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Tag: India

  • Imran’s national security aide terms Chinese persecution of Muslims a ‘non-issue’

    Imran’s national security aide terms Chinese persecution of Muslims a ‘non-issue’

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (PM) on National Security aide Dr Moeed Yusuf has termed the Chinese persecution of Uyghur Muslims a “non-issue”.

    In an interview with Indian media outlet The Wire, Yusuf on Tuesday revealed that India had expressed a “desire for conversation” but said that Pakistan’s agreement to talks would be conditional.

    While his statements and Pakistan’s pre-conditions for the resumption of “meaningful dialogue” with India to resolve all outstanding issues have made headlines, the details less reported are of what he had to say about Chinese persecution of Muslim minority Uyghurs in its Xinjiang region.

    Even though China is facing growing criticism over its crimes against the said minority group, huge numbers of whom are allegedly being held in internment camps, Pakistan has been accused of turning a blind eye towards the same.

    READ: In a first since Kashmir’s 2019 siege, Imran’s national security aide gets interviewed by Indian journalist

    On Tuesday, when asked why PM Imran Khan had never raised his voice for the Uyghur community in China, the SAPM said, “China and Pakistan are friends like no other. We have a completely transparent relationship; virtually everything under the sky, we discuss.

    “Uyghurs is a non-issue […] Our delegations have visited, we’ve seen and we are a 100 per cent satisfied that it’s a non-issue. The West can say what it wants. I am telling you as a responsible official: we know everything we need to know about the Uighurs and everything else in China as they do about us.”

    Thapar quoted an interview PM Imran gave to the Financial Times last year, where the premier had said: “Frankly, I don’t know much about” the Uyghur issue. Yusuf, however, continued to insist that the matter was a non-issue and said that he had briefed the premier about it.

    YUSUF UNDER FIRE:

    Among the many prominent persons who reacted to Yusuf’s remarks was Omar Waraich, who is the South Asia deputy director of global rights group Amnesty International.

    Here’s what he had to say:

    Several others also called Imran’s aide out.

  • Indian jewellery ad slammed for showing Hindu-Muslim couple

    Indian jewellery ad slammed for showing Hindu-Muslim couple

    Popular Indian jewellery brand Tanishq has withdrawn an advertisement featuring an interfaith couple after a right-wing backlash on social media, BBC News has reported.

    Opponents of the adverts argued that the ad, which shows a baby shower organised for the Hindu bride by her Muslim in-laws, promotes “love jihad”, a term radical Hindu groups use to accuse Muslim men of converting Hindu women by marriage.

    The description for the 43-second ad – promoting a jewellery line called ‘Ekatvam‘ (Hindi word for unity) – reads: “She is married into a family that loves her like their own child. Only for her, they go out of their way to celebrate an occasion that they usually don’t. A beautiful confluence of two different religions, traditions and cultures.”

    The ad sparked outrage among a section of conservative social media users who led calls to boycott the brand, taking it to the top of Twitter trends. On the other hand, many joined in to condemn the abusive posts and comments.

    The brand first disabled comments and Likes/Dislikes on the advert, posted to Facebook and YouTube before removing the video altogether. In a statement, the jewellery brand said: “We are deeply saddened with the inadvertent stirring of emotions and withdraw this film keeping in mind the hurt sentiments and well being of our employees, partners and store staff.”

    Congress party MP Shashi Tharoor, who posted the advert to his Twitter account, said: “Hindutva bigots have called for a boycott for highlighting Hindu-Muslim unity through this beautiful ad. If Hindu-Muslim ‘ekatvam‘ irks them so much, why don’t they boycott the longest surviving symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity – India?”

    https://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor/status/1315833504253374464?s=20

    Other prominent personalities also argued that the ad promoted inter-faith harmony and should not have been taken down.

    https://twitter.com/RichaChadha/status/1315906312417415168?s=20

    Read more – Hindu couple gets married at a mosque in India

    Kangana Ranaut, on the other hand, stood with the right-wingers and slammed the ad for promoting love-jihad.

    “As Hindus we need to be absolutely conscious of what these creative terrorists are injecting in to our subconscious, we must scrutinise, debate and evaluate what is the outcome of any perception that is fed to us, this is the only way to save our civilisation,” wrote the actor on social media.

    https://twitter.com/KanganaTeam/status/1315912815509598208?s=20

    Most Indian families still prefer weddings arranged within their religion and caste; and marriages outside these boundaries have sometimes led to violent consequences, including women – sometimes even men – being killed by their relatives.

    According to the India Human Development Survey, only about 5% of all marriages are inter-caste and interfaith couples are even rarer.

  • In a first since Kashmir’s 2019 siege, Imran’s national security aide gets interviewed by Indian journalist

    In a first since Kashmir’s 2019 siege, Imran’s national security aide gets interviewed by Indian journalist

    In a first, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf has been interviewed by an Indian journalist.

    During his interview with Karan Thapar, Yusuf set five pre-conditions for the resumption of “meaningful dialogue” with India to resolve all outstanding issues, including the longstanding dispute of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IoK).

    While he said that Pakistan desired peaceful ties with India and wanted to resolve all issues through dialogue, Yusuf asserted that for any meaningful dialogue to take place between the two neighbours, India has to release all political prisoners in Kashmir, end inhuman blockade and restrictions, rescind domicile law that allows non-Kashmiris to settle in the disputed territory, stop human rights abuses and end state terrorism in Pakistan.

    This is the first time Pakistan put forward its pre-conditions for resumption of talks with India since the Modi government revoked the special status of IoK.

    Interestingly, he did not mention the restoration of the special status of Kashmir as one of the pre-conditions for restarting talks with India, which Pakistan has been condemning since August 5, 2019, when New Delhi had revoked Article 370 and 35-A of the Indian Constitution to rob the troubled valley of its autonomy.

    “Pakistan would be ready for dialogue with India if Modi government accepts those preconditions,” Yusuf said and also spoke of the involvement of Indian intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing’s (RAW), in terrorism in Pakistan.

    “Pakistan had evidence that the mastermind of December 2014 APS terrorist attack in Peshawar was in contact with RAW,” he said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The SAPM added that India used its missions in one of the neighbouring countries of Pakistan to facilitate and sponsor terrorist attacks at a five-star Hotel in Gwadar, the Chinese Consulate in Karachi and the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

    He maintained that Islamabad, under the leadership of PM Imran Khan, wanted a peaceful neighbourhood but India’s Hindutva policies were obstructing the path to attain regional peace.

  • ‘Anushka Sharma is Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan’s wife,’ Google says

    Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan was mistakenly referred to as Bollywood star Anushka Sharma’s husband on a Google search that has left fans in fits.

    Social media surely had a field day after the little gaffe on the search engine that seemingly stems from the cricket champ’s crush on her and Preity Zinta.

    As per a few media reports, Rashid was recently asked in an interview to name his favourite woman actors. Rashid said he loved to watch Anushka and Preity. That is all his fans needed to ship Rashid and Anushka.

    The many mentions all over the internet might have caused the Google search engine to goof up the same way United States (US) President Donald Trump’s pictures show up if one searches for “idiot”.

    The B-Town diva is actually married to Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, and the two are also expecting their first child together.

    Anushka also attended Saturday’s Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings match of the ongoing season of Indian Premier League (IPL). She even blew Virat a kiss from the visitors’ area, which caught everyone’s attention. Virat, who scored an unbeaten 90 in the match, even gestured towards his wife after his half-century.

    Rashid, on the other hand, says he will “get engaged and married once Afghanistan wins the cricket World Cup”.

  • Dhoni’s 5-year-old daughter gets rape threats

    Dhoni’s 5-year-old daughter gets rape threats

    In a disturbing development, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s five-year-old daughter has received rape threats from social media trolls following Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Tuesday night match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

    CSK failed to chase a 168-run target, losing the game by 10 runs. Dhoni’s wife, Sakshi, got the threats on her Instagram account.

    The threats created an outrage on social media, especially from women, as support poured in for the Dhonis, especially little Ziva.

    Actor-turned-politician Nagma tweeted, “Where are we headed as a Nation? It’s disgusting Dhoni’s 5-Year-Old Daughter Ziva is Getting Rape Threats after CSK Lost IPL Match to KKR. Mr #PM what is this happening In our country?? [sic]”

    Sowmya Reddy, member of the legislative assembly (MLA) from Karnataka, said, “This is just nasty! What’s happening to our country? Where are we heading?”

    Rajya Sabha [upper house of the bicameral Indian parliament] lawmaker Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, “This has to be the most disgusting example of how social media platforms are being misused.”

    Fans have often taken out their ire on the players. In earlier days, they have even pelted stones at players’ homes, burnt posters and shouted abuses.

    However, targeting the daughter of a player in such a way has been unheard of before.

  • Aunts murder 2-year-old nephew over ‘jealousy’ with brother’s wife

    Two women were arrested in Uttar Pradesh, India for allegedly murdering their two-year-old nephew over “jealousy” with his mother. They killed their nephew and hid his dead body in the wardrobe after covering it with a blanket.

    As per reports, the child had gone missing and on September 29, the family approached the local police station and registered a case for “missing person”.

    Later that night, the toddler’s body was recovered from the wardrobe and taken to a hospital where doctors confirmed the death and determined asphyxiation (the state or process of being deprived of oxygen) to be the cause behind his death.

    “The matter was investigated and the two aunts were questioned based on evidence indicating their involvement. The two women have confessed to killing the child and have been arrested,” stated police officials.

    The incident took place when accused Pinki, who is married and is the elder sister of co-accused Rinki, had visited her parent’s house. 

    Both siblings, around 30 years of age, told police that they were upset with the child’s mother Sapna, the wife of their brother, over her attitude towards them, according to the police.

    They were also “jealous” of Sapna as their brother always supported her and often taunted the sisters on various issues, giving rise to hatred among them that led to the extreme step by the duo, the police said.

    They added that an FIR has been filed against them at the Surajpur police station.

     

  • The hideous face of India under Modi

    India is known as the ‘world’s largest democracy’ but it is quite apparent that it has become an autocracy under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Modi government has marginalised the minorities, apart from a few honourable exceptions, the Indian media largely behaves like a PR machine for the right-wing government, and the judiciary, too, has become pliant. International human rights organisations are facing the wrath of the Indian government for exposing its real face. Just recently, Amnesty International India announced that it is halting its work in the country after the Indian government froze its bank accounts due to their work. The recent crackdown by the Indian government against human rights organisations and defenders was condemned by 15 international human rights organisations.

    The Babri Mosque verdict was a tight slap in the face of justice. To give a clean chit to all accused in the Babri Mosque demolition case – 32 out of 49 were acquitted as17 had died while the case was still under way – seems to say that nobody demolished the historic mosque. An Indian court said the demolition was not pre-planned despite 850 witnesses, 7,000 documents apart from TV footage and photos of what happened that fateful day. The demolition was televised and led to communal riots, which killed around 2,000 people. From the Ayodhya verdict last year to the Babri Mosque verdict just days ago, the Indian judiciary seems like a proper lackey of the Modi government. The way this verdict was celebrated by the accused, which included former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, shows that the verdict was expected.

    India under Modi has changed radically in just six years. The pretense of a secular India is truly over. Communalism in India was always a reality – from the Bombay riots in 92-93 to Gujarat pogrom in 2002, the Muslim minority in India largely lived in fear but at least there were constitutional protections safeguarding their rights. Now, just like the White Supremacists have been empowered in Trump’s America, the Hindutva brigade has been weaponised in Modi’s India. It is fast turning into a Hindu Rashtra. From treating religious minorities like third-class citizens to not giving a hoot about the ethnic minorities, the Indian authorities have shown time and again how shameless they can be.

    A 19-year-old Dalit woman died on Tuesday after she was allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), where the controversial Yogi Adityanath rules as the chief minister. The details of the gang-rape are horrific: the young victim was beaten to a pulp and left to die. She was hospitalised for two weeks but did not make it in the end. As if the trauma of her death and what led to it was not enough for the victim’s family, the UP police cremated her body in the dead of the night without the permission and presence of her family. The victim’s brother told the BBC that “they took the body away without our permission, without the permission of my parents and cremated her”. He said the family did not even get to see her one last time. Just after this, news broke of a 22-year-old Dalit woman’s death after a gang-rape, this time too in the state of UP.

    India’s descent into fascism was expected under Modi but to witness the authorities being so blatant about it in the 21st century is still shocking. Rolling back Modi’s legacy will take generations. The process should begin before it is too late. 

  • VIDEO: PM says India helping Nawaz to weaken army

    VIDEO: PM says India helping Nawaz to weaken army

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has accused Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif of acting on the behest of India and said that the former premier is playing a “dangerous game” by levelling allegations against the army.

    Speaking during an interview, he said that the military and the civil government departments are working within their spheres and this has led to relations that are “best in history” between them. “One shouldn’t hate the army because of the actions of a few past dictators.”

    The premier remarked that Nawaz’s speech was an attempt to weaken the relationship between the government and the Pakistan Army, which only harms the country in the end.

    “Whose interest is it that our army weakens? Our enemies,” he added, saying some “foolish liberals” were agreeing with Nawaz’s narrative.

    “Look at Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen; the entire Muslim world is ablaze [so] why are we safe? If it weren’t for our army, our country would have been in three pieces. India’s think-tanks say that they want to break Pakistan,” PM Imran said, reiterating the fact that it is the army which has saved us otherwise the country will have been disintegrated in three parts as per Indian designs.

    READ: PM says he’ll sack anyone from establishment who asks for his resignation

    The prime minister went on to say that the “military’s job is not to run the government. If a democratically elected government is performing poorly, it does not mean martial law should be imposed; it means the government should be improved”.

    He said Nawaz was creating “huge fitna (mischief)” by attacking the army. “He [Nawaz] is becoming the next Altaf Hussain,” he said. Furthermore, the prime minister said Nawaz has problems with the army because “they come to steal, and our world-class agencies detect their theft”.

    The PM stated that Nawaz had taken control of various institutions of the country during his tenure, including in the legislative and judiciary departments, but added that the PML-N supremo could never control the army.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KEM2xxt2jg
  • India vs India: Twitterati blast court for saying no one demolished Babri Mosque

    India vs India: Twitterati blast court for saying no one demolished Babri Mosque

    An Indian court on Wednesday acquitted all 32 accused in the Babri Masjid case after a judge controversially ruled that the demolition was not preplanned.

    A special court of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Lucknow issued the verdict nearly thirty years after a mob of Hindu extremists razed the historic mosque to the ground.

    As expected, the verdict attracted strong reactions not only from around the globe, but Indians too.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) has also strongly reacted to the decision, calling it shameful.

    BABRI MOSQUE:

    Babri Masjid was a mosque in Ayodhya, India. Located in Ayodhya district, at a spot believed by Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama, it has been a bone of contention between the Hindu and Muslim communities since the 18th century.

    The destruction of the mosque in 1992 sparked massive Hindu-Muslim violence that left around 2,000 people dead.

    Hindu hardliners say the mosque was built after a temple dedicated to the Hindu god was destroyed by Muslim invaders. After the demolition of the mosque, Hindus and Muslims took the issue to a lower court, which, in 2010 ruled that the disputed land should be divided into three parts — two for Hindus and one for Muslims.

    Late last year, the Indian Supreme Court (SC) had put to rest the decades-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, deciding in favour of Hindus.

    The Indian top court had allotted Ayodhya land to Ram Janambhoomi Nyas (Ram Birthplace Trust).

    Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas is an organisation to promote and oversee the construction of a temple in Ayodhya at the Ram Janmabhoomi, the reputed site of the birth of Rama, the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Hindu God Vishnu.

  • Teenage girl finds Rs100 million in bank account, informs police

    Teenage girl finds Rs100 million in bank account, informs police

    A 16-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh, India was surprised when she was informed that she had nearly Rs10 crore (Rs100 million) in her bank account.

    As per reports, Saroj told the media that she had an account in an Allahabad Bank branch in Bansdih town since 2018, and had never even seen so much money.

    Saroj immediately went to the police station and registered a complaint.

    She told the police that a person named Neelesh Kumar had called her about two years ago and had asked her to send her Aadhaar card details and her photograph so that she could get funds under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

    Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is an initiative by the Indian Government in which affordable housing will be provided to the urban poor.
    Saroj said that she had sent the details to Kumar but never got any information from him after that.

    She told the police that the number from which Kumar used to call her was now switched off. She also said that she did not know where the money came into her account.

    The bank manager told the police that Saroj had deposited and withdrawn amounts ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 several times.

    Police station in-charge Rajesh Kumar Singh said the matter is being investigated and action would be taken accordingly. He said that cyber experts are also analyzing the money trail.