest. We toil in the fields alongside the men. Who are we—if not farmers?”

Amandeep Kaur, 41, from Talwandi, Punjab, is employed as a community health worker and as a farmer to support her two daughters. Her husband died by suicide five years ago; because she did not know her rights, she didn’t receive government compensation given to families of farmers who die by suicide. The new laws, she says, “will kill us, will destroy what little we have.” Kanishka Sonthalia for TIME

Questions like this have rarely been asked by women like Kaur, long used to having their contributions to farming overlooked as part of their household duties. But this wave of protests—the world’s largest ongoing demonstration and perhaps the biggest in human history—has prompted thousands to make their voices heard. Indians of all ages, genders, castes and religions have been united by a common goal: to roll back new agricultural laws passed in September by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The laws, suspended in January by the Supreme Court but not yet repealed, would allow private corporations to buy directly from farmers, which they say would leave them at the mercy of buyers and do away with the traditional wholesale market system or mandis, where they are assured a minimum set price for certain crops.

The protests have drawn women of all ages. While some speak onstage, others are simply determined to be present. “I am an illiterate woman,” says Gurmer Kaur, center, at the protests with her friends Surjit Kaur, left, and Jaswant Kaur, right, all in their mid-70s. “I cannot talk well, but I can sit tight—and I will sit here till the next elections if these laws are not called off.” Kanishka Sonthalia for TIME

Women, who form the backbone of Indian agriculture, may be particularly vulnerable to corporate exploitation. According to Oxfam India, 85% of rural women work in agriculture, but only around 13% own any land. “Women are not seen as farmers. Their labor is immense but invisible,” says Jasbir Kaur Nat, a member of the Punjab Kisan Union, who is mobilizing farmers in Tikri, the protest site at the border of Haryana and Delhi.

Photograph by Kanishka Sonthalia for TIME

“This law will kill us, will destroy what little we have,” says Amandeep Kaur, a farmer from Talwandi in Punjab, whose husband died by suicide five years ago, following a bad crop that landed him with a debt of around $7,000. As well as farming, Kaur works as a community health worker to support her family; she and her two daughters only got rights to the land after her husband’s death. She lost out on compensation of almost the same amount that the Indian government gives to families of farmers who die by suicide because she did not secure a post mortem of the body to certify the death as suicide. “I didn’t even know the procedure to claim compensation from the government for my husband’s death,” she says. “How am I going to negotiate with businessmen?”

Sarjit Kaur, left, and Dilbeer Kaur, right, from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, have been at the protests for two months. “We are here to show solidarity and support,” Dilbeer says. Prime Minister Modi is “making us leave our farms and sit here to fight for our rights. We are here to get these laws repealed, and we will be here till we get it done.” Kanishka Sonthalia for TIME

The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization has urged action on the gender gap in agriculture, saying women’s voices must be “heard as equal partners” to ensure both agricultural development and food security. And at the protests in India, women are speaking up. Before now, some women had never stepped out of their homes without a veil, let alone spoken onstage in front of thousands of men. Many arrive at the sites in tractors, a powerful—and previously male—symbol of farming in India. “Women are changing women here,” Nat says, praising the spirit of protest among these women. “They are claiming their identities as farmers.”

Bindu Ammini is a well-known Dalit rights and women’s rights activist from Kerala. “I came here to support the farmers” she says. “but I saw a very different India without any caste or gender discrimination. Hopefully it will continue beyond the protest.” Kanishka Sonthalia for TIME

All of this is happening in India’s deeply patriarchal heartlands of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. Changing mindsets in states where femicide, sexual violence and gender discrimination are rampant has been a persistent challenge for activists. “We have been working to bring about gender equality in these parts for so long—but the process has been slow,” says women’s rights activist Sudesh Goyat. During the first few days of protests in Tikri, she says, she was the only woman from Haryana there. But after the court suggested women leave, they “started to pour in. They came with their families. They came with other women. They came alone. It’s no less than a miracle,” she says.

Left: Urmila Devi, 41, works in the fields with her husband in Bahadurgarh village near the Tikri site. “Both of us get it done together. I don’t know about rights,” she says. “I have never thought about it too much. There’s a family to run and mouths to feed.” Kanishka Sonthalia for TIME

Right: Inspired by women singing, reciting protest poetry and chanting slogans at Tikri, 18-year-old farmers Sahumati Padha, left, and Hiraath Jhade came from the central state of Chhattisgarh. “I wanted to bring our story to them and to the rest of India,” Padha says. “We need to be seen.” Kanishka Sonthalia for TIME

It’s also a unique opportunity to address the gender imbalance in Indian society, says Gurnaam Singh, state secretary of the Punjab Kisan Union. At the protest sites, men and women from different cultures and communities must live side by side without much privacy and under harsh circumstances.

Taking advantage of this rare situation, activists hold frequent discussions on women’s work and their contribution to the rural economy. Regular announcements from the stage about treating women as equals echo around the protest sites throughout the day. “I like this India,” says Harsharan Kaur, a young IT engineer who left a job in Dubai to volunteer at the protest site.

A gender-rights activist from Haryana, Sudesh Goyat has been at the Tikri protest site since the very beginning, helping mobilize women and organize for Jan. 18 to be recognized as Women Farmers Day. “Women work equally in the fields with the men. It’s only right they should be here to protest,” she says. “The awareness among women about their own power has never been higher than now.” Kanishka Sonthalia for TIME

At the Ghazipur site, 29-year-old Ravneet Kaur, a law student from Bangalore, has successfully normalized conversations around a taboo topic in India: menstruation. She set up a women’s store at the site with the help of the women protestors, where they displayed sanitary napkins openly. “The men got used to it soon enough,” she says. “Now these conversations are normal around here. Men don’t flinch when they say sanitary napkins anymore.”

Whether such sentiments will spread beyond the protests is unclear, but for now, female farmers are being seen, heard and acknowledged—offering a new vision of what gender equality might look like for the country. “We have looked upon them as mothers, sisters, wives,” says Sukh Deep Singh, a young farmer from Punjab. “But now we see them in a different light.”

The women see themselves differently too. In Tikri, Sudesh Kandela, a 55-year-old farmer from Haryana, watches a play being staged by a local theater group, enraptured by the spectacle. “I didn’t know what I was capable of beyond the expectations of me as a woman, a wife and mother,” says Kandela, who had never before been to a protest or taken her veil off outside her home. “But I am here now,” she says, clenching her fists, “and I cannot be oppressed. I cannot be intimidated. I cannot be bought.”

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newstfionline · 4 years ago

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Saturday, May 1, 2021

Student loan debts (WSJ) U.S. taxpayers could ultimately be on the hook for roughly a third of the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio. This could amount to more than $500 billion, exceeding what taxpayers lost on the saving-and-loan crisis 30 years ago. While defaulted student loans can’t cause the federal government to go bankrupt the way bad mortgage lending upended banks during the financial crisis, they expose a similar problem: Billions of dollars lent based on flawed assumptions about whether the money can be repaid.

Costa Rica to close non-essential businesses next week over COVID-19 (Reuters) Costa Rica will for the next week close non-essential businesses, including restaurants and bars, across the center of the country due to a sharp increase in new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations, the government said on Thursday. From May 3-9, restaurants, bars, department stores, beauty salons, gyms and churches must close in 45 municipalities in central Costa Rica, where almost half the population lives and over two-thirds of new cases have been registered. The government will also impose travel restrictions during the week.

After a Year of Loss, South America Suffers Worst Death Tolls Yet (NYT) In the capital of Colombia, Bogotá, the mayor is warning residents to brace for “the worst two weeks of our lives.” Uruguay, once lauded as a model for keeping the coronavirus under control, now has one of the highest death rates in the world, while the grim daily tallies of the dead have hit records in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru in recent days. Even Venezuela, where the authoritarian government is notorious for hiding health statistics and any suggestion of disarray, says that coronavirus deaths are up 86 percent since January. As vaccinations mount in some of the world’s wealthiest countries and people cautiously envision life after the pandemic, the crisis in Latin America—and in South America in particular—is taking an alarming turn for the worse, potentially threatening the progress made well beyond its borders. Last week, Latin America accounted for 35 percent of all coronavirus deaths in the world, despite having just 8 percent of the global population, according to data compiled by The New York Times.

France Proposes More Surveillance to Hunt for Potential Terrorists (NYT) The French government, responding to several attacks over the past seven months, presented a new anti-terrorism bill on Wednesday that would allow intense algorithmic surveillance of phone and internet communications and tighten restrictions on convicted terrorists emerging from prison. “There have been nine attacks in a row that we could not detect through current means,” Gérald Darmanin, the interior minister, told France Inter radio. “We continue to be blind, doing surveillance on normal phone lines that nobody uses any longer.” The draft bill, prepared by Mr. Darmanin, came in a political and social climate envenomed by Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader, who applauded a letter published this month by 20 retired generals that described France as being in a state of “disintegration” and warned of a possible coup in thinly veiled terms. Published in a right-wing magazine, Valeurs Actuelles, the generals’ letter portrayed a country ravaged by violence, swept by hatred and prey to subversive ideologies bent on stirring a racial war. “If nothing is done,” they said, “laxity will spread inexorably across society, provoking in the end an explosion and the intervention of our active-service comrades in the perilous protection of our civilization’s values.”

Toll of Afghan ‘forever war’ (AP) After 20 years, America is ending its “forever war” in Afghanistan. Announcing a firm withdrawal deadline, President Joe Biden cut through the long debate, even within the U.S. military, over whether the time was right. Starting Saturday, the last remaining 2,500 to 3,500 American troops will begin leaving, to be fully out by Sept. 11 at the latest. Another debate will likely go on far longer: Was it worth it? Since 2001, tens of thousands of Afghans and 2,442 American soldiers have been killed, millions of Afghans driven from their homes, and billions of dollars spent on war and reconstruction. The U.S. and NATO leave behind an Afghanistan that is at least half run directly or indirectly by the Taliban—despite billions poured into training and arming Afghan forces to fight them. Riddled with corruption and tied to regional warlords, the U.S.-backed government is widely distrusted by many Afghans.

In India’s devastating coronavirus surge, anger at Modi grows (Washington Post) As he surveyed the thousands of people gathered at an election rally in eastern India on April 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared jubilant. “Everywhere I look, as far as I can see, there are crowds,” he said, his arms spread wide. “You have done an extraordinary thing.” At the time, India was recording more than 200,000 coronavirus cases a day. In the western state of Maharashtra, oxygen was running short, and people were dying at home because of a shortage of hospital beds. In Modi’s home state of Gujarat, crematoriums were being overwhelmed by the dead. For Modi, the most powerful Indian prime minister in five decades, it is a moment of reckoning. He is facing what appears to be the country’s biggest crisis since independence. Modi’s own lapses and missteps are an increasing source of anger. As coronavirus cases skyrocketed, Modi continued to hold huge election rallies and declined to cancel a Hindu religious festival that drew millions to the banks of the Ganges River. Modi swept to a landslide reelection victory in 2019, offering Indians a muscular brand of nationalism that views India as a fundamentally Hindu country rather than the secular republic envisioned by its founders. He has cultivated an image as a singular leader capable of bold decisions to protect and transform the country. Now that image is “in tatters,” said Vinay Sitapati, a political scientist at Ashoka University in the northern Indian state of Haryana. Modi and his governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) built a formidable machine for winning elections, Sitapati said, but their mind-set of continuous campaigning has come “at the cost of governance.”

Iran and Saudi Arabia Edge Toward Détente (Foreign Policy) Iran’s relationship with Saudi Arabia could be entering “a new chapter of interaction and cooperation,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Thursday, as the two countries signal a rapid mending of diplomatic ties. Khatibzadeh’s comments came in response to an interview Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave to state television this week, when he said that problems between the regional rivals could be overcome and “good relations” could soon prevail. His recent comments offer a stark contrast with ones he made in 2018 when he compared Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Adolf Hitler and described Iran as part of a “triangle of evil.” Behind the scenes, the two countries have also been busy. Earlier this month, the Financial Times broke news of direct talks, held in Baghdad, with a primary focus on ending the war in Yemen.

Chloe Zhao's challenge to Chinese Beauty standards (Quartz) Although Chloé Zhao’s Oscars win has largely been censored in China, her chill, no-makeup look at the awards ceremony has become a hit among many Chinese women, who say Zhao made them feel they can also ditch cosmetics and stop appealing to mainstream beauty standards in the country. China has a set of rigid standards for women’s appearance, prompting online slimming challenges that encourage young girls to pursue body shapes that allow them to wear children’s clothes, or have waists with a width similar to the shorter side of a piece of A4 paper (around 21 cm). As such, Zhao’s no-makeup look is a much-needed endorsement for women in China, where few public figures dare to break away from traditional beauty requirements.

Hong Kong’s latest star TV host? City leader Carrie Lam. (Washington Post) In a city known for producing action-packed martial arts movies, there’s a gripping new TV show on the block. The title promises to captivate viewers: “Get to Know the Election Committee Subsectors.” The star? Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, not as a guest but as the host. The show, which premiered Wednesday on public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong, gives Lam a platform to promote electoral changes introduced by Beijing that further tilt the system against pro-democracy voices, add weight to industry-sector representatives and ensure only “patriots” loyal to the Communist Party can govern Hong Kong. People in mainland China have long been accustomed to state propaganda broadcasts. Hong Kong, however, traditionally had a freewheeling media environment. But almost a year after China imposed a security law that curtailed freedom of speech there, the public broadcaster has become a vital instrument of Beijing’s efforts to control the narrative. Wednesday night’s double-episode premiere featured furious agreement on the merit of Beijing’s electoral changes. The episodes scored only a few thousand views and mostly “thumbs-down” responses on YouTube. One user drew comparisons to George Orwell’s “1984.” If you missed the show, there’s plenty of opportunity to catch it again; episodes will air four times a day, every day.

Cambodians complain of lockdown hunger as outbreak takes toll on poor (Reuters) Residents in Cambodia’s capital gathered on Friday to demand food from the government, outraged at what they called inadequate aid distribution during a tough COVID-19 lockdown that bars people from leaving their homes. Authorities put Phnom Penh and a nearby town under a hard lockdown on April 19 to quell a surge in coronavirus infections that has seen Cambodia’s case total balloon from about 500 to 12,641 since late February, including all 91 of its deaths. Though private food deliveries are operating, markets and street food services are closed, making it difficult for poorer families to get supplies, with many without income because of the stay-home order. Amnesty International on Friday called Cambodia’s lockdown an emerging humanitarian and human rights crisis, with nearly 294,000 people in Phnom Penh at risk of going hungry.

Palestinian election delay (Reuters) It could have marked a political turning point. Palestinians were slated to go to the polls starting next month for the first time in 15 years—but on Thursday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced he will indefinitely postpone the elections. He blamed Israel, accusing authorities of stonewalling efforts to let Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem cast their ballots. But Israeli officials suggested Abbas was using Israel as a pretext to cancel a vote his faction might lose. Hamas, his party’s rival, has rejected the move, and some Palestinians took to the streets to protest.

The real threat to Chad’s military rulers: unemployed youth (Reuters) When Neldjibaye Madjissem graduated with a mathematics degree in 2015, he began searching for work as a school teacher. Six years on, he is still looking—and is angry. The 31-year-old blames Chad's government for lack of work, mismanagement of oil revenues and corruption. No wonder people are protesting on the streets in their thousands, he says. The battlefield death of President Idriss Deby last week, after 30 years of autocratic rule, sent the Central African country into a tailspin. But perhaps the greater threat for Chad’s rulers comes from the mass of unemployed young people tired of the Deby family and its international allies, particularly former colonial ruler France. At least six people died in violent protests this week. "The lack of jobs risks creating a great problem. The people are angry," said Madjissem, as he prepared a private lesson to a high school student in the living room of a tiny house in N'Djamena. His infrequent wage: $3 an hour.

Famine looms in southern Madagascar, U.N.’s food agency says (Reuters) Famine is looming in southern Madagascar, where children are “starving” after drought and sandstorms ruined harvests, the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. Amer Daoudi, senior director of WFP operations globally, speaking from Antananarivo, Madagascar, said he had visited villages where people had resorted to eating locusts and leaves. “I witnessed horrific images of starving children, malnourished, and not only the children—mothers, parents and the populations in villages we visited,” Daoudi told a United Nations briefing in Geneva. Malnutrition has almost doubled to 16% from 9% in March 2020 following five consecutive years of drought, exacerbated this year by sandstorms and late rains, he said.

#headlines #news

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znewstech · 2 years ago

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Panchayat election goes on peacefully across Haryana | Chandigarh News - Times of India

Panchayat election goes on peacefully across Haryana | Chandigarh News – Times of India

AMBALA/KURUKSHETRA: The village panchayat elections remained peaceful in Ambala and Kurukshetra, and no untoward incident has been reported apart from one of alleged violence in Jansua village of Ambala on Saturday. Ambala deputy commissioner (DC) Priyanka Soni and Kurukshetra DC Shantanu Sharma said that the election completed peacefully in their districts. In Ambala district, for the contest of…

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xyaoihandsx · 3 years ago

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Just how did the BJP win the elections due to good governance and service delivery?

It's absurd that supporters and analysts of the BJP look at tarot cards to divine what the elements for voting had been rather than taking a look at what the party is saying to its voters.

Victory elections sanctify a political party's actions, however they don't validate them. Sanctification has absolutely nothing to do with the real life, but is the benefit of a blessing. The validation is built on factual information.

Now that the results are in, one could argue that the voter was drawn to a party due to its welfarism or ability in the governance or delivery of services. That is what is taking place in the wake of BJP's remarkable success in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere. It will happen each time there's a BJP victory, which has been numerous and will continue to be.

One explanation is the fact that the BJP requires secular validation since it works in a world and under a Constitution that doesn't tolerate outright communalism. This's exactly why its supporters attempt to justify BJP's success by citing non-communal factors.

Those who desired the Trinamool Congress to win in Bengal and were lucky to see it triumph over the BJP, didn't claim it was welfarism or messianic leadership or competent governance that carried the day. They're relieved that the divisive ideology that's splitting this nation apart was stopped at one frontier.

Mostly the BJP and its supporters try to find granular explanations for its electoral success. What was the BJP's victory on 10 March?

The reality is right before us. It's crucial to observe what the BJP itself does and says to the voters, how its leaders act and what they are saying. What they asked for votes for, and in the name of, is pertinent; the rest is opinionated.

" eighty versus 20 is a reality, " the prime minister of UP stated. This election is certainly 80 - 20. The division of Indians by faith for the votes is a fact for the BJP and it pursues this reality. If it believed that votes will be largely won on the basis of delivery and performance, why would it engage with such items?

It is a rhetorical question, and in case you do not know the answer, it is going to be bizarre.

Haryana is now the seventh BJP state to produce a bill against Love jihad after 2018. On 4 February 2020, Lok Sabha was informed by the Union home minister that there had been no love - jihad cases in India and that the phenomenon doesn't exist. So why are BJP states, such as UP (which adopted its love jihad law in 2020) pursuing a phantom?

This question is going to only be asked by individuals who are not aware of what the BJP is attempting to do as well as what it wants to do, that is constant harassment of Muslims and our minorities.

It's ironic that supporters and analysts of the BJP look at tarot cards to divine what the variables for voting had been rather than taking a look at what the party is saying to its electorate.

In 4 successive elections (2014, 2022), 2019, 2017, the BJP has gotten over 40% of votes in Uttar Pradesh. Now we're urged to think that this's based on the overall performance of the UP government and not on the continual focus on temple, beef, love jihad and violence they've created.

If communal mischief wasn't essential or was marginal to the BJP's electoral success, why would their leaders concentrate on it? Precisely why must you burden minorities with the creation and presentation of your song? The solution would be that the concern of the BJP's song isn't delivery and development. It's communalism and division and also the sprinkling of hate as well as violence.

Consider likewise that this's effective and has always been. From the time the party was established (as Jana Sangh) till 1990, the BJP didn't have a vast majority of a in every state in India, Madhya Pradesh, when Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and later Uttar Pradesh got BJP chief ministers. For four decades, it'd a national vote share in single digits, until it abruptly doubled to 18%, and then doubled again.

Just how did the party become well known and just how did it do this so quickly? It had been the movement that mobilised Hindus against the mosque in Ayodhya that was wrecked, triggering pogroms all over the nation.

There was no government supply of services at that time and no competence to show anything to the electorate, and there's simply no such thing today.

Can this draw in voters in the future? This's a fascinating point to make, since the Union government, based on its very own figures, has wrecked the economy. We will certainly see, maybe it'll continue, or perhaps not.

However, it will be a relief in case we weren't told that BJP's success isn't on the back of what the party leaders themselves repeatedly requested votes, but on the back of some mystical factors which have just now come to light in the wake of these results.

More...

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iz-nekih-starih-razloga · 3 years ago

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Just how did the BJP win the elections due to good governance and service delivery?

It's absurd that supporters and analysts of the BJP look at tarot cards to divine what the elements for voting had been rather than taking a look at what the party is saying to its voters.

Mostly the BJP and its supporters try to find granular explanations for its electoral success. What was the BJP's victory on 10 March?

It is a rhetorical question, and in case you do not know the answer, it is going to be bizarre.

This question is going to only be asked by individuals who are not aware of what the BJP is attempting to do as well as what it wants to do, that is constant harassment of Muslims and our minorities.

It's ironic that supporters and analysts of the BJP look at tarot cards to divine what the variables for voting had been rather than taking a look at what the party is saying to its electorate.

There was no government supply of services at that time and no competence to show anything to the electorate, and there's simply no such thing today.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk6Vl2auEY4wkPgXYeT0Yuw

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marseducation · 3 years ago

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*Samyukta Kisan Morcha Press Release*

312th day, 04th October 2021

*Protests organised all over India as citizens express their anger at BJP leaders' impunity and violence, after the massacre of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh yesterday - Memorandum addressed to President of India submitted - An independent journalist also killed in Lakhimpur Kheri's incidents yesterday - SKM appeals to all citizens to maintain peace and order*

*Agreement reached between protesting farmers and the administration, which paved the way for final rites of martyred farmers - Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh's BJP government puts in place numerous undemocratic and authoritarian measures to prevent swelling support to the protesting farmers, and to protect the culprits - SKM condemns the undemocratic behaviour of Yogi government strongly*

*Samyukt Kisan Morcha clarifies once again that it has never approached Supreme Court or other Courts on matters related to the current agitation or the 3 farm laws - SKM believes that the matter with regard to the 3 laws is that of Constitutionality but also about ramifications on farm livelihoods which is in the ambit of the Union Government to resolve*

*PM Modi attacking Opposition political parties will not resolve the farmers' agitation - SKM reminds Mr Narendra Modi and BJP of their stand in the past, and asks for fulfillment of farmers' rightful demands without any further delay*

On Samyukt Kisan Morcha's call last night, asking for protests from 10am to 1pm today all over the country to press for four key demands, protests have been organised at DC/DM offices and other locations in many places. Reports have come in from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and other states about these protests. There was also a silent protest march organised at Singhu Border also. Citizens who participated in these protests questioned the impunity and violence with which BJP leaders are operating, and their anti-farmer attitude and behaviour. They demanded immediate dismissal of the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, immediate arrest of the Minister's son and his accomplices, a probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, and also the resignation of Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. Reports indicate that FIRs have been lodged against Ashish Mishra Teni and 15 others. However, no arrests have been made. SKM has appealed to all citizens to maintain peace and non-violence, as is the norm of the farmers' struggle, and asked protestors not to fall into the trap being laid by BJP to derail the movement by violence and communal politics being brought in.

There were spontaneous protests in response to the unfortunate developments in Lakhimpur Kheri from last night itself when candlelight marches and rallies were taken out in some locations like Ambala, Kurukshetra, Chandigarh and other places. In Puranpur and other locations, highways were jammed by protesting farmers. Thousands of farmers poured into Tikunia today, at the site of the violent incidents, where the bodies of the martyrs were kept, and negotiations held with the administration.

Today, an agreement was reached between SKM leaders along with local protesting farmers and families of the deceased, and the state administration, which paved the way for the final rites to be performed of the martyred farmers, after postmortem is performed. The bodies of the four farmers had been kept in an overnight vigil by hundreds of farmers and their families in Tikunia's college ground. The Government will give 45 lakh rupees each and a government job each to the families of the farmers who were killed yesterday. The injured will be given 10 lakh rupees each. FIR has been registered against Ashish Mishra Teni and 15 others under Sections 302, 120B and other charges, and the government said that it will arrest all the accused within a week. A case has been registered against Minister Ajay Mishra Teni also, under Sections like 120B. The Government has also agreed to get a retired High Court judge to probe the matter. The demand with regard to Ajay Mishra Teni's dismissal from the Union Government is pending, of course.

Eye witness accounts reveal how the murderous attack seems to be pre-planned, facilitated by the UP police. It is reported that Police removed barricades to allow the vehicles of the Minister's son, who himself was driving the Thar vehicle, to mow down protestors indiscriminately, and the farmers retaliated thereafter. The Police protected Ashish Mishra Teni in escaping from the scene, and it is reported that he fired as he escaped. The specific targeting of SKM leader Tajinder Singh Virk was narrated in eye witness accounts.

Reports through the day indicated that the Uttar Pradesh government tried numerous undemocratic ways of preventing various people going to Lakhimpur Kheri, whether it was social activists, or political leaders. Sec.144 was imposed, and internet services were suspended. UP Government went to the extent of disallowing certain people from arriving into, and leaving from particular airports, and had also written to Punjab government, asking that no person from Punjab should be allowed to enter Lakhimpur Kheri. At the time of release of this press note, reports indicate SKM leaders like Gurnam Singh Chaduni and Buta Singh Burjgill were being prevented from reaching Lakhimpur Kheri by the UP Police. In fact, it is reported that Gurnam Singh Chaduni has been arrested in Meerut. The prevention of leaders of the Opposition, including the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and two sitting Chief Ministers (of Punjab and Chattisgarh), and disallowing the landing of a Deputy Chief Minister clearly shows that the UP Government has something to hide, and is protecting the culprits. Such draconian measures are unprecedented and raise numerous valid questions. SKM condemns all these undemocratic measures of Uttar Pradesh BJP government.

Samyukt Kisan Morcha clarifies once again that it has never approached the Supreme Court or any other Court for resolution of the core issues of the farmers' agitation - about the 3 anti-farmer central laws or MSP statutory guarantee. SKM has always believed that the three central laws which reflect the anti-farmer policy directions adopted by the Union Government have to be repealed by the government itself. Towards this, SKM has also written to the President and the Prime Minister asking for dialogue to be resumed and demands to be fulfilled. SKM did not approach the Court even on the constitutionality matter - while it is important that state government's constitutional authority over agriculture has to be restored and strengthened, it is equally important to realise that the issues with the farm laws are not just about constitutionality, or lack thereof. It is about the implications of the farm laws on farmers and the death blow to their fragile livelihoods. While the laws might have been suspended from implementation for now, SKM realises that the Stay can be lifted any day. Therefore, the movement has insisted on a full repeal of the laws. When it came to organising a Kisan Sansad at Jantar Mantar too, SKM did not have to knock on the doors of any court, and fulfilled fully the conditions with which it obtained Delhi Police's permission and cooperation for organising the same. Therefore, there is no question of the farmers' movement entering the Courts and seeking justice, and protesting at the same time. The petitioner in this case has got nothing to do with SKM. On the matter of blocking the highways, it is reported that the Supreme Court has issued notice to 43 leaders. Samyukt Kisan Morcha has always maintained that farmers did not put up any barricades or blockades on the roads. It was the Haryana, UP and Delhi Police which did so. Farmers have in fact kept the roads clear for traffic on both sides at the morcha sites. Public inconvenience if any is being caused by the police which has barricaded the highways. Farmers have also maintained that the agitation can be resolved, if the Union Government does not behave in this egoistic, adamant and unjustifiable manner. The resolution is clearly in the hands of the Modi Government which has not been able to give any convincing evidence as to why it will not repeal the anti-farmer laws, or why it will not enact a legislation for guaranteeing remunerative MSP for all produce and farmers.

Reports indicate that Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi criticised opposition political parties sharply in an interview, alleging that the opposition parties are indulging in political deceit and moral dishonesty when they oppose the farm laws. He has reportedly said that parties who promised certain reforms in their election promises and even their manifestos, have taken a u-turn later on and did not have the boldness to carry through their promises. Samyukt Kisan Morcha would like to remind the Prime Minister that these so-called "reforms" are not beneficial for farmers, irrespective of which party is proposing these. These "reforms" are meant to facilitate the business of agri-corporations at the expenses of millions of farmers in the country. Farmers did not ask for such reforms. Moreover, SKM would like to remind Mr Modi and BJP that what the farmers are demanding today is very much in line with promises made by the BJP itself, and perspectives supported by Mr Modi and BJP in the past. It was in 2011 when Mr Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and as the Chairperson of a Working Group that he recommended that MSP enforcement should be mandated through statutory provisions, in the "Report of the Working Group on Consumer Affairs" of the Government of India. Further, earlier to this, it was in 2002 that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government obtained a report of its "High Level Committee on Long Term Grain Policy" that recommended that CACP should go strictly on the basis of C2 cost of production. The Committee also recommended that MSP should have statutory status. This Committee was asked to set out principles and guidelines for long term grain policy by the then BJP government. It is also well known that Mr Narendra Modi and BJP canvassed for the party's election campaign in 2014 on the MSP plank, promising improvements for farmers. In 2018, the Modi government in fact made a commitment on the floor of the Parliament that MSP will be made a reality for all farmers. None of this materialised. It is high time that BJP looked into its own political dishonesty in making direct promises to farmers and reneging on them. More importantly, it is important that farmers demands be met in the current agitation, since the implications of not doing so are a matter of life and death of millions of anna daatas of the country.

The Champaran-Varanasi Lokneeti Satyagraha Padayatra that started in Champaran on Gandhi Jayanti, is on its third day of journey. After spending the night at Kotwa last night, the yatra will reach Rampur Khajuriya tonight, after passing through Belwa. The yatra is receiving a very positive response throughout its route with locals extending their support and hospitality.

*Issued by -*

Balbir Singh Rajewal, Dr Darshan Pal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, Hannan Mollah, Jagjit Singh Dallewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Shivkumar Sharma 'Kakkaji', Yudhvir Singh, Yogendra Yadav

*Samyukta Kisan Morcha*

Email: [email protected]

#kisan protest #kisan andolan #news

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classyfoxdestiny · 3 years ago

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Anti-sedition law: Is it a necessary evil?

On the night of December 17, 1995, a large consignment of weapons, including AK-47 rifles and several hundred rounds of ammunition, was airdropped from an aircraft in the Purulia district of West Bengal. The weapons were confiscated by the police after the locals informed them about the mysterious event. A Dane named Niels Holck, also known as Kim Peter Davy, was later found to be the kingpin behind the operation, and the Central Bureau of Investigation slapped sedition charges in the case.

The sensational events captured the imagination of the public and the political circles: there were allegations that the arms drop was plotted to destabilise the Left Front government of Jyoti Basu in West Bengal. The CBI issued a statement in 2011 dismissing claims that the operation had the nod of “political forces” at the Centre.

An illegal act of this sort, that has the potential to incite an armed revolt against an elected government, can best be described as a seditious act and not just a terrorist plot.

Loknath Behera, a senior IPS officer involved in the investigation of the Purulia arms drop case, said the anti-sedition law should be used sparingly since it entails heavy punishment up to life imprisonment. Moreover, it is also a difficult offence to prove in court. “Sedition cannot be invoked for small offences,” he said. “It has to be used judiciously in the context of the Kedar Nath Singh [vs the State of Bihar] judgment [of 1962], where the constitutionality of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code was tested and upheld.”

In the Kedar Nath Singh judgment, the Supreme Court narrowed down the scope of the anti-sedition law, saying that mere criticism of the government was not seditious unless it incited violence or disturbed public order. This meant that if the law was not read in the context of this interpretation, it threatened to engulf any expression of opposing opinion—written or spoken—qualifying it as incitement of hatred or disaffection towards the government.

In the last few years, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has slapped sedition charges in a series of cases. Leaders of the proscribed organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and terror-accused in Kashmir to politicians and activists protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019 became the accused in these cases. The NIA, set up in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has mixed experience in courts on sedition cases. While the agency successfully proved the charges in some, it failed in many others.

“The anti-sedition law has its relevance,” said a senior NIA official. “When a banned outfit like the SFJ, which propagates the idea of a separate Khalistan state, enters into a social media campaign besides invoking the anti-terror law, such activities also attract penal provisions defined under IPC Section 124A which explains the offence more clearly.”

But there has been a plethora of cases where courts have acquitted the accused. Recently, the NIA court in Guwahati acquitted activist and MLA Akhil Gogoi and three others in a sedition case slapped against them during the height of the anti-CAA protests in Assam in 2019.

Successive governments have used the anti-sedition law with impunity to quell dissent. The result is that several writers, journalists, cartoonists, politicians, activists and students got entangled in the dreaded colonial-era statute. And, the level of sedition charges has stretched the imagination of the law itself.

Two months ago, a sedition charge was slapped against an Assam woman for using a table cloth that resembled the national flag while celebrating Eid. In June, the Guwahati High Court granted her bail. In another instance in Punjab in 2020, a political leader was accused of sedition when he posted a message on social media about the lack of ventilators during the pandemic. The bail order by the Punjab and Haryana High Court termed the use of sedition in this case as an “overzealous exercise of power” by the police. The trial is yet to commence.

The courts are now dealing with several cases of visibly apparent misuse of the anti-sedition law, and this has drawn the ire of the Supreme Court. On July 15, the Supreme Court asked the Union government as to why it was not repealing the provision used by the British to silence people like Mahatma Gandhi.

“Is it still necessary to keep this statute even after 75 years of Independence?” asked the three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, while agreeing to examine the pleas filed by the Editors Guild of India and an army veteran, challenging Section 124A. The bench issued a notice to the Union government and pointed out that the conviction rate in sedition cases is extremely low.

Section 124A was inserted into the IPC by the British in 1870. Repealing obsolete and archaic laws was a poll promise of the BJP. After it came to power, more than 1,200 redundant laws were struck off. A special committee has been set up in the prime minister’s office to review archaic laws and make recommendations to the government. But the final word on making changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure, IPC and anti-terror laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and National Security Act lies with the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA). The ministry has constituted a five-member committee to look into overhauling such fossilised legislations, or removing them.

With the review of the sedition law on its table, it is not the first time Home Minister Amit Shah and Home Secretary A.K. Bhalla are burning the midnight oil. The first option is to revise the draconian legislation to make it in sync with the changing times. Second, to issue guidelines based on the directions of the Supreme Court, and third, to strike it down if it has outlived its purpose.

“There is a need for wider consultation on the matter,” said D. Raja, general secretary of the Communist Party of India. “The government should consult stakeholders and get public opinion while making changes to any laws.”

In 2012, the UPA government had walked a few steps to review the anti-sedition law but developed cold feet. A group of ministers was then constituted to suggest changes based on recommendations of the law commission. Former home ministry officials said the view taken was to retain the law after revising the definition for sedition. Several changes were proposed including replacing disaffection against “government” with disaffection against “Parliament, state legislature, Constitution, national flag, national anthem and national emblem”, and reducing the punishment for sedition to a seven-year jail term with a fine. But the proposals never saw the light of day. In the meantime, law enforcement agencies were asked to avoid misuse of sedition and make use of other provisions in the IPC to deal with similar offences of a lesser category.

In the mid-1980s, the Union home ministry had shown greater political will when it came to drafting a law to quell separatist tendencies. P. Chidambaram, former Union home minister told THE WEEK: “In 1987, the Terrorists and Disruption Activities (Prevention) Act was drafted and passed in the context of the rising terrorism in Punjab. It was intended to be a temporary law.” Chidambaram, who was then minister of state for internal security, sat down with M.K. Narayanan, the then director of Intelligence Bureau, and a senior Punjab police officer, to draft TADA that encompassed a wide range of activities, including protests of all sorts. For the first time, it made confessions before a police officer admissible in court, put restrictions on bail and gave enhanced powers to detain suspects. TADA was in force between 1985 and 1995.

According to police officers of that era, the law was grossly misused. Over the years, the Supreme Court read down the application of the law to prevent its misuse. “Safeguards were introduced and the law was upheld by the courts, but still, the law was misused,” said Chidambaram. “The Congress government under P.V. Narasimha Rao allowed the Act to lapse.”

Shantanu Sen, former joint director in CBI who was then deputy inspector general in Punjab Police, said: “I was part of the consultations that drafted TADA. While it was useful at one time to fight terrorism and organised crime in Punjab, I am not mourning its end.”

In western countries, said Sen, various forms of incarceration are there: individuals can be put under house arrest and other steps taken to control their movement if they are found on the wrong side of the law which are not heavily punishable. “But here, the situation of an undertrial is the same as that of a person who is convicted for a crime,” he said. Sen added that simply because the sedition law is being misused, it cannot be struck down. “However, the government should immediately bring provisions to control its misuse,” he said.

The danger, according to law enforcement officers, is that it may open a pandora’s box of new forms of misuse. Also, offences that strictly qualify as seditious speech or writing might be stretched as offences under some stringent laws like the UAPA.

The recent death of the 84-year-old Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, while being in judicial custody, raised several questions on the use of draconian laws like the UAPA. Swamy was booked under various sections of the UAPA; there was no sedition charge against him. He had already spent nine months in jail, before his death on July 5, waiting for his trial to start. There are many others like Swamy, booked for sedition and anti-terror charges, waiting in jails for years awaiting trial.

Undeniably, state police have different experiences with sedition, owing to their different social concerns and history of crime and terrorism. The number of cases varies from state to state. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the Maoist-infested state of Chhattisgarh had just one case filed under Section 124A in 2019. Whereas Karnataka had 22 cases, Assam had 17 and Jammu and Kashmir 11.

Vishwaranjan, former director-general of police, Chhattisgarh, explained why there was no need to invoke too many sedition cases in the state. “There is no denying that the Maoist literature, speeches, actions were all seditious,” he said. “But until their claims were backed by seditious activity that could damage law and order, we arrested them under normal sections of the IPC.”

M. Mahender Reddy, director-general of police of Telangana, said sedition is used only against top Maoist cadres who use the ‘barrel of the gun’ to threaten the state. N.R. Wasan, former special director in CBI, said in his career spanning 36 years he never used sedition against any accused. “There were all kinds of cases under investigation, from insurgency to Naxalism, but I did not feel the need to use it,” he said.

There have been efforts by state governments to ensure judicious use of the anti-sedition law. In 2015, the home department of Maharashtra issued a circular asking police stations to issue guidelines to prevent the misuse of the law. The circular mentioned that words against politicians and government servants cannot be termed as sedition, obscenity or vulgarity does not fall under sedition and a legal opinion must be obtained in writing from a law officer of the district, giving reasons why the charges are being invoked.

Shishir Hiray, a special public prosecutor in Maharashtra, points out that there are many provisions to prevent unnecessary arrests which can be used to stop the misuse of laws like sedition. “For example, Section 41A of the CrPC has penal provisions that can be invoked against an investigating officer if he flouts the rules of arrest,” he said.

P.D.T. Achary, former secretary- general of the Lok Sabha, said Article 19(2) of the Constitution authorises the government to impose reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression. And, it is under this umbrella that sedition exists on the statute book to date. Achary, however, noted that the problem persists in the law which is arbitrary and unjustifiable at any stage. “The Supreme Court should strike it down now,” he said.

Parliamentarians have time and again argued about the number of sedition cases in the country under different governments. The method of calculation varies as in some FIRs Section 124A is not a primary offence but a secondary one. This is one of the reasons why figures of the NCRB on sedition cases are at odds with the numbers recently revealed by Article 14—a portal run by a group of lawyers, journalists and academics which has tracked sedition cases between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2020. Their data showed a massive 96 per cent rise in cases since Narendra Modi came to power. The home ministry officials said they have started maintaining a separate database on sedition since 2014, unlike the UPA regime when all sedition cases were clubbed with IPC cases.

Lt General Shokin Chouhan, former chairman of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group in Nagaland, said: “More than numbers, the cause for disaffection toward any government needs to be addressed. Whether it is the Central or state government, lack of [good] governance breeds disaffection.”

Lubhyathi Rangarajan, a lawyer who heads the Article 14 project, said inherent in the meaning of sedition lies a stigma—it is desh droh (traitor) in several Indian languages. While the word sedition awaits a final decree on its fate, the silver lining is that it is never too late for the government to build the affection of people.

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gojackenmitracoolas · 1 year ago

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राजस्थान में ग्रेड थर्ड टीचर्स के ट्रांसफर सरकार के लिए परेशानी का कारण बनते जा रहे हैं। https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd2XmftGiAs युग चरण के साथ देखिये देश-विदेश की सभी महत्वपूर्ण और बड़ी खबरें | बायोफार्मा कंपनी कॉनकॉर्ड बायोटेक लिमिटेड का IPO सब्सक्रिप्शन के लिए आज ओपन हुआ। The IPO of biopharma company Concord Biotech Limited opened for subscription today. राजस्थान के भीलवाड़ा में हुए गैंगरेप और हत्या मामले में राष्ट्रीय लोकतांत्रिक पार्टी ने सरकार के खिलाफ मोर्चा खोला। The National Democratic Party opened a front against the government in the gangrape and murder case in Bhilwara, Rajasthan. राजस्थान में ग्रेड थर्ड टीचर ट्रांसफर सरकार के लिए परेशानी का कारण बनते जा रहे हैं। Grade third teacher transfers in Rajasthan are becoming a cause of trouble for the government. राजस्थान सरकार ने चुनावी साल में पुलिस कांस्टेबल के 3 हज़ार से ज़्यादा पदों पर भर्तियां निकली। In the election year, the Rajasthan government announced recruitment for more than 3000 posts of police constables. हरियाणा सरकार ने गुरुवार देर रात हिंसा प्रभावित नूंह जिले के (SP) वरुण सिंघला का ट्रांसफर किया गया। The Haryana government transferred Varun Singhla, SP of the violence-hit Nuh district late on Thursday night. Watch the latest Hindi news Live on the World's Most Loved News Channel on YouTube. Latest News about Politics , Sports , Entertainment, Crime at Yugcharan Channel. Un Biased News Reporting ! Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group to get Latest News Updates : https://chat.whatsapp.com/ESor6YJXGEIL9y7DZRCtim Subscribe our channel for the latest news: https://www.youtube.com/@yugcharan Like us: https://www.facebook.com/theyugcharan Follow us: https://twitter.com/theyugcharan Telegram : https://t.me/TheYugCharanpaper Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/theyugcharan/ Website : https://yugcharan.com #today_breaking_news #Breaking_news #Latest_news #Hindi_News #News #NewsHindiLive #LiveTVNews #HindiNews #haryananews #rajasthannews #jobvacancy #crime #crimenews #rajasthanelection #ipo via Yugcharan News https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbT6O9BlRulH48ph5QmCYEg August 04, 2023 at 03:42PM

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bbcbreakingnews · 4 years ago

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Bengal to vote in 8 phases, Assam 3, one-dayers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Friday announced polls in Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry between March 27 and April 29, setting up several high-stake electoral contests with unprecedented eight-phase voting in Bengal. The state, which has seen rising bitterness and violence between Trinamool Congress and BJP supporters, will see the country’s most staggered assembly poll to date. The election in Assam will be in three phases, up from two in 2016 while Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will have a single-day poll on April 6. Counting for all the assemblies will be held on May 2. The elections are a trial of strength for BJP in the wake of the long-drawn agitation by farmers’ unions opposed to the new agri laws. Though the states going to polls are largely unaffected by matters such as procurement and MSP, the resonance of the issues raised by Punjab, Haryana and west UP agri unions will be watched closely as BJP defends the reforms as pro-farmer.

The polls will also test Congress, as it has opted for an alliance in Assam with the pro-minority AIUDF of Badruddin Ajmal and has pacts with Left and DMK in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu respectively. It is the main challenger to the Left in Kerala where it did well in the Lok Sabha polls. Jolted by the loss of its government in Puducherry just before polls, Congress will hope to retrieve some standing in alliance with DMK. As of now, the Left’s prospects seem to have brightened in Kerala following tactical missteps by Congress that saw it lose ground in the local body elections last year. Yet, the contest is typically close. Tamil Nadu will be without stalwarts J Jayalalitha and M Karunanidhi in an assembly poll for the first time and M K Stalin will look to seal his leadership of DMK with a win that makes him the chief minister. In Assam, BJP looks to ensure that its clean win in 2016 was not a fluke though it now faces the combined challenge of Congress-AIUDF which is intended to consolidate anti-BJP votes. BJP, on the other hand, sees factionalism in Congress as a factor that helps its cause while it is seen to have the upper hand in Bodo areas and Barak Valley. Its challenge lies in negotiating the Citizenship Amendment Act potholes in a state where “illegal migrants” are not a straightforward ethno-religious faultline. With the Congress-DMK government losing office in Puducherry, BJP is hoping its alliance with former CM N Rangaswamy, seen to be a popular leader, will see it through along with AIADMK. Chief election commissioner Sunil Arora, while announcing the dates at a press conference, said the decision to stagger polling in West Bengal over eight phases — unlike six during the 2016 assembly polls (which effectively was seven phases as the sixth phase then was split over two different dates) and seven phases in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls — was based on several factors. These factors, he said, included availability and need for movement of central paramilitary forces as well as “current kind of charges and counter-charges”, an apparent reference to allegations of political violence levelled by BJP against Trinamool Congress and counter-charges by the latter. “We have to find a kind of mean… way out,” he said, adding that an increase from seven to eight phases was no big deal. To a particular question on why poll in Tamil Nadu, where concerns over excess use of money power had led to rescinding of polls in some constituencies in the past, was to be held in one phase and West Bengal in eight, the CEC reminded that Tamil Nadu had had a single-phase poll in 2016 assembly election as well as 2019 Lok Sabha polls. An EC official, while speaking to TOI, also pointed out that even in BJP-ruled Assam, the number of phases was raised to three this time from two in 2016 assembly poll.

source https://bbcbreakingnews.com/2021/02/27/bengal-to-vote-in-8-phases-assam-3-one-dayers-in-tamil-nadu-kerala/

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