#delhi law and order

[luckyluan]

THE KING'S SPATULA, PT. III

JAN 21, 2024 - 10:33PM

“How much does it cost?” Cable said.  

“A lot.” Baz Allistair said flatly. 

Cable turned the small spatula-shaped scepter over in his hands and its gold metal cast a bright glare over his face. He could feel the trident's ancient energy growling in his palm—begging him to unleash its power. 

“It’s talking to me.” Cable murmured. 

“Yup. It’s the desideratum.” Baz Allistair’s flat tone called out. 

The small shop was stuffed with magical artifacts from floor to ceiling and the ornate titles of ancient tomes glowed brightly against the dimly lit shelves. The shopkeeper, Baz Allistair, was as interested in this conversation as Cable was in paying his taxes. Baz Allistair regularly hunted and handled magical artifacts and resold them to his local magical community, but Cable was sure the shopkeeper did not knew what he acquired. 

“It speaks to my desires.” Cable finished. 

“Uh huh, yeah, that.” Baz Allistair said. 

“I’ll take it off you for this.” Cable said. 

He rummaged through his pockets to pull out a small cone shaped vial filled to the brim with a thick, iridescent substance. The vial filled the room with a spectrum of radiant energies and they danced on the walls. A fresh breeze fluttered through the stale and crusted pages which lay loose on the cabinets. 

“Unicorn specimen. How did you--” Baz Allistair began. 

“You have your ways. I have mine. Deal?” Cable asked. 

He fixed Baz Allistair with a steel glare and the shopkeeper looked from him to the weighty vial swaying, untouched, in Cable’s closed fist. Baz Allistair licked his thin lips as he reached for the vial. 

“Deal?” Cable reiterated. 

“Ugh. Deal. Gimme.” Baz Allistair griped. 

He snatched the gleaming vial from Cable as the patron stowed the trident in the pocket of his acid washed jeans. Cable, then, slid his hands into his back pocket and produced a tiny pod filled with blue wax. He held the pod in throwing position and pointed at the shopkeeper. 

“Baz Allistair,” Cable called. “You’re under arrest for the improper management of magical artifacts and possession of illegal substances.” 

“You little shit. You’re M.A.R.S?! You set me up!” 

Cable flicked his shining gold badge at Baz Allistair with a grin and produced a pair of ivory cuffs. 

“You set yourself up, Bazy. I’m just doing my job. I’m with the Magical Artifacts Reclamation Sector of Perliament and you’re under arrested.” 

Cable launched the blue wax pod and the ivory handcuffs at Baz Allistair who recoiled as the ivory cuffs fastened, tightly, around his wrists. The tiny pod exploded and engulfed the shopkeeper. The blue wax shrunk until Baz Allistair was trapped in a sphere of wax the size of a tennis ball. 

“All clear here. Coming in with the perp.” Commissioner St. James plucked the ball from the floor and jammed it into the pocket of his tan coat as he swept out of the store with the desideratum whispering to him from his pocket. 

[iakshaysrivastav]

CRPF School Explosion: Investigating Delhi's Security Failures

Delhi, the capital of India, witnessed a shocking incident today with a crude bomb explosion near the CRPF Public School in the Rohini area. The residents of the locality were rattled by this event. It has once again sparked concerns over the city’s security and law enforcement. Although there were no reported casualties or injuries, the explosion has left people in shock, raising serious…

[hometuitionorg]

[zvaigzdelasas]

Western support for Israel’s assault on Gaza has poisoned efforts to build consensus with significant developing countries on condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine, officials and diplomats have warned.[...]

In the flurry of emergency diplomatic visits, video conferences and calls, western officials have been accused of failing to defend the interests of 2.3mn Palestinians in their rush to condemn the Hamas attack and support Israel. In the first days after Hamas’s assault, some western diplomats worried that the US was giving carte blanche to Israel to attack Gaza with full force. That had eroded efforts since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to build consensus with leading states in the so-called Global South — such as India, Brazil and South Africa — on the need to uphold a global rules-based order, said more than a dozen western officials.[...] “We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South,” said one senior G7 diplomat. “All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost . . . Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.”

Many developing countries have traditionally supported the Palestinian cause, seeing it through the prism of self-determination and a push against the global dominance of the US, Israel’s most important backer.[...] Some American diplomats are privately concerned that the Biden administration’s response has failed to acknowledge how its broad support of Israel can alienate much of the Global South.[...] Russia and its ally China have cultivated warm ties with the Palestinians. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. “What we said about Ukraine has to apply to Gaza. Otherwise we lose all our credibility,” the senior G7 diplomat added. “The Brazilians, the South Africans, the Indonesians: why should they ever believe what we say about human rights?”[...]

Just four weeks before the Hamas assault on Israel, leaders from the US, EU and western allies attended the G20 summit in New Delhi and asked developing nations to condemn Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians in order to uphold respect for the UN charter and international law. Since last Sunday, many of those officials told the Financial Times they have had the same argument read back at them in demands for condemnation of Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza, and of its decision to restrict water, electricity and gas supplies there.

17 Oct 23

[mediagraph]

'No Safety, No Duty': OPD Services Hit By Nationwide Doctors' Protest

Doctors across the country have refused to return to work, except for emergency procedures, as they protest against the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Nationwide protests are underway

The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) yesterday announced a nationwide pause in elective services in hospitals. In a letter to Union Health Minister JP Nadda, FORDA described the Kolkata incident as "perhaps the greatest travesty to have occurred in the history of the resident doctor community".

FORDA has demanded resignation of all authorities concerned who could not protect the dignity and life of a woman on-duty doctor. They have also sought an assurance that the protesting doctors will not be manhandled and swift action in the case.

Treatment at most hospitals in Kolkata has taken a hit after doctors joined the protest demanding justice in the case. Several patients and their relatives have complained of inconvenience due to the protest.

The number of daily surgeries at AIIMS Delhi are down by 80 per cent and admissions by 35 per cent after doctors began an indefinite strike over the Kolkata incident, news agency PTI has reported. AIIMS authorities have, meanwhile, issued a circular, asking the doctors to join work and citing a High Court order that doctors cannot be part of protests on the premises.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has shot off a letter to Health Minister Nadda, demanding the enactment of a central law to curb attacks and violence against doctors as a "deterrence" measure and declaration of hospitals as safe zones.

A civic volunteer who frequented the hospital has been arrested in connection with the rape and murder of the Kolkata doctor. West Bengal Chief Minister has given city police time till Sunday to complete the probe, after which the state government will recommend a CBI investigation.

[mariacallous]

As the northern Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir heads to the polls for its first regional-level elections in nearly a decade, voters and candidates alike are still feeling the political hangover from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2019 decision to revoke the region’s special autonomous status.

In August 2019, the Indian government scrapped Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, reducing the former state of Jammu and Kashmir to two union territories—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh—and bringing them under the direct control of New Delhi. The decision, a watershed in the region’s troubled history, sparked outrage. It also marked a shift in how India intended to govern Kashmir, which remains disputed territory with Pakistan.

Even as Jammu and Kashmir gears up to announce the winner of its legislative elections on Oct. 8, the local government will wield limited powers, constrained by a series of laws passed since 2019 that have reinforced the central government’s control over the region. Though the newly formed Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly will have power to make some laws, the region will be headed still by a New Delhi-appointed governor, who wields substantial authority over public order, police, bureaucracy, anti-corruption measures, and financial matters.

The region, particularly the Kashmir Valley, has witnessed decades of violence since the 1988 insurgency that drew India and Pakistan into three wars. Since it came to power in 2014, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asserted that its policies have brought development and democracy to Kashmir. However, people in the region have generally expressed anger over Modi’s revocation of Article 370, which consolidated power in the hands of nonlocals.

Meanwhile, other regional parties in Kashmir—including separatist groups such as Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir (JeI), Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, and the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front—have been banned or marginalized and many of their leaders imprisoned. The remaining dissidents in Kashmir have either changed their stance or stayed quiet out of fear of repression. Kashmiris are thus using this election season as an outlet for expressing frustration and anger by supporting local political parties or non-BJP candidates.

To New Delhi, the elections represent a chance to signal that Kashmir has moved on from its long-standing demands for azadi, or freedom, and has instead flourished in the post-2019 environment. However, many separatist groups or individuals who previously boycotted elections, including some backed by the banned JeI, are now participating. Meanwhile, mainstream Kashmiri politicians are positioning themselves as the last line of defense against what they perceive as the BJP’s attempts to reshape the region’s political dynamics, urging voters to reject Modi’s narrative and promising to restore Kashmir’s autonomy.

Kashmir kick-started its phased elections on Sept. 18, with the second round of voting taking place on Sept. 25. The third and final round of voting will take place on Oct. 1, before results are announced a week later.

There are a total of 90 seats up for grabs, but with more than 300 independent candidates out of 873 in the race, it has become one of the most unpredictable elections in Kashmir’s history. The BJP has set a goal of winning at least 30-35 of 43 seats in Jammu, while it is contesting 19 of the 47 seats in the Kashmir Valley, a Muslim-majority region where it has traditionally struggled to gain traction.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has emerged as another key figure. Rashid represents the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) and is a two-time lawmaker from northern Kashmir who contested and won a seat in India’s parliament in June, defeating prominent figures such as former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of the National Conference party and Sajad Lone, the leader of the People’s Conference party.

Rashid’s victory by a margin of more than 200,000 votes marked a shift in the region’s politics—signaling anger toward the politicians who had failed to safeguard Kashmir’s autonomy or bring about meaningful changes in their decades of rule. In the last year, Rashid’s AIP has gained traction and positioned itself as a formidable player in the regional elections. While campaigning on behalf of AIP candidates, Rashid has vehemently targeted Abdullah’s and Lone’s parties, accusing them of ganging up against him.

Rashid, who was arrested in 2019 on terrorism funding charges under India’s draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, was recently released on interim bail. At a campaign rally in Baramulla, a town in northern Kashmir, on Sept. 13, he spoke to an energized crowd.

“[Modi’s] naya [new] Kashmir was [meant] to kill, arrest, harass, and humiliate people,” he told the gathering. “Kashmiris don’t like to throw stones, but that doesn’t mean we will surrender before your power,” he added, while his supporters cheered him on.

Rashid has promised the reinstatement of Kashmir’s autonomy, the release of all political prisoners, and the repeal of controversial laws such as the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act. The campaign offers a platform that appeals to people, especially the youth, who feel that their voices have been stifled since 2019. But many of Rashid’s opponents—including Abdullah and Lone, as well as Mehbooba Mufti, another former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir—have accused him of being an agent of the BJP.

The BJP has also been accused of supporting other political parties and independent candidates, further complicating the region’s political landscape. Another such example is JeI—which remains banned under the country’s anti-terrorism law. Though most of its leaders remain imprisoned and its assets seized, it is trying to make a comeback in this year’s elections and has demanded the suspension of its ban.

Abdullah, who was Jammu and Kashmir’s chief minister from 2009 to 2015, has voiced concerns over the proliferation of independent candidates and accused the BJP of using them to dilute the opposition’s vote. “Independent candidates are being deliberately fielded to create confusion and divide votes in critical constituencies,” he said at a recent rally. “The BJP is leaving its options open. … Voters need to be cautious. Fragmented votes will only serve to help those who do not have Jammu and Kashmir’s best interests at heart.”

To bolster its chances and stave off a BJP victory in Kashmir, the National Conference has formed an alliance with Rahul Gandhi, India’s opposition leader from the Indian National Congress party. Yet the Gandhi-Abdullah alliance’s promises to restore the region’s autonomy are viewed skeptically, even by their own supporters. New Delhi has made it abundantly clear that Article 370 will never be reinstated.

Mufti, the leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and who was chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir from 2016 to 2018, has also thrown her hat in the ring. After the 2014 elections, the PDP formed an alliance with the BJP—which has cost it support—but since 2019, the PDP has been the strongest opponent of the BJP and its policies in Kashmir. On Sept. 25, Mufti told a gathering: “Jammu and Kashmir will never have a BJP government. There will be a secular government. … PDP will be an important factor.”

Mufti’s party has also pledged to bring back statehood, revoke detention laws, and release prisoners, among other promises. Meanwhile, the BJP has continued to target both Abdullah and Mufti as “dynasts” who have kept Kashmir mired in conflict.

Though the debate over Kashmir’s autonomy has taken center stage among candidates, voters across polling stations in Kashmir are also concerned about their daily cost of living and issues such as high unemployment, increased electricity costs, limited infrastructure, and continuous detentions and police verifications.

The current political climate in Kashmir harks back to the 1970s, when Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, then the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, pledged to safeguard the region’s autonomy while New Delhi’s Janata Party—a precursor to today’s BJP—led by Morarji Desai, tried to block his return to power.

Similar to the 1977 regional elections, today’s promises of autonomy now ring hollow to many residents, as successive governments have failed to preserve Kashmir’s special status. Kashmiris feel that elections have historically served as a tool to dilute their aspirations rather than fulfilling them. Manzoor Ahmad, a 49-year-old from Srinagar, voted for the first time this year. “I voted for a greater good,” he said. “We are facing lots of problems as we have been crushed. We want a local party to win to stop this.”

No matter who wins the elections, however, the new government is likely to be weak with limited powers, overshadowed by the New Delhi-appointed governor. The elections have thus become a ballot on the region’s lack of autonomy—and by extension, a test of how voters view Modi’s government.

“These election rallies have the same nomenclature as that of protest rallies in the past,” said Waheed Parra, a PDP candidate from southern Kashmir. “I see people, mostly youth, in campaigns, and it is visible they are angry. They want space to be expressed and be heard. Nobody has listened to them in the past five years.” Parra warned that if the mandate of these elections is not respected by New Delhi, the situation on the ground could turn dangerous.

The undercurrents may already exist. It appears not everyone in Kashmir is excited about the elections. Compared with the 2014 regional elections, some parts of the valley have either witnessed low voter turnout or only a slight increment. In Srinagar, for example, which is the summer capital, turnout in the second phase of voting was low, at just under 30 percent.

New Delhi has invited a delegation of 15 diplomats from foreign countries, including the United States, to observe the local elections, though many of the BJP’s opponents, including Abdullah, have questioned the visit.

Kashmir’s political future may still be fragile, but its path is being steadily reshaped by forces both old and new. As the elections progress, one thing is evident: New Delhi’s attempts to suppress dissent and tighten its grip on Kashmir over the last five years have inadvertently reignited the region’s political landscape, bringing back to the stage individuals and groups who once led mass protests and called for election boycotts. Simultaneously, the fear of continued repression has prompted many to vote, in a bid to see some change—even as the region’s underlying tensions remain unresolved.

[darkmaga-returns]

The future looks bright for Indo-US ties so long as Indian Americans, Indian-friendly officials, and geopolitical pragmatists follow Trump into the White House.

Trump’s return to the White House is seen by India as an opportunity to repair the damage that Biden dealt to bilateral ties. Summer 2023’s alleged attempted assassination scandal, which readers can learn more about here, toxified their relations and was followed by American meddling in the latest Indian general elections. Bangladesh’s US-backed regime change several months ago was regarded by many Indians as a betrayal of their regional security interests. The US has also pressured India to dump Russia.  

All of that might soon be water under the bridge if Trump brings Indian Americans and Indian-friendly officials with him back to Washington. This would be especially so if Kashyap Patel is confirmed as the next CIA chief like some have speculated that Trump is planning to propose. If the stars align, then the first order of business that India would want to have happen is for the US to crack down on Delhi-designated terrorists-separatists to the maximum extent that American law allows.

The state protection that Khalistani leaders like Gurpatwant Singh Pannun enjoy while they openly imply threats to bomb Indian airliners and assassinate its diplomats among other crimes has convinced many Indians that these figures and their movement are being wielded as Hybrid War weapons against India. Trump campaigned on a law-and-order platform whose principles are incompatible with these provocations so there are hopes that he’ll put a stop to them as the first step to repairing ties.

[beardedmrbean]

As an armed rebellion against Indian rule raged in Kashmir through the 1990s and 2000s, Jamaat-e-Islami, an influential socio-religious group, called for a boycott whenever an election was held, claiming the exercise was aimed at legitimising what it would describe as New Delhi’s occupation of the Himalayan region, which is also claimed in part or full by Pakistan and China.

But as Kashmir votes in the first regional election in a decade starting on Tuesday, the Jamaat has itself entered the political fray, backing at least 10 candidates in the election. It is a remarkable turnaround for a group that remains banned under India’s anti-terror laws and was once regarded as the mothership of the militant Hizbul Mujahideen.

After Narendra Modi’s government altered India’s constitution in 2019 to do away with the symbolic autonomy of the administrative region of Jammu and Kashmir, it cracked down hard on the separatist movement in the region, jailing thousands of people. The Jamaat, having long been at the vanguard of the movement, was a prime target. Schools associated with the group were ordered shut and the properties of many members were seized in an attempt to curtail its reach and operational capabilities.

As recently as February, the Indian government said that the Jamaat was “continuing to be involved in fomenting terrorism and anti-India propaganda for fuelling secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir, which is prejudicial to the sovereignty, security and integrity of India”.

This is what makes the Jamaat’s participation in the election perplexing, and even experts in the region are divided over what it means. Noor Baba, a renowned Kashmiri political scientist, says it could be a tactical move on the part of a minority within the movement – contesting the election as independents in the hope of “protection or rehabilitating themselves after the suffering they have endured”.

The decision to join the fray, he suggests, may not have involved the group’s jailed leadership. As a result of internal divisions in the past, Prof Baba says, the Jamaat has suffered at the hands of both the Indian authorities as well as the militants. Similar divisions may have cracked open again.

“There are many questions,” he tells The Independent. “Is the top leadership, which is in jail, on board with this or is it not?”

Another theory is that the decision stems from the Jamaat’s desire to have the anti-terror ban lifted. There have been reports about conversations between the Jamaat and intermediaries of the Indian government such as Altaf Bukhari, head of a local political party.

Ahead of this election, Omar Abdullah, the former chief minister of the former state, had urged the Narendra Modi government to lift the ban on the Jamaat to enable its participation in the assembly election. Mehbooba Mufti, another former chief minister and president of the People’s Democratic Party, said she would be “happy” to see the Jamaat return to the electoral arena.

Indian political analyst Apoorvanand Jha, however, sees a more sinister play at work. He says fielding independent candidates is part of a broader strategy of Modi’s BJP to weaken mainstream political parties such as the National Conference and the Congress and reap the dividend.

“The BJP’s aim is to install a government headed by a Hindu chief minister. That can be achieved by securing as many seats as possible in the Jammu region and fielding as many independents as possible in the valley [of Kashmir], making them win and then taking their support to form the government,” he tells The Independent.

The BJP is seeking to control Kashmir politically by creating chaos, he says. “To achieve that,” he adds, “the BJP can do anything. It can go to any extent, play any game, collaborate with the radicals, collaborate with separatists.”

The Independent has contacted the BJP for comment.

India has long held up Kashmir, its only majority Muslim territory, as a symbol of its secularism. But when the BJP government revoked its autonomy, Kashmiris accused the Hindu nationalist party of trying to change its religious demographic by settling Indians from elsewhere in the region.

Mr Jha says the BJP wants to win the election in order to show its core Hindu base that “see, this is a Muslim-populated area which we have now annexed”.

The candidates backed by the Jamaat maintain that their election participation is about local issues.

“Ideologies work in time and space. We have to be accommodative and flexible,” Talat Majeed, who is contesting the Pulwama constituency, told reporters recently.

Another candidate, Sayar Ahmad Reshi, says their participation in the election is necessary to fill a political vacuum created by regional parties such as the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party.

The Jamaat’s participation seems to have enthused some pro-India factions in Kashmir. “This election is unique in recent times because the banned Jamaat-e-Islami is openly backing and campaigning for independent candidates owing allegiance to it,” Mr Abdullah said in an interview with the Hindustan Times. “This is a huge change from previous elections. Otherwise, ever since I have seen politics here from 1996 onwards, the Jamaat has been at the forefront of trying to stop people from voting.”

Ali Mohammad Watali, a former police chief of Kashmir, isn’t as enthused. The Jamaat was “pro-Pakistan and pro-terrorism”, he was quoted as saying by Frontline magazine. “Now they have changed their stance suddenly. It looks like this is being done by the agencies so that the BJP can form a government here with the help of new political fronts, including the Jamaat-e-Islami.”

“Agencies” is a catch-all term used in Kashmir for the intelligence, security and surveillance apparatus of the Indian state.

The Jamaat candidates have indicated their willingness to form alliances, before or after the election, with any party that works to “restore dignity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir”.

Prof Saddiq Wahid, a senior visiting fellow at the Centre for Policy Research think tank in New Delhi, tells The Independent the BJP’s actions in Jammu and Kashmir since the revocation of its autonomy have been aimed at creating confusion and chaos. “How is Jamaat suddenly into the picture?” he asks.

He fears that the political landscape of Kashmir is being manipulated to dilute local representation and prevent self-governance.

“They do not want the people of Jammu and Kashmir to have a government that will allow them to govern themselves,” he says, referring to the Indian government.

The fundamental question, though, is whether people will trust the candidates backed by the Jamaat, Prof Baba points out. “How many people will vote for them, support them?”

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for lying to my brother to bring our family back together?

I (18M) just got home from boarding school. Before I went home, I went to see my Nani and Dadi and long story short they ended up spilling a big family secret to me. Turns out my brother R (30sM) was adopted. I loved R, he was the best big brother ever, but when I was younger and had first gone to boarding school, he came to see me and told me that he loved me but that he had to go and made me promise never to ask why he left. I begged him to stay, but he refused.

I learned from Nani and Dadi that R had fallen in love with a girl from Chandni Chowk that I will call A, and that caused a huge fallout between him and our father where some harsh and terrible things were said because my father has an ego the size of Delhi. R was supposed to marry his best friend N (30sF), and my father could never forgive him for refusing to follow the family tradition of the father picking the daughter-in-law.

So anyway, after learning all this, I learned that R had gone to London with A and her family and I came up with a mission: I was going to bring R home. My mother has never been the same, Nani and Dadi miss him every day, and even though my father is stubborn as a mule, I know he regrets what he said to R.

So I went to London under the guise of getting my MBA because that’s family tradition as well, and turns out that the university I’m going to is also the university where A’s little sister P (18F) goes! She didn’t recognize me at first, which was good because I didn’t want R to recognize me yet either. So after I teased P a little, I let her in on my plan and she promised to help me because A is absolutely miserable outside of India. So P got R to let me crash at their house for a bit, and I lied and used a fake name, our father’s name, to try and gauge his reaction. R let me stay and P and I schemed behind his back and I even got A to talk to my mom without letting either know who they really are and they cried a lot and talked about how much they regretted that they couldn’t have relationships with their own mother/daughter-in-law.

Eventually, R and A’s son K had a performance at school with his classmates and P and I helped scheme a little to change the song from Do Re Mi to the Indian National Anthem in order to cheer A up. A was so happy and cried her eyes out afterwards, and then K shared a piece of advice I gave him with his father.

The thing is, R had given that exact same piece of advice to me. R recognized it instantly, and then he recognized me instantly.

After a lot of hugging and crying, R asked me if I got on the Cricket team like I promised him (I did, I was their top Batsman and hit a game-winning Six at the end of my last match) and then we hugged and cried some more. He begged me to go home, said that it was enough that he knew I was doing so well, but I begged him to come home. Everyone misses him. He refused, so P and I came up with another plan to get my dad and brother to talk. I tricked dad into thinking that I was with a girl, and he flew in to “surprise” me. I asked him to meet me at the mall, and mom’s always had a sixth sense for when R’s around. She just feels it. But before she found find him, my father did and he got upset at me, but after a loud and long argument I managed to get him to admit, at least to himself, that he loved R.

Then… then Dadi died. I still miss her so much. Her last wish was to have R help put her to rest, and thank god he did. I begged him to come home, to see Mom so she could have strength to live the rest of her life because she wanted nothing more than to see R again. Honestly, it didn’t even matter that R was adopted. He always used to joke that she loved him more than me, and I see how broken she’s become without him. He accepted because mom never once wronged him, and we used that to get him to see and talk to dad.

When we found him, he was crying in front of the picture of R and me that he keeps in the house, and the old bastard finally admitted that he regretted what he said and R said he regretted never calling back and they cried and hugged and R finally came home and my family was finally back together.

But now my dad and R keep teasing me about how convoluted my plan was to bring them back together. Personally I think that nothing less convoluted would have worked because R was so hurt and my father is the stubbornest man in India, but now I’m thinking… was I really TA for lying to my brother about my name and not just telling him it was me in the first place? He really missed me and was worried about me and I let him be worried for longer for no reason.

So, AITA?

[seemabhatnagar]

"Mutual Consent Divorce: Maintenance Waivers and Legal Implications"

Gaurav Mehta v. Anamika Chopra

Crl. Revision 4152/2023 filed by the husband

&

Crl. Revision 4452/2023 filed by wife for enhancement of maintenance

Before the High Court of Allahabad

Heard by the Bench of Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vipin Chandra Dixit J

Order: Crl. Revision filed by the revisionist husband Gaurav Chopra was allowed as the respondent-wife had already waived off her right to claim maintenance at the time of divorce.

Crl. Revision of the Wife was dismissed.

Background

This is a case where Divorce based on mutual consent was allowed by the Family Court between the parties.

Fact

The marriage between the parties was solemnized in February 2004 according to Hindu rites and customs. A son out of wedlock was born in December 2004. Things were all well till August 2006 & thereafter due to differences between them, they started living separately.

Both parties filed divorce by mutual consent u/s 13B (1) of the Hindu Marriage Act before the District Judge, New Delhi.

Out of all the terms and conditions of divorce by mutual consent one of the Terms was that the wife will not claim any amount of money by way of stridhan, maintenance, compensation, damages, etc. (past, present, and future) from her husband.

It was also agreed between the parties that the son, shall remain in the custody of his mother till he attains the age of majority.

The husband was given visitation rights to visit and meet his son once a month.

The divorce petition was decreed in August 2007 on the terms and conditions agreed between the parties.

After six years of divorce, a maintenance petition was filed by the son through her mother in the court of Principal Judge, Family Court, Gautam Buddh Nagar in the year 2013.

The maintenance petition was allowed by the Family Court in November 2019 granting maintenance in favor of the son at the rate of Rs.15,000/- per month from the date of filing the petition the father used to pay the same to his son.

The wife also filed an application before the Family Court claiming 25% of the income of the husband as maintenance in February 2020.

The wife also moved an application in August 2020 claiming interim maintenance @ Rs. 50,000/ per month.

Submission of the Husband

The husband objected pleading that the divorce petition was decreed with mutual consent and the wife had agreed that she would not claim any amount towards stridhan, maintenance, compensation damages, etc.

The Family Court allowed the application of interim maintenance awarding Rs. 25,000/- to the wife.

Submission of the wife in person

She is facing acute hardship.

The son is studying in Toronto Canada.

So long she was able to manage the expenses she didn’t claim. Now she is unable to as such she has filed a maintenance petition and the Family Court has allowed a very meager amount of Rs.25,000/-

Law

Once the wife waives her right to maintenance from her husband at the time of divorce and the divorce decree was passed on the terms and conditions of the agreement, it is not open to the wife to claim maintenance from her husband in the future.

Section 125(4) Cr.P.C. also provides that no wife shall be entitled to receive the allowance for maintenance from her husband if she is living separately by mutual consent.

Observation of the Court

The wife has waived off her right to claim maintenance by filing an affidavit in the divorce petition as such the Revision petition filed by the wife claiming maintenance, itself is not maintainable and the Family Court has committed gross illegality in granting interim maintenance @ Rs. 25,000/- per month to the wife.

Seema Bhatnagar

[arziaisfrench]

▪︎ IPKKND Ep 113 : Heartbreak and new toxic challenge*

The new challenge* being who will confess they care for the other first aka admiting their feelings ...

When he goes back to Khushi's house to bring her wallet, it was another attempt to fix what he had done. He can't bear the thought of not seeing her ever again but her job is over.

Just like he was hating on that padlock on her door before, when he thought she was leaving Delhi for good, and the bars on her windows just after he left her on the street alone at night, he don't want her to close the door, her home, her heart to him completely.

Even if at this moment he's still hurt by her rejection to hear his explanation and her unwillingness to confess her feelings, prideful and angry, he brave himself to ask her again.

Arnav could've find an excuse to refuse khushi's invitation to enter, but he didn't. Khushi is shocked seeing him enter. The last time he came in her house was when he bought her home after fainting. This same aunt ordered him to leave. So this time, by entering, it's his way to repair the relationship is has with her family, which prove he doesn't (even right now) have the desire, the will to really get Khushi out of his life. He never ever from the first day let his door close to her !

Khushi always preventing Arnav from eating suggar shows him how much she cares for his safety. It always touches him, he feels her possiveness through her acts of protection.

I really like this scene where he walks towards Khushi's father to offer him his greetings. After all, he's his future father-in-law (he has that thought in mind for sure lol), he couldn't afford not to show him the respect of his position. And he does it in such an elegant way. "If you need any kind of help, then please let me know."

He truly means his words. He will protect Khushi with all his heart but also her family. Khushi's father definitely notices it, he seems to have meet someone who'll protect his daughter better than himself.

Khushi thanking him was her way to show him that she doesn't want them to part in anger, they could be friends, she won't mind even if it means her having to hide her feelings and to never spoke about them. She wants to see him again.

"Don't think a rich man embraced your payal with all his heart !" In Arnav's twisted mind, it was his way to let her know few glimpse of his feelings ! Our man is soooo twisted, I'm so tired !! 😭

Notice his actions, always, not his words. Yes, he's pushing her yet again with his cruel words (Asr). But Arnav went to her house and just met her family, that's what he does for her, how he braves himself to fix the situation.

And when she stops him, instead of confessing she cares, she's thanking him, willing to move on and not confessing anything to him, to let him go and be happy without her. Understanding what she's doing, he gets very angry because even after showing her what he does just for her (willing to tell her about her payal while giving it back to her, trying to repair his reputation in front of her family, creating another occasion to allow themselves to break the ice by knocking on her door to give her back her wallet), she still won't brave herself to show her feelings like he just did.

"It doesn't mean anything. Neither that matter nor you have any importance to me"

These last words broke Khushi's heart unquestionably.

These words confirmed her fear, a fear that was there from the moment she understood they shared a strange intense attraction.

She feared and now believes Arnav just attempted to kiss her because he was simply mired in his physical desire for her. It was just physical/s-xual, nothing else. She doesn't deserve more, and his attraction for her is something he's ashamed of !

My poor baby !!! 😭😭😭

[zvaigzdelasas]

Western support for Israel’s assault on Gaza has poisoned efforts to build consensus with significant developing countries on condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine, officials and diplomats have warned.[...]

In the flurry of emergency diplomatic visits, video conferences and calls, western officials have been accused of failing to defend the interests of 2.3mn Palestinians in their rush to condemn the Hamas attack and support Israel. In the first days after Hamas’s assault, some western diplomats worried that the US was giving carte blanche to Israel to attack Gaza with full force. That had eroded efforts since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to build consensus with leading states in the so-called Global South — such as India, Brazil and South Africa — on the need to uphold a global rules-based order, said more than a dozen western officials.[...] “We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South,” said one senior G7 diplomat. “All the work we have done with the Global South [over Ukraine] has been lost . . . Forget about rules, forget about world order. They won’t ever listen to us again.”

Many developing countries have traditionally supported the Palestinian cause, seeing it through the prism of self-determination and a push against the global dominance of the US, Israel’s most important backer.[...] Some American diplomats are privately concerned that the Biden administration’s response has failed to acknowledge how its broad support of Israel can alienate much of the Global South.[...] Russia and its ally China have cultivated warm ties with the Palestinians. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin on Tuesday met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. “What we said about Ukraine has to apply to Gaza. Otherwise we lose all our credibility,” the senior G7 diplomat added. “The Brazilians, the South Africans, the Indonesians: why should they ever believe what we say about human rights?”[...]

Just four weeks before the Hamas assault on Israel, leaders from the US, EU and western allies attended the G20 summit in New Delhi and asked developing nations to condemn Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians in order to uphold respect for the UN charter and international law. Since last Sunday, many of those officials told the Financial Times they have had the same argument read back at them in demands for condemnation of Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza, and of its decision to restrict water, electricity and gas supplies there.

17 Oct 23

[lgbtqiamuslimpedia]

LGBTQI+ Rights in Bangladesh 🇧🇩

LGBTQIA+ rights are heavily suppressed in Bangladesh.Generally LGBTQ+ community face stigmatization and marginalization among the broader population.Hijra as third gender has somewhat more tolerance in the state.However, some islamic radicalists & conservative muslims consider hijras as immoral.

LGBTQ+ pride flag of Bangladesh

Legal Status of Homosexuality

Homosexuality is illegal under under the British-inherited Penal Code Section 377 since 1860.Penal Code section 377 of 1860 forbids anal sex & oral sex, regardless of the gender and sexual orientation of the participants.Sentences include a maximum penalty of life imprisonment or 10 years imprisonment with fine.There is some evidences of the law being enforced in recent years, & LGBTQ+ people are regularly subjected to discrimination and violence.

In 2009 & 2013 UPR cycle, Bangladesh refused to overturn Penal Code Section 377.Therefore law enforcers often use Section 54 (Code of Criminal Procedure) to harass gender & sexual minorities as it allows arrest of anyone without a warrant.

History

Homosexuality was widely tolerated & accepted in south asia untill 1860s. Delhi Sultanate,Mughals also tolerated several sexual fluidity & gender variance.There were homoerotic & homoromantic writing in Islamic literature.

From 1750-1830 female homoromantic narratives were documented in Urdu poetry.Gender-diverse folks enjoyed high prestige during Mughal era.Hijra identity is documented to have evolved during the Delhi Sultanate (1226-1526).Most of them were served in royal harem.Furthermore they were rulers,military commanders,guardians of harem,manual laborers,political advisors in Mughal era.The dominant school of Islamic thought in the mughal empire, hanafism was much more tolerant of sexuality; did not mandate punishment for homosexuality.During the reign of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Fatawa-e-Alamgiri, which mandated several types of punishments for homosexuality.

Since 1850s, British colonist started criminalizing diverse sexuality & genders in Indian Subcontinent.Section 377 Penal Code of British Raj which criminalizes sexual minorities, was enacted on 6 October 1860 & went into force on 1 January 1862.British labeled hijra as criminal group under the ''Criminal Tribe Act of 1871.Later started a widespread campaign against this sexual minority.As a result, hijras became a marginalised, ostracized group in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Nepal.British colonists deployed various strategies to eradicate hijras & sexual diverse folks, whom they saw as "a breach of public decency. Such barbaric colonial laws were carried over into the Pakistan following the partition of India in 1947, and continue to be part of Bangladesh's legal code since its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Discrimination & Violence

LGBTQI+ rights in Bangladesh has been heavily affected by radical political islamism, violent extremism,societal values & morals. LGBTQI+ people often faces violence, bullying, rape, sexual harassment,hate crimes,etc.Some are forced for conversion therapy in order to change their sexuality.Bangladesh's LGBTQ+ rights groups,NGOs reported official discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare and access to government services.

Transgender Rights

Transgender women,non-binary,gender non-confirming & intersex persons are traditionally known as Hijra in South Asia.Although Hijra umbrella term does not include trans male or FTM transgender.

In November 2013, the government of Bangladesh recognized the Hijra community as the 'third gender or sex'. Subsequently, the cabinet issued a notification on 22 January 2014 regarding the recognition of third gender/sex.On January 26, 2014, a gazette was published recognizing the gender identity of the transgender community.Trans people cannot legally undergoes a gender reassignment surgery in Bangladesh.However there have been several reports of gender transitions,gender change treatment or sex reassignment surgery.

In early 1990s a transsexual woman Hosne Ara Begum's story was published in a bengali educational magazine.The magazine covered the journey of her gender transition & made her a big sensation in Bangladesh that time.From 2010-2013, 18 surgeries were performed in Dhaka Medical College Hospital,despite the availability of treatment at nominal or free cost.Although this gender transition treatment has been conducted in the country illegally for more than two decades.

''Hijra Life Welfare Programme,'' conducted under the Bangladesh Social Welfare Department from 2012-2013, to educate and develop school-going Hijra students,to provide monthly special allowance to disabled & senior Hijras.Bangladesh Social Welfare Department also increased the skills of the Hijra population through vocational training and to involve them in income generating activities and to bring them into the mainstream of the society & provide financial assistance after training.Since 2019, trans women who identify as Hijra can choose third gender option on National Identity Card.

Media

LGBTQI+ Association

[therevolutionaryg]

The pictures of the girl are scary and fills my heart with Rage. Why is it being called an accident and not gruesome murder ? Why her body was found in naked state ? Delhi police and BJP has to answer .

The young girl who tragically died in a road accident in Delhi was the sole breadwinner for her family of 7. Her father died few years ago. She used to pay for her mother’s dialysis treatment. Shame on the Broken law and order. Stop calling it accident.