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Tag: India

  • Pakistani Hindus reject Indian offer for citizenship

    Pakistan’s minority Hindu community has rejected India’s offer to grant them citizenship under a new law, a private media outlet reported.

    Citing the harassment of minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, the Indian parliament recently amended its citizenship law, offering citizenship rights to Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Parsi and Jain communities migrating from these countries.

    The law, however, excluded Muslims, triggering mass protests across the country.

    “Pakistan’s Hindu community unanimously rejects this bill, which is tantamount to dividing India on communal lines,” Raja Asar Manglani, patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, told Anadolu Agency.

    “This is a unanimous message from Pakistan’s entire Hindu community to Indian Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi. A true Hindu will never support this legislation,” he said.

    He added that the law has violated India’s own constitution.

    Anwar Lal Dean, a Christian member of the Pakistani parliament’s upper house or Senate, also said the law is meant to pitch religious communities against each other.

    “This is a clear violation of fundamental human rights. We categorically reject it,” said Dean, a leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party.

    “Through such unjust and uncalled steps, the Modi government wants to pitch religious communities against each other,” he said, citing scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s longstanding special rights law, Indian Supreme Court’s judgment on Babri Mosque, and growing violence against minorities in India.

    Pakistan’s tiny Sikh community has also denounced the controversial law.

    “Not only Pakistani Sikhs but the entire Sikh community in the world, including those in India, also condemn this move,” said Gopal Singh, leader of the Baba Guru Nanak.

    “The Sikh community is a minority both in India and Pakistan. Being a member of a minority, I can feel the pain and the fears of the Muslim minority [India]. This is simply persecution,” he said.

    Singh urged Modi not to push minorities “back to the wall.”

    While introducing the citizenship law, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah told parliament that non-Muslim population in Pakistan has alarmingly decreased over the years.

    He said the minorities comprised 23% of Pakistan’s population in 1947, when it was formed. “But now it has decreased to a mere 3.7%,” he said, adding that this means either they have been killed, migrated or forced to convert their religion.

    The official figures available with the Pakistan Census, however, contest his claims.

    The minority population was never 23% in the then-West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan).

    According to the 1961 census, the non-Muslim population was recorded at 2.83%. A decade later in 1972, the census recorded non-Muslim population at 3.25% of the total population. That means, it increased by 0.42%.

    In the 1981 census, the non-Muslim population was 3.30%. In the next census carried out in 1998, it was recorded as 3.70% of the total population.

    Though Pakistan carried out a fresh census in 2017, its religious data has yet to be released. However, according to Pakistan Hindu Council leader Manglani, Hindus make up 4% of the total 210 million population. Nearly 80% of Hindus — Pakistan’s largest minority — inhabit the southern part of the Sindh province.

    Pakistan’s government has accused India’s government led by Bharatiya Janata Party of toeing the ideology of “Hindutva Supremacy.”

    “The Modi government continues to curb and undermine the rights of minorities in accordance with Hindutva supremacist ideology,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a series of tweets on Monday.

    “Illegal annexation of Kashmir, [handing over of] Babri Masjid [to Hindus], and [the] Citizenship Amendment Bill which excludes Muslims, are all targeted towards subjugation of minorities,” he added.

    Condemning the use of force against students protesting against the controversial bill in different parts of India, Qureshi said: “Concerned about the brutal and indiscriminate use of force by the state on Indian Muslim students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Bill.”

    Pakistan’s main opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif too decried the Modi government for stifling the voice of dissent through state force.

    “Disturbing news and images emanating from India. The state fascism being perpetrated on students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, is a reminder that Modi’s hatred of Muslims is ideologically driven,” he said in a twitter post.

  • Bollywood reacts to Delhi violence

    As protests ravage India, more than 100 students have been injured after baton-wielding police charged at them and fired tear gas at two federally-run universities where students were holding anti-citizenship law protests.

    According to reports, students in New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) and Uttar Pradesh state’s Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) had been protesting since the new law was passed last week.

    The contentious law grants citizenship to religious minorities – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians – from neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    While critics say it is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda to marginalise the 200-million strong Islamic minority, Modi denies this, saying that the new law “does not affect any citizen of India of any religion”, while accusing “vested interest groups” of stoking the “deeply distressing” unrest.

    As the protests get bloodier, people are asking Bollywood celebrities especially Shah Rukh Khan who is an alumnus of Jamia Millia Delhi, to speak up on the matter and express their solidarity.

    https://twitter.com/artwhoring/status/1206447623839727616?s=20

    While A-lister celebrities including the Khans, Kapoors and Priyanka Chopra have remained silent on the matter, other celebs including Sidharth Malhotra, Ayushmann Khurana, Dia Mirza and Vicky Kaushal have condemned this violence.

    https://twitter.com/RajkummarRao/status/1206486037658243072?s=20
  • Lahore-Wagah train service to resume after 22 years on Dec 14

    Lahore-Wagah train service to resume after 22 years on Dec 14

    After a gap of almost 22 years, the train service, with a capacity of carrying 181 passengers, between Lahore and Wagah Railway Station will resume operations on December 14.

    According to the chief operating superintendent of Pakistan Railways Aamir Baloch, “The shuttle train will provide commute for the passengers desiring to witness the flag ceremony in the evening. Pakistan Rangers on Wagah border and Indian Border Force on the other side will manage the security affairs.”

    Baloch shared that all arrangements for running the train have been completed.

    The train will make four detours and its fare is fixed at Rs30. Two passenger coaches and the engine of the train have been overhauled and renovated using resources of the railways’ department.

    The train was operational between Wagah to Lahore since the partition till 1997 after which the service was closed due to certain operational and security reasons.

    “The train will start from Lahore railway station and will take two up-down rounds each in the morning and the evening,” Baloch said.

    Baloch said the railways decided to revive the service on a daily basis to provide convenient and affordable transportation facilities to the people coming to Jallo Park in Lahore and Wagah.

    If there is an increase in the demand, more passenger boogies could be renovated and added to the shuttle service.

    Meanwhile, plans to extend the service to Shahdara railway station, Kot Lakhpat and Kot Radha Krishan railway station for the convenience of the passengers is also being considered.

  • US, UK govts issue safety travel advisory for women citizens visiting India

    US, UK govts issue safety travel advisory for women citizens visiting India

    India is fast building a reputation of being an unsafe place for women, resulting in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) governments issuing a detailed information sheet for survivours of rape and sexual assault for its citizens travelling or staying in India, Times of India reported.

    The advisory by the British government to their citizens was released on its websites, and stated that rape and sexual assault survivours should insist on a police report. It also added that the police are not bound to provide an English translation, but the survivour could get the statement read and explained in English before signing it.

    Referring to this, Kartikeya Tripathi, a lecturer from University College London (UCL), said that in an unfortunate case, if a British national is sexually assaulted in India, the advisory tells them about their rights and that it needs to be dealt with by a female police officer, which many are not aware of.

    Also, the US government’s India travel advisory, which was issued earlier in March 2019 and which places India at ‘level 2’ security, advises travellers to ‘exercise increased caution’. It also stated that Indian authorities report rape as one of the fastest-growing crimes in India, and violent crime, such as sexual assault, has occurred at tourist sites and in other locations.

    The advisories have explained everything in detail, and also urge women to be aware of their rights when they are visiting India.

  • Killing of rape-murder suspects in ‘police encounter’ spark celebrations in India

    Killing of rape-murder suspects in ‘police encounter’ spark celebrations in India

    Indian police on Friday shot dead four detained gang-rape and murder suspects as they were re-enacting their alleged crime, prompting celebrations but also accusations of extrajudicial killings.

    The men, who had been in custody for a week over the latest gruesome case of violence against women to shock India, were shot in the early morning as they tried to escape during the staged re-enactment in Hyderabad.

    Deputy police commissioner in the southern city Prakash Reddy revealed that “They were killed in crossfire. They tried to snatch weapons from the guards but were shot dead.”

    The four were accused of gang-raping and murdering a 27-year-old veterinary doctor Dr Priyanka Reddy before setting fire to her body with petrol underneath an isolated bridge late on November 27.

    The woman had phoned her sister saying she was scared of the men before her phone went dead. She said police did not take her seriously when she said her sister was missing.

    The victim

    Like in the infamous 2012 rape and murder of a woman on a Delhi bus, the case sparked demonstrations and calls for swift and tough justice, with social media swamped with demands for them to be put to death.

    Shortly after their arrest hundreds of protesters also tried to storm the Hyderabad police station where the four accused were held. One lawmaker in the parliament called for the men to be “lynched” and another for rapists to be castrated.

    Several hundred people flocked to the scene of the men’s deaths on Friday, setting off firecrackers to celebrate and showering police with flower petals.

    The victim’s sister also welcomed the killings.

    “I am happy the four accused have been killed in an encounter. This incident will set an example. I thank the police and media for their support,” the sister told a local television station.

    Women in technology hub Hyderabad, home to Google, Apple and Microsoft, distributed sweets and tied Hindu ritual threads on the wrists of policemen to thank them.

    On the other hand rights activists were aghast with the killing – police in India are often accused of using extrajudicial killings to bypass the legal process, often as a cover-up in botched investigations or to pacify public anger.

    India’s former federal minister for women and child developement, Maneka Gandhi termed the incident as dangerous, saying killings cannot be an alternative to the process of law.

    “They would have anyway got hanging for their heinous crime, but you can’t just pick up guns and kill people because you want to. Because law is tardy, you can’t kill people. What has happened is dangerous,” Gandhi told reporters.

    A Supreme Court lawyer is reported to have said, “This is murder in cold blood. Fake encounter is not the solution, reforming criminal justice system is.”

    “Now no one will ever know who really raped and murdered the Hyderabad woman.”

  • Pakistan declared ‘more attractive destination for global investors than India’

    An international credit rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service, has upgraded the outlook for Pakistan’s economy from negative to positive, declaring the country a more attractive destination for global investors than India as the latter’s credit outlook downgraded to negative earlier this year, Sputnik News reported.

    According to the agency, upgrade in Pakistan’s status is driven by “Moody’s expectations that the balance of payments dynamics will continue to improve”. On the other hand, it said that India’s outlook downgraded, “on concerns that its economic growth would remain materially lower than in the past”.

    “Moody’s decision to change the outlook to negative reflects increasing risks that economic growth will remain materially lower than in the past, partly reflecting lower government and policy effectiveness at addressing long-standing economic and institutional weaknesses than Moody’s had previously estimated, leading to a gradual rise in the debt burden from already high levels.”

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Adviser on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said the upgradation of outlook to stable was affirmation of the government’s success in stabilising the country’s economy and laying a firm foundation for robust long term growth.

    The announcement also pushed Pakistan’s stock market above 40,000 points — highest after a gap of 10 months.

    The premier himself has also claimed that over the first four months of the current fiscal year beginning April 2019, Pakistan’s current account deficit fell by 73.5%, as compared to the same period last fiscal year. “The country’s exports of goods and services in October 2019 rose 20 per cent over the previous month and 9.6 per cent over October 2018.”

  • Maiden trial of India’s ‘nuclear-capable’ missile ends in failure

    Maiden trial of India’s ‘nuclear-capable’ missile ends in failure

    The maiden night trial of India’s “nuclear-capable” Agni-III missile ended in failure on Saturday after it crashed into the sea in Odisha, according to a report published by Indian news outlet New Indian Express.

    According to the details, the missile deviated from its flight path and the mission team had to terminate it.

    “Starting from the launch to the first phase separation, everything was smooth in accordance with the mission plan but suddenly it started behaving abnormally” the publication quoted sources as saying.

    “It could possibly be due to metallurgical defects,” it added.

    The missile, which could carry both conventional and nuclear warheads weighing up to 1.5 tonnes, had already been inducted in the inventory back in 2011.

    Two other variants of the missile, Agni-I and Agni-II, have failed during both development and user trials in the past. Agni-II had failed to deliver desired result during its first night trial in 2009.

  • Lahore is the capital of Khalistan: Google

    Lahore is the capital of Khalistan: Google

    In yet another faux pas, Google now says that ‘Lahore’ is the capital of Khalistan — a seperate country that Indian Sikhs seek as their homeland in the Punjab region of eastern Pakistan and western India.

    An Indian Twitter user attached the screenshot of the Google search declaring Lahore as the capital of Khalistan state with a blue-saffron flag and a ‘Khanda’ insignia of Sikhism on it.

    Indian media went into haywire following the circulation of the images, saying that Google search had “substantiated its accusations on Pakistan for fanning and supporting the separatist movement”.

    “The new state created would be called Khalistan in the modern territories of Eastern Pakistan and Western India. Its stated capital would be Lahore, a city where the Sikh empire was commenced by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and ruled for centuries by his descendants,” one of the search results read.

  • Indian Sikh donates 900sq ft land for mosque after Kartarpur opening

    An Indian Sikh has donated his 900 square foot (sq ft) land for the construction of a mosque in celebration of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary and Pakistan’s inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate Indian Sikh pilgrims.

    According to media reports, the 70-year-old merchant, Sukhpal Singh Bedi, who is a resident of Purkazi town of Muzaffarnagar district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), has said that the gesture is a tribute to Baba Guru Nanak’s teachings of peace and love.

    “Bedis, originally hailing from the Bedian town near Lahore, are the direct descendants of Baba Guru Nanak and so I feel it was my responsibility to make an example by following his teachings,” he reportedly said, hoping that the gesture will foster communal union in the area.

    He had handed over the documents of the land to Zahir Farooqui, the Nagar Panchayat chairman, who has thanked Bedi on behalf of the Muslim community.

    AYODHYA DISPUTE:

    The development comes days after the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict in the historic Ayodhya dispute case. Putting to rest the decades-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, the Indian Supreme Court had on November 9 decided in favour of Hindus as it 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.

    With a five-judge bench pronouncing its unanimous judgment that was reserved last month on the Ayodhya case involving the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid, it ordered allotment of five-acre alternative land to Muslims for setting up of a mosque while deciding in favour of Hindus.

    The ruling said the Indian government will formulate a scheme in three months to set up a board of trustees for the construction of the temple at the disputed structure.

    “This court must accept faith and accept the belief of worshippers. The court should preserve balance,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi said while reading out the judgement.

    The court said Hindus believe that Lord Ram was born under the dome, adding that faith is a matter of individual belief.

    It said there is evidence that Ram Chabutra, Sita Rasoi was worshipped by the Hindus before the British came. The court said evidence in the records shows that Hindus were in the possession of outer court of the disputed land.

    “Arguments were made on archaeology report. Archaeological Survey of India’s credentials are beyond doubt and its findings can’t be neglected,” the court said.

    The court said that titles can’t be decided on faith and belief but on claims. The judgement stated that historical accounts indicate the belief of Hindus that Ayodhya was the birthplace of Lord Ram.

    The Indian SC dismissed the plea of Shia Waqf Board on a claim to the Babri Masjid, saying there was no evidence that Muslims abandoned the mosque. Hindus always believed the birthplace of Lord Ram was in the inner courtyard of the mosque, the verdict added. 

    According to the court, it is clearly established that Muslims offered prayer inside the inner courtyard and Hindus offered prayers in the outer courtyard.

    Ahead of the verdict, appeals for peace were made by the Hindu and Muslim organisations and various political leaders, including Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.

    Meanwhile, Delhi Police said it will initiate strict legal action against mischief-mongers or those found indulging in any activity that may adversely affect peace and public order.

    “Activities on social media platforms will be under observation,” said the police.

    Earlier, authorities banned the assembly of more than four people at one place in and around Ayodhya, a town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh while the government ordered all schools and colleges to remain closed until Monday.

    BABRI MASJID DESTRUCTION:

    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.

  • Paresh Rawal speaks up for Muslim professor’s hiring in India

    Paresh Rawal speaks up for Muslim professor’s hiring in India

    Bollywood’s veteran actor Paresh Rawal is raising his voice in support of an Indian Muslim university professor Feroz Khan. According to reports, Dr Feroze was being hired to teach Sanskrit and people were protesting against that because they thought that the language needed to be protected.

    Paresh voiced his disbelief at the protest and highlighted the “irony” that Professor Feroze had done his Masters and PhD in Sanskrit.

    He added that if that if the protestors logic was to be followed, the “late Shri Mohammad Rafi ji should not have sung any BHAJANS and Naushad Saab should not have composed it!”

    Hardline Hindu students at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) are holding a sit-in outside the vice-chancellor’s office against the appointment of Professor Feroz Khan. Their stance is that since most Hindu religious text is in Sanskrit, they don’t want a Muslim professor for teaching linguistic lessons about Sanskrit.

    On the other hand, there were a few students who were in favor of the Muslim professor’s appointment.