NEWS DIGEST, EVENING
18 June 2019: 14 Shawal 1440:Vol: 11, No:224
World mourns mors’s death
Egypt's ex-President Morsi buried in Cairo says Son with some family members present
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/egypt-president-mohamed-morsi-buried-cairo-lawyer-190618045239054.html
Egypt's former President Mohamed Morsi was buried on Tuesday in eastern Cairo, his son said, a day after he collapsed in court and died shortly after.Morsi was buried early in the morning alongside other senior figures of the Muslim Brotherhood, his son, Ahmed Morsi, said on his Facebook page.The burial was attended by members of the family in Cairo's Madinat Nasr after authorities refused to grant permission for a burial in Morsi's home province of Sharqiya in the Nile Delta, Ahmed Morsi said."We washed his noble body at Tora prison hospital, performed prayers for him in the prison mosque ... the burial was at the cemetary for Muslim Brotherhood spiritual guides," Ahmed wrote. Morsi's lawyer,Abdel Moneim Abdel Maksoud, confirmed the burial took place in the public cemetery early on Tuesday.Meanwhile, observers on social media decried the apparent haste with which Morsi's burial was carried out. "The sudden, abrupt and restricted manner in which the Egyptian regime has enforced President #Morsi's burial, raises even more questions regarding the circumstances of his death, and intensifies calls for an independent medical enquiry," Anas Altikriti, founder of Cordoba Foundation, said on Twitter. Mahmoud Refaat, a foreign policy advisor at the European Institute for International Law and International Relations said the burial went against Egyptian tradition."In Egyptian tradition, which is considered quite sacred, we bury our dead during daylight hours, either after the duhr (noon) or afternoon (asr) prayers," Refaat said on Twitter."It is also done where the dead was born. Forcing Morsi's family to bury him in the middle of the night with only two of his sons present, and without his wife, only confirms that Egypt (authorities) has no honour and is being ruled by the Emirates," he added, refering to the political ties between the govt of el-Sisi and UAE.The news of Morsi's death quickly spread through Egypt's prison population, sources within 2 prisons said.A source at a facility in the Nile Delta, who asked not to be identified, described emotional scenes as prisoners learned about the ex-president's demise.Speeches were given by senior prisoners, the source said, adding that some inmates were "crying as if they cried for a dear family member". "We cried for the symbol that was lost, and we cried of the deterioration of the prison conditions," prisoner said. Grief quickly turned into anger among some of the younger inmates, the source said, adding that senior prisoners stepped in to calm the situation.There have been reports over the years that Morsi had been mistreated and tortured in jail, with activists saying on Monday his death should be seen in the context of the Egyptian authorities' systematic isolation and mistreatment of political detainees.Human Rights Watch called the news Morsi's death "terrible" but "entirely predictable", citing the government's "failure to allow him adequate medical care".Amnesty International said the Egyptian govt bears responsibility for the death of the former president, amid pressing international demands for a fair and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his final hours. Rami Khouri, from the American University of Beirut, said military governments in the Middle East and North Africa are now worse than ever in the treatment of their civilian populations."The extent of the brutality of which the Egyptian and other Arab governments are doing - jailing tens of thousands of people, arresting people simply because of an opinion they expressed on social media, preventing any kind of free media … as well as torture and fake trials - this is much worse than it's ever been in the Arab world," Khouri said.The 67-year-old, who had been behind bars for nearly 6 years, had a long history of health issues, including suffering from diabetes, as well as liver and kidney disease.aljazeera
World mourns Morsi's martyrdom
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/world-reacts-to-mohamed-morsis-martyrdom/1507186
The international community mourned the martyrdom of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, who died Monday during a court appearance to face charges many believed were politically motivated. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wished God's mercy for Morsi, whom he called "a martyr who died struggling for his cause", adding history will never forget the tyrants who caused his martyrdom.Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Morsi will be remembered as "an exceptional person in his country's struggle for democracy".Funeral prayers in absentia for Morsi will be held on Tuesday in mosques across Turkey, Religious Affairs Directorate said late Monday. Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani also mourned Morsi’s demise. "We received with deep sorrow the news of the sudden death of former President Mohamed Morsi," he said.Al Thani offered condolences to Morsi's family and the Egyptian people.In a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry also voiced “sorrow” and “regret” over the news of the passing of Morsi."While respecting the viewpoints of the great and brave Egyptian nation, the Islamic Republic of Iran condoles with the people as well as Morsi’s family, survivors and fans over his demise, and wishes divine blessing and mercy for him, patience and divine reward for survivors, and success for great Egyptian nation," the statement said. Shireen Mazari, Pakistan's minister for Human Rights also expressed grief over Morsi’s demise."Indeed - sad news. What hope there was and how tragically it all ended. RIP," Mazari said in a Twitter post. "Morsi's incarceration & death symbolize the tragedy of democracy struggling under shadow of Uncle Sam. What promise the Arab Spring held & how it was destroyed - is similar to what happened to Allende & other democratic nationalist forces around the world inimical to the powerful!", she added. In addition, Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah also expressed sorrow over “sudden passing of” Morsi."During his tenure as president, Mr Morsi showed courage and moral fortitude in his attempt to lead Egypt away from decades of authoritarian rule and establish true democracy there," Abdullah said.“Morsi’s contribution to justice and democracy in Egypt will be remembered,” he added.Prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi said Morsi suffered a lot while languishing in prison.Morsi "died with patience over his suffering in his jail," al-Qaradawi said, praying to God to accept him as a martyr.Tunisian Ennahda Movement said it had received the news with great sadness and shock and extended condolences to Morsi's family and the Egyptian people.The movement expressed hope that "the painful incident would be a reason to put an end to the suffering of thousands of political prisoners in Egypt" and for starting dialogue for a new democratic political life. Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood held "the coup authorities in Egypt responsible for Morsi's death after his detention for seven years in solitary imprisonment". The group also held the international community responsible for "the crimes of the coup" in Egypt.The Palestinian Hamas group mourned the death of Morsi and hailed his efforts in serving the Palestinian cause."Morsi engaged in a long struggle for Egypt, its people and the nation's issues, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause,” it said.He also made great efforts in defending Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque as a member of Egypt’s parliament, it added, offering condolences to Egypt, its people and his family.At Al-Aqsa Mosque, dozens of Palestinians held funeral prayers for Morsi.In Libya, Mohamed al-Amari, a member of UN-recognized Libyan Presidential Council, described Morsi as a martyr, adding he had "set an example for his patience, steadfastness and adherence to his principles". On his Facebook page, Amari expressed his condolences to Morsi’s family, the "free people of Egypt" and "liberation revolutions" in all Arab countries.Abderrazak Makri, the leader of Algeria's largest Islamic party, the Movement for Society of Peace, mourned the "oppressed legitimate Egyptian president"."On behalf of the movement's institutions and activists,I extend our sincere condolences to the family of the legitimate Egyptian president, who was overthrown, to his brothers in the Freedom and Justice Party and to the Egyptian people," he said. Sudan's Popular Congress Party expressed condolences to the "Arab and Islamic nation and the Egyptian people" over Morsi's martyrdom. It stressed that Morsi spent "6 years of imprisonment and was deprived of his basic and human rights". Mohamed Mahsoub, ho served as minister of state for parliamentary affairs during Morsi's presidency, said "we are facing a new murder case: the murder of the only president elected by the Egyptian people in their history". He said it was the murder of freedom of choice in order to “keep Egypt's future bound to the will of a tyrant or the decision of a dictator".HRW also commented on Morsi's martyrdom, saying it was “predictable"."Morsi's death is terrible but entirely predictable, given gov't failure to allow him adequate medical care," Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the organization’s Middle East and North Africa Division, said on Twitter.Anadolu Agency
Condemned to a 'slow death': Egypt's Morsi mourned as a martyr
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/social-media-users-mourn-morsis-death-lament-dire-imprisonment-conditions?fbclid=IwAR10cTqyVEZxPvigQFAcVbMyQbn1wZZWB4aG1ht_fImVXIKl0xgaPIOh5T8
Ex-Egypt president Morsi is a 'martyr': Wife
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/life/ex-egypt-president-morsi-is-a-martyr-wife/1507527
The wife of Mohamed Morsi mourned her husband on Tuesday, describing him as a "martyr". Morsi, Egypt's first freely-elected president, collapsed and died on Monday during a court appearance on "espionage" charges."We consider my husband, President Mohamed Morsi as a martyr," she said on Twitter. AA
Muslim Brotherhood says Mursi death was 'full-fledged murder', calls for mass funeral in Egypt
https://in.reuters.com/article/egypt-mursi-brotherhood/muslim-brotherhood-says-mursi-death-was-full-fledged-murder-calls-for-mass-funeral-in-egypt-idINKCN1TI2GK
Cairo:Muslim Brotherhood said that death of Mohamed Mursi was a “full-fledged murder” and called on Egyptians to gather for a mass funeral.In a statement on its website, the Brotherhood also called for crowds to gather outside Egyptian embassies around the world. Mursi, the first democratically elected head of state in Egypt’s modern history, died after collapsing in a Cairo court, authorities said.Reuters
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind says Dr. Morsi's death was a murder, his martyrdom will strengthen Islamic Cause
New Delhi: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has said death of the first democratic elected President of Egypt, Dr.Mohamed Morsi cannot be considered natural, rather it was a custodial murder and his martyrdom will strengthen the ‘Islamic Cause’ all over the world.JIH President Syed Sadatullah Hussaini said," legally elected President of the Egypt Dr.Morsi was forcibly ousted from power. His death cannot be considered natural, rather it was a custodial murder, the sole responsibility of which lies on the illegitimate Egyptian govt and its self-proclaimed President and dictator Abdul Fattah Sisi. The martyrdom of Dr.Morsi will strengthen the ‘Islamic Cause’ all over the world, Insha’Allah. May Allah accept his martyrdom, grant him the highest Paradise and give patience to his bereaved family members’’. Expressing sorrow over Dr.Morsi’s death, the Jamaat President said, ‘Islamic world has lost a good leader in the death of Dr Morsi. It was a blatant murder of democracy when the legitimate government of Dr. Morsi that came to power through transparent and clean elections, was overthrown using violence and military power. The Sisi regime carried out fake trials by framing fabricated charges against Dr. Morsi and by harassing and incarcerating the legitimate President of Egypt, committed a gross violation of human rights. We demand that an enquiry be conducted at the international level on the murder of Dr.Morsi and award exemplary punishment to the guilty’’.newsdigest.in
Funeral prayer in absentia held for Morsi at Al-Aqsa
https://www.dailysabah.com/mideast/2019/06/17/funeral-prayer-in-absentia-held-for-morsi-at-al-aqsa-mosque?fbclid=iwar12jgfwdthz0gcwy8ryh-0brdpwzmthtzbks_evh32eqhewgo0mgs0yv8u
A funeral prayer in absentia was held at the Al-Aqsa Mosque for Egypt's first democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi, who died Monday during trial.The funeral was held after isha, or the night prayers, at the mosque in occupied East Jerusalem's Old City. Meanwhile, Palestinian resistance movement Hamas issued a statement thanking Morsi for his efforts "in serving the Palestinian cause" and his stance toward the Gaza Strip, following his sudden death.The group, which governs Gaza, said Monday it remembers Morsi's "unforgettable and brave positions and his work to lift its siege."Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on the Palestinian enclave after Hamas took control in 2007. During Morsi's rule, Cairo eased travel and trade restrictions from its side significantly.Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate also announced that funeral prayers in absentia would be held today in mosques across the country to honor Morsi's life and his struggle.Daily Sabah
Hamas mourns Morsi, but PA bans public expressions of sympathy
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190618-hamas-mourns-morsi-but-the-pa-bans-public-expressions-of-sympathy/
Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement — Hamas — has expressed its sadness at the death of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, who passed away in Cairo on Monday evening. Hamas said that Egypt’s first democratically-elected President died after a long journey serving his country, the Egyptian people and the issues of Arab and Islamic nations.Above all, Hamas added, Morsi served the Palestinian cause, which he supported at all regional and international levels, not to mention his efforts to defend Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque when he was a member of the Egyptian parliament. The movement stressed that the Palestinian people would always remember his brave and strong positions on the besieged Gaza Strip and the resistance to the 2012 Israeli offensive on the territory, as well as his efforts to break the siege imposed on it by Israel and its allies.In light of this grave loss, Hamas sent its condolences to Egypt and its people, especially Morsi’s family, relatives and supporters. Condolences were also sent by several other Palestinian factions, including Islamic Jihad, Al-Ahrar Movement and Al-Mujahideen.However, other movements remained silent, while the spokesman of the Palestinian Security Services in the West Bank, Adnan Al-Dameeri, insulted Morsi’s memory as well as the Muslim Brotherhood. Amazingly, Fatah official Al-Dameeri blamed the movement for the unsettled situation in Egypt and linked it to Hamas, which he blames for the deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip.Despite this apparent rebuff by the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, the Palestinians in Gaza performed funeral prayers for Morsi. PA itself, though, banned any public expressions of sympathy for the deceased former President of Egypt.middleeastmonitor
Morsi is martyr for his cause: Turkish president
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/morsi-is-martyr-for-his-cause-turkish-president/1507166
Egyptian organization seeks probe into Morsi’s death
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/egyptian-organization-seeks-probe-into-morsi-s-death/1507182
HRW calls for probe into Morsi's death
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/human-rights-watch-calls-for-probe-into-morsis-death/1507190
INDIA
Litchi Toxins, Malnutrition or Heat Wave? Doctors Explain What’s Causing AES Epidemic in Bihar
https://www.news18.com/news/india/litchi-toxins-or-heat-wave-doctors-explain-whats-causing-the-deadly-encephalitis-epidemic-in-bihar-2191335.html
The popular terms like ‘Litchi Havoc’, Chamki Bhukar’, ‘Killer Encephalitis’, ‘Deadly Litchi Toxin’ that are being used to report the epidemic in Bihar point to the dismal methods of investigating a disease in India. For, it only serves the purpose of headlines.In June 2019, cyclic return of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) or Chamki fever to one of India’s poorest and malnourished states, Bihar, lead to hospitalisation of 309 children in Muzaffarpur. Although over hundred children have already been cured and discharged from Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), the death of 85 children at the hospital after a gap of four years necessitates a four-part enquiry into the investigation of the outbreak: identification, causation, confusion and malnutrition.The broad characteristics of AES defines it as a group of clinically similar neurologic manifestations caused by several different viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites, chemicals or toxins etc.Dr. TJ John, former president of the Indian Association of Pediatrics (IAP) and Emeritus Professor of Virology at the Christian Medical College in Vellore, has called AES “a meaningless term” given that “any brain disease in the child may be called AES”. “AES is a term used by untrained health workers to say that a child has some brain disease like convulsion, unconsciousness etc. But when a doctor examines the child, he must conclude which kind of AES disease it is: encephalitis (virus causing brain inflammation), meningitis (swelling of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord), encephalopathy (broad term for any brain disease that alters brain function or structure) or cerebral malaria (severe neurological complication of infection with Malaria),” he told News18.Dr John said a doctor must figure out the right disease between these four main categories when a case called AES is referred by a health worker. One of his many concerns is the casual use of the term AES by doctors.In Muzaffarpur, despite intensive study by experts from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), New Delhi and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta (USA), there are two competing theories of the epidemic: one, caused by heat stroke, and two, caused by a toxin in locally-grown fruit, litchi.Speaking to News18, Dr Vipin Vashishtha, a member of the team that studied the epidemic in Muzaffarpur along with NCDC and CDC from 2011 to 2013, forwarded the litchi theory.“Whether it is a litchi toxin or some mixed illnesses, the deaths have a strong relation with litchi cultivation,” he said.Indeed, the report provided to the government by two expert teams had helped reduce the count of AES cases in Muzaffarpur after the 2014.Dr John, who was also part of one expert team that identified the epidemic, said that malnourished children who ate litchis and went to sleep without a meal fell ill in the pre-Monsoon season between 4 am to 7 am.news18
Encephalitis deaths: Nitish faces protest outside hospital in Muzaffarpur
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/encephalitis-death-nitish-kumar-faces-protest-outside-hospital-in-muzaffarpur/article28046298.ece?homepage=true
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Tuesday had to face people’s protest outside the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) at Muzaffarpur where he had gone to take stock of the situation following the death of over 100 children due to suspected AES.A group, comprising relatives of the children and villagers, gathered outside the government hospital shouted “Nitish Kumar wapas jao” (Nitish Kumar go back) while waving black flags at him.A large number of policemen were deployed at the hospital gate to control the protesters.thendu
India will be world’s most populous country by 2027:UN report
https://scroll.in/latest/927416/indias-population-will-surpass-chinas-by-2027-says-united-nations-report
India’s population will surpass that of China by 2027, the UN said in its World Population Prospects report for 2019, released on Monday. China is currently the world’s most populous country, with India at the second spot.The 2011 census had put India’s population at 1.21 billion. The next census will be carried out in 2021.The report said that the world’s population continues to grow, though at a slower pace. It will increase from the current 7.7 billion in 2019 to 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.9 billion in 2100. “More than half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just nine countries: the DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan,Tanzania, and USA,” the report said.Countries of sub-Saharan Africa are likely to account for more than half the increase in the global population from 2019 to 2050, the report said. On the other hand, 55 countries or areas will see a reduction in their populations during this period, due to sustained low levels of fertility, and high rates of emigration in some places. The populations of Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands are expected to fall by 20% or more during this period.“...populations in Eastern and Southeastern Asia, Central and Southern Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Northern America are projected to reach peak population size and to begin to decline before the end of this century,” the UN report said. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people will continue to increase until 2100 AD. UN report also said that in 2018, for the first time in recorded history, people over 65 years of age outnumbered children under the age of five. “Projections indicate that by 2050 there will be more than twice as many persons above 65 as children under five,” it said. “By 2050, the number of persons aged 65 years or over globally will also surpass the number of adolescents and youth aged 15 to 24 years.”scroll.in/
Supreme Court refuses to pass order on plea seeking security for doctors in government hospitals
https://scroll.in/latest/927433/supreme-court-refuses-to-pass-order-on-plea-seeking-security-for-doctors-in-government-hospitals
The Supreme Court today refused to pass orders on a plea seeking to provide security to doctors in government hospitals. The court directed the matter to be listed before an appropriate bench in July, after the summer vacations, ANI reported.The bench said that the matter of protection of doctors is serious and needs consideration, but is not urgent any more, Bar and Bench reported. Indian Medical Association had filed an intervention application in support of the petitioner, Alakh Alok Srivastava, in the case.“We agreed to hear the plea today as there was a strike by doctors and medical fraternity in West Bengal and other states,” the bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant said according to PTI. “The strike has been called off and there appears no urgency to hear the petition. List before an appropriate bench.”scroll.in/
SC to hear Gujarat Congress leader’s plea against separate bye-polls to Rajya Sabha seats tomorrow
https://scroll.in/latest/927398/congress-leader-moves-sc-against-ecs-decision-to-hold-separate-bye-polls-to-two-gujarat-seats
The Supreme Court today agreed to hear tomorrow a plea by Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly Paresh Dhanani against the decision of the Election Commission of India to hold separate bye-polls to 2 Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat. Dhanani had filed the plea on Monday, Bar and Bench reported. Dhanani, a Congress MLA, asked the court to direct the poll panel to conduct simultaneous bye-elections for filling up Rajya Sabha vacancies in all states.The vacancies were created by the election of Amit Shah and Smriti Irani to Lok Sabha from Gandhinagar and Amethi seats during 2019 Lok Sabha elections.The poll panel’s notice terms the vacancies created as “casual vacancies”, a term the petitioner opposed. Dhanani said the term is a “complete and direct violation of the provisions of Representation of People Act.”Such vacancies fall under the category of statutory vacancies under Section 69 of Act, the Congress legislator added.Dhanani asked the top court to declare the poll panel’s order as “unconstitutional, arbitrary, illegal, void ab initio” as it was violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, PTI reported.scroll.in
CBI files case against Indira Jaising’s NGO Lawyers Collective for alleged FCRA violations
https://scroll.in/latest/927454/cbi-files-case-against-indira-jaisings-ngo-lawyers-collective-for-alleged-fcra-violations
CBI has filed a case against senior advocate Anand Grover and his non-governmental organisation Lawyers Collective for allegedly violating rules under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, PTI reported. Grover is a trustee and director of NGO. Supreme Court advocate Indira Jaising, who is married to Grover, is a trustee and secretary.The FIR named Grover and unidentified office-bearers and functionaries of the organisation, officials said. Some private persons and public servants were also named as accused under IPC provisions on forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy. NGO was in May this year issued Notice by the Supreme Court on alleged violations of FCRA based on a petition filed by another organisation called Lawyers Voice. Jaising and Grover had then alleged that they were being victimised and penalised for speaking up against the procedure followed by the Supreme Court’s in-house committee that cleared Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment charges.scroll.in
Adivasis, human rights activists are persecuted, torture works in many ways:Stan Swamy
https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/adivasis-human-rights-activists-are-persecuted-torture-works-in-many-ways-says-stan-swamy
India “is the land of Gandhi and Buddha: we believe in peace, non-violence and upholding human dignity”, India’s Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had stated in the UN in 2017. “As such, the concept of torture is completely alien to our culture and it has no place in the governance of the nation.”Fine words, indeed. However, 2015-2016 NHRC annual report states: “Custodial violence and torture continue to be rampant in the country. It represents the worst form of excesses by public servants entrusted with the duty of law enforcement.”Between Septe.2017 and June 2018, news reports noted 122 incidents of custodial torture, resulting in 30 deaths. There has been no consistent documentation of torture-related complaints. National Crime Records Bureau does not document cases of custodial torture, Baljeet Kaur noted in the Economic and Political Weekly.Torture, says the Association for the Prevention of Torture, is “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him information or a confession, punishing him for an act he has committed or is suspected of having committed”.nationalheraldindia
Om Birla, BJP Nominee for Next Lok Sabha Speaker, associated with Sangh parivar since student days
https://thewire.in/politics/om-birla-bjp-17-lok-sabha-speaker
New Delhi: BJP’s Om Birla is all set to become the speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha. He will succeed 76-year-old Sumitra Mahajan, who did not contest the parliamentary elections this time.According to reports, the two-time MP from Rajasthan’s Kota is considered to be close to BJP chief Amit Shah.Parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi told reporters that all the parties have been given notice to support Birla’s candidature for the post of Lok Sabha speaker.“BJD, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, National People”s Party, Mizo National Front, Lok Janshakti Party, YSRCP, JDU, AIADMK and Apna Dal have given the notice to support Birla’s candidature for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. I have spoken to Congress leaders K Suresh and Ghulam Nabi Azad. They have not signed till now but I think they would not oppose,” Joshi told reporters.57-year-old Birla has been associated with the Sangh parivar since his student days. He was a member of the students’ union from his college in 1979 and then, as a key leader of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, played an important role in BJP-led Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the 1990s. He has also served as one of the vice-presidents of BJP.It is interesting that his name was proposed soon after J.P Nadda, former Union health minister, took over as the working BJP president. Nadda was the president of BJP youth wing when Birla was the vice-president, and both are believed to have worked closely.56-year-old has been associated with BJP youth wing. The election for new Lok Sabha speaker will be held on June 19.thewire
After Rahul Gandhi's 'No', Congress Names Adhir Chowdhury Lok Sabha Chief
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/adhir-ranjan-chowdhury-named-leader-of-congress-in-lok-sabha-2055075
Congress today named senior West Bengal leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury its leader in Lok Sabha, after failing to convince Rahul Gandhi to take up the post. At the long-pending strategy session this morning - where Mr Gandhi and his mother UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were present - the matter was discussed. A letter has been written to Lok Sabha, saying Chowdhury would be the leader of the single largest party from the opposition and represent it at all important selection committees."I have been given this responsibility. I was asked to stand in the front. I said okay. I am a foot soldier and foot soldiers stand in front. So I will fight as a foot soldier," he told ANI.The party also focused on tomorrow's meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss his "One nation one election" idea. The Congress has so far opposed it, arguing against it from practical, logistical and legal angles.ANI
‘Constitution Zindabad, Allahu Akbar’: 2 MPs’ response to Vande Mataram slogans in Lok Sabha
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/shafiqur-rahman-barq-vande-matarm-islam-owaisi-parliament-oath-taking-17th-lok-sabha-5786746/
New Delhi :A Samajwadi Party MP triggered an uproar in Parliament Tuesday when he said chanting Vande Mataram is against Islam and he couldn’t say it.For the second straight day of the Parliamentary budget session, BJP lawmakers continued raising Jai Shri Ram and Vande Mataram slogans as members took the oath of House.When it was the turn of Samajwadi Party’s Shafiqur Rahman Barq, he concluded his oath saying “Constitution of India Zindabad” and clarified that Vande Mataram is against his religion.“Jahan tak Vande Mataram ka taaluq hai, it is against Islam we cannot follow it,” Barq said. This created an uproar in the Lok Sabha and members from the treasury benches were heard raising slogans of Vande Mataram and Jai Shri Ram.The slogans were also heard as AIMIM MP from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi walked up to the lectern to take the oath. He was seen signalling the members of the House to be louder. Owaisi then concluded his oath with “Jai Bhim, Takbir,Allahu Akbar, Jai Hind!”indianexpress
As more TMC leaders defect to BJP, Mamata says saffron party ‘collecting garbage’
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/12-more-tmc-leaders-join-bjp-mamata-says-saffron-party-collecting-garbage-5786956/
New Delhi :On the day a Trinamool Congress MLA and 12 party councillors joined the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday came down heavily on defectors, calling them “garbage” and “traitors”.TMC Bongaon MLA Biswajit Das, 12 TMC councillors and Congress spokesperson Prasanjeet Ghosh joined the BJP today in presence of BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy.This comes a day after TMC’s Nowpara MLA Sunil Singh along with 12 councillors joined the saffron party.“We are not bothered about a few corrupt and greedy leaders who are switching to some other party. They joined the BJP as they were afraid they might face consequences for their activities,” the chief minister said earlier today.Calling them “greedy and corrupt”, Mamata said the saffron party was “collecting garbage”. TMC supremo also said she would be replacing the “traitors” with “dedicated members” and asked those “undecided about joining the BJP” to leave her party at the earliest.indianexpress
‘Strikes and cricket match can’t be compared’: Pakistan Army criticises Amit Shah
https://scroll.in/latest/927404/strikes-and-cricket-match-cant-be-compared-pakistan-army-criticises-amit-shah
Pakistan Army has criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement referring to the India cricket team’s victory over Pakistan at World Cup as “another strike”. Pakistan said the two cannot be compared. “Another strike on Pakistan by #TeamIndia and the result is same,” Shah had said on Twitter. Major General Asif Ghafoor, who is the director general of the Pakistan Army’s media wing, said a cricket match and air strikes cannot be compared. “Dear @AmitShah yes ur [your] team won a match,”he said on his Twitter account. “Well played. Two things with different denominators can’t be compared. So are strikes [and] match. If in doubt please see results of our Nowshera counter strikes [and] response to IAF violation on 27 Feb 19 downing two Indian jets. Stay Surprised.”On Shah’s statement that “the result is the same”, Ghafoor claimed that the Indian air strikes had failed. “...2 IAF jets shot down, a pilot arrested, Mi17 fratricide, four broad day light successful PAF Noushera counter air strikes, massive casualties along LOC and damage to Indian posts [and] artillery gun positions...~Doctor please...”scroll.in
Still no Muslim in Maharashtra govt, rues community
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/still-no-muslim-in-maharashtra-government-rues-community/articleshow/69836331.cms
Mumbai: Non-inclusion of a Muslim in latest expansion of cabinet by CM Devendra Fadnavis has come under flak from community leaders, who felt despite PM Modi’s ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas and vishwas’ slogan the promise of an inclusive agenda remains unfulfilled. “Like his earlier slogans, the new slogan where the PM added vishwas (trust) to sabka saath and sabka vikas is empty. He wants sabka saath but there is no inclusive vikas or growth. Leaving out Muslims from the new cabinet is the latest example,” said deputy opposition leader Arif Naseem Khan. BJP had fielded just one Muslim (Pasha Patel) in the 2014 assembly elections in the state but he lost. There are a few more Muslims in the party like BJP city vice-president and chairman of Maulana Azad Minorities Development Corporation chairman Hyder Azam who could have been considered for a minister’s post, many said. Senior cleric Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi said BJP is not serious in winning the community’s trust.TOI
Centre compulsorily retires 15 more senior tax officials accused of corruption
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/centre-sacks-15-more-senior-tax-officials-facing-probes-in-corruption-cases/
New Delhi :Sending across a stern message to bureaucrats taking kickbacks for facilitation tax evasion by companies, the Centre sacked 15 senior tax officials facing probes in corruption cases on Tuesday, reported Reuters.Only last week on June 11, the government had dismissed 12 senior Indian Revenue Service (income tax) officers following charges of corruption, extortion and professional misconduct against them.The officers who have been ousted include Ashok Agarwal (IRS 1985 batch), Joint Commissioner Income Tax, S K Srivastava (IRS 1989 batch), Commissioner (Appeal), Noida, Homi Rajvansh (IRS 1985 batch), B B Rajendra Prasad, Ajoy Kumar Singh (CIT) and B Arulappa (CIT). Other names in the list include Alok Kumar Mitra, Chander Saini Bharti, Andasu Ravindar, Vivek Batra, Swetabh Suman and Ram Kumar Bhargava.India improved its ranking, among 180 countries, by three points to 78th on a global corruption index in 2018, according to the annual index of the Transparency International, an anti-graft watchdog.indianexpress
AAMSU demands appellate authority to challenge foreigners tribunal orders
https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/north-east/uniform-code-plea-for-tribunal/cid/1692485
Guwahati:All Assam Minorities Students’ Union (AAMSU) has sought a uniform code to regulate the procedure of foreigners tribunals in Assam.AAMSU adviser Azizur Rahman on Saturday said because of “lack” of uniformity in procedures followed by the tribunals, common people as well as lawyers contesting their cases are facing harassment.“As the procedures of the civil and criminal matters are governed by the Code of Civil Procedure and the Code of Criminal Procedure respectively, we want a Foreigners Tribunal Procedure Code,”he said.Following a Barpeta Lawyers’ Association’s decision, advocates had boycotted proceedings of foreigners tribunals in the district in April to protest against the system allegedly not following a uniform set of rules and procedures.Rahman said the tribunals were given power to regulate its own procedure for disposal of cases, which has made a section of tribunal members function in an “autocratic” manner. AAMSU has opposed the recent amendments made to Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, which laid down the modalities for the tribunals to decide on appeals made by those not satisfied with the outcome of claims and objections filed against the NRC. AAMSU adviser said as per amended Section 3 (10) of the order, upon production of the records, if the tribunal finds merit in the appeal, it shall issue notices to the appellant and the DM for hearing specifying its date which should be within 30 days from the date of production of the records.“It gives the tribunal members power to reject an appeal outright without any hearing if they feel it was devoid of merit. We want the government to make it mandatory for the tribunal to hear an appeal before rejecting or allowing it,” he said.Rahman said it was wrong on the part of the government to vest tribunals with such unfettered powers, particularly when some of the tribunal members were found to passing “arbitrary and biased” orders. To buttress his point, he cited the case of Md Sanaullah, a retired army personnel, who was declared a foreign national by a foreigners tribunal at Boko in Kamrup district even after furnishing documents showing that he had served the army for 30 years.“There are many others like Sanaullah, mostly religious and linguistic minorities, who were declared foreigners and sent to detention camps because of arbitrary orders passed by the tribunals,” he added.“These tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies who are headed by members appointed on contractual basis. How can a quasi-judicial body with a member on a contractual basis can determine a serious matter like someone’s citizenship? We want these tribunals to be made judicial bodies with permanent members,”he said. AAMSU has also demanded an appellate authority to challenge the tribunal orders.telegraphindia
Eviction, violence, NRC: Watch the grim story of threatened Assamese communities
https://scroll.in/video/927240/eviction-violence-nrc-watch-the-grim-story-of-threatened-assamese-communities
Nearly 10% of Assam’s population lives in river islands called chars, formed as a result of Brahmaputra changing its course. Most char residents are Muslim farmers. Many families are settled in the area since the end of the 19th century.Apart from living in constant fear of losing their land and homes to water, the Muslim farmers are scared they won’t find their names in the National Register of Citizens.NRC is supposed to be a list of all genuine Indian citizens residing in Assam. Almost 40 lakh names were left out of the final draft of the NRC prepared in July 2018. Karwan-e-Mohabbat, a collective that documents incidents of hate crime across India, recently released a new video depicting the struggles faced by these char residents in the wake of NRC.Siddique Ali and Shehnaz Parveen live on river islands and have lost almost all of their land to erosion by river. The costs of obtaining paperwork for the NRC are high, and these people with meagre sources of income are being forced to sell their land. Some of them have proper documentation and are still called foreigners. “We are not foreigners,” Siddique Ali says. “We have all the documents of 1951 NRC and the land document of 1953. But they say we are immigrants and keep asking for documents.” Teacher and poet Dr Hafiz Ahmed asks, “People who change their houses tens of times, how will they have documents?” There are over 2,200 char villages across 14 districts of Assam.scroll.in
"Attack Not only on Journalists' Right to Write but also on Readers' Right to Read"
http://www.indiatomorrow.net/eng/attack-not-only-on-journalists-right-to-write-but-also-on-readers-right-to-read?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=emailemail&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Indiatomorrownet+%28IndiaTomorrow.net%29
New Delhi:The recent incidences of arrests of journalists across India and violent assaults inflicted on some other scribes have left the civil society contemplating about the dangers the advocates of free speech have been facing increasingly now.Concerned journalists and activists are speaking their mind more vehemently than before in defense of the right to freedom of expression and independent press.Caravan magazine’s political editor Hartosh Singh Bal sees the protests by the intellgensia against such arrests as a positive sign of acceptance that physical or mental torture or harassment of journalists by the police on behalf of governments, has reached the threshold of even those cities which would be hitherto, safe for scribes.“After 2014, when we used to hold meeting to protest the arrests of journalists in Chhattisgarh and J&K, we wouldn’t get such a response as we are getting today because many concerned journalists also would think that such actions against journalists will be confined to conflict zones in our country. Nobody was ready to take such actions seriously. Finally, when government clamped down on NDTV and Gauri Lankesh was murdered, only then, after three years, journalists realized that it can happen anywhere now. Then people began to raise their voices. Still, when Zakir Ali Tyagi was arrested in UP, people thought that such unlawful arrests would not happen in Delhi and then you saw police picking up Prashant Kanojia. So perhaps journalists would treat it as their own problem. However these arrests have also a wider context, which is realization that these actions cannot be taken without the nod of state machinery which has declared Muslims and any section of the society or journalists who don’t support the Hindutva agenda as anti-nationalists,” says Bal. For Delhi University’s Hindi Professor Apoorvanand Jha, it is not the journalist which is in peril, it is also the reader whose rights to access to factual news is under threat.They were speaking at the Press Club of India here on Monday where independent journalist Prashant Kanojia and Ipsa Shatakshi, the wife of journalist Rupesh Kumar, also spoke. Both Kanojia and Kumar were arrested last week from Delhi and Ramgarh(Jharkhand) respectively.At the press conference organized by ‘United Against Hate’, Ipsa, who addressed the media on phone, narrated how her husband was picked by police on June 4.India Tomorrow
My Arrest was to Intimidate Journalists Not to Criticise Government, Says Kanojia
https://caravandaily.com/my-arrest-was-to-intimidate-journalists-not-to-criticise-government-says-kanojia/
Bengaluru Ponzi scam eroded public trust in Muslim politicians, clergy:TOI
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/ima-rip-off-erodes-trust-in-muslim-politicians-clergy/articleshow/69832474.cms
Bengaluru: Numerous Ponzi schemes in Karnataka have duped people of their money, but I Monetary Advisory (IMA) Group scam has done irreparable damage to middle-class investors while simultaneously eroding public trust in Muslim politicians and ulemas. Politicians of the minority community admitted that their credibility was at stake because some of them had, through their public association with IMA’s founder-owner Mohammed Mansoor Khan, given legitimacy to his criminal enterprise. They said the impact of the swindle by Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltd, whose business model was similar to IMA’s, would pale in comparison to the negative fallout from the IMA rip-off. “Politicians were spotted with Mansoor at public functions he hosted such as mushairas (poetic symposiums),” a source said. “But Mansoor actually got ulemas to endorse his audit books. Two years ago he brought out a booklet based on these endorsements, stating that all investments in his firm were halal (permissible).” A Muslim Congress leader said there is a crisis of confidence among the community towards politicians and ulemas. “Certain ulemas, instead of speaking on the Quran’s teachings in their Friday sermons, asked their congregations to pray for the welfare of Mansoor and his companies,” he said. “Some of them even issued fatwas endorsing his business, when most of them were unaware of how financial institutions should operate.” Sources said a majority of Muslim politicians were beneficiaries of Mansoor’s largesse either through election funding or projects like renovation of government schools. “The fact that they were seen with Mansoor gave confidence to people who had some savings,”one source said. Complaint letters submitted by investors in IMA ponzi scam are piling up at Commercial Street Police Station. TOI
2005 Ayodhya attack: 4 accused given life sentence and one acquitted by Allahabad court
https://scroll.in/latest/927468/2005-ayodhya-terror-attack-four-accused-given-life-sentence-and-one-acquitted-by-allahabad-court
A special court in Allahabad today convicted 4 persons and acquitted one in the 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case, PTI reported. 4 convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment. 2 residents and 5 gunmen were killed in a crossfire that followed the attack on a makeshift temple at the disputed Babri Masjid site in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar on July 5, 2005. Police had arrested five persons in the case – one from Saharanpur and the others from Poonch in J&K. The verdict was announced in Naini Central Jail, where the accused are lodged. Scroll.in
NIA seeks permission to question three men to ‘unravel larger IS plot’
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/nia-seeks-permission-to-question-three-men-to-unravel-larger-is-plot-5785413/
Mumbai :NIA has sought permission to question three men, arrested in three separate cases from 2015-16, claiming that it wanted to unravel a larger conspiracy spread by Islamic State in the country. NIA sought permission to question the three men in jails where they are lodged as undertrials currently.The plea seeks permission to question Mohsin Sayyed, Arshi Qureshi and Naser Yafai. While the court has allowed the plea to interrogate Sayyed and Qureshi, the plea on Yafai is still pending.Special public prosecutors for NIA, Geeta Godambe and Sunil Gonsalves, submitted to the court that permission to question the men in judicial custody is required regarding a larger conspiracy of IS and on other incriminating facts.indianexpress
Sessions court to hear Muzaffarnagar riots eyewitness killing case on July 1
https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/sessions-court-to-hear-muzaffarnagar-riots-eyewitness-killing-case-on-july-1-119061701187_1.html
Muzaffarnagar : A court here sent the murder case of an eyewitness in a Muzaffarnagar riots case to the sessions case for hearing on July 1.Chief Judicial Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Gautam sent the murder case against six accused to the sessions court for hearing and asked them to appear before it on July 1.Ashfaq, who was an eyewitness in the murder case of his two brothers, was shot dead in Khatauli town of Muzaffarnagar in March this year.Ashfaq's brothers, Nawab and Shahid, were shot dead during the 2013 riots, in which more than 60 lives were lost and over 40,000 people were displaced. Police registered a case and arrested all the six accused, including gangster Sushil Munch's son.PTI
Hyderabad:Masjid-e-Ek Khana: Muslim clerics to seek permission for offering Namaz
https://www.siasat.com/news/masjid-e-ek-khana-muslim-clerics-seek-permission-offering-namaz-1514902/
Hyderabad: Demolition of Masjid-Ek-Khana, Amberpet is a deliberate attempt by miscreants. The only remedy is to get permission for offering Namaz at that place. Muslims will not keep quiet till they get permission.This decision was taken in a meeting attended by the leaders of Muslim parties, Islamic Ulema and Muftis. The meeting was attended by Maulana Mufti Abdul Mughni, President, Jamiatul Ulema, Hyderabad City, Azharuddin, Secretary, Jamat-e-Islami, Maulana Syed Hamid Husain Shuttari, President Sunni Ulema Board, Maulana Mohammed Naseeruddin, President, Wahdat-e-Islami, Dr. Mohammed Asif Umari, President, Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith, Maulana Taqui Raza Abedi and others.The meeting was held at the office of Muslim Shibban, Azampura to discuss the issues arising out of demolition of Masjid-e-Ek Khana.The Muslim leaders were of the opinion that once a place is assigned for Masjid, its position cannot be changed till Dooms Day.They decided to take an appointment from CM of Telangana. A representation will also be made to Chief Secretary, Commissioner of GHMC, Home Minister, Mahmood Ali, Chairman of Wakf Board, Mohammed Saleem, MPs of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.They also decided that if no permission is given for offering Namaz, the leaders will offer Namaz at the masjid.It was also decided that no other course of protest would be started.Mohammed Shakeel, Advocate who is pleading the case of the masjid in the High Court informed the leaders that GHMC has not taken any action against the officials who dismantled the masjid.In the press note issued by the Ulema, it was decided that a booklet would be compiled incorporating the survey report of the Wakf Board, Gazette notification and the letters written to GHMC for distribution among the public.SIASAT
WORLD
Russia, China warn US over sending 1,000 new troops to the Gulf
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/russia-china-warn-sending-1000-troops-gulf-190618085512481.html
US is "pumping up tensions" and could open a "Pandora's box" in the Middle East after announcing it will deploy 1,000 more troops to the already volatile region, Russia and China said on Tuesday.Fears of a confrontation between Iran and the US have mounted since Thursday following explosions on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for the world's oil supplies. Washington and Tehran traded accusations over the mysterious incidents.China and Russia both expressed concern in strong statements over the developing situation in the Middle East."We call on all parties to remain rational and restrained, not to take any actions to provoke the escalation of tension in the region, and not to open a Pandora's box," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing."In particular, the United States should change its practice of extreme pressure," he said.Wang also urged Iran to "make prudent decisions" and not "so easily abandon" the 2015 deal.Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Washington it should drop the plan to boost its troops in the Middle East or risk war with Iran. Ryabkov told reporters Moscow had repeatedly warned the US and its regional allies about what he called the "unthinking and reckless pumping up of tensions in an explosive region". Aljazeera
US to send 1,000 additional troops to Middle East
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-to-send-1-000-additional-troops-to-middle-east/1507178
US will send 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East for "defensive purposes," acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Monday.The decision came in response to a request from US Central Command (CENTCOM) and with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in consultation with the White House, said Shanahan."I have authorized approximately 1,000 additional troops for defensive purposes to address air, naval and ground-based threats in the Middle East," he said in a statement.The decision also follows last week's attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz. Washington said Iran was behind the attacks, an accusation denied by Tehran."The recent Iranian attacks validate the reliable, credible intelligence we have received on hostile behavior by Iranian forces and their proxy groups that threaten US personnel and interests across the region," said Shanahan. Anadolu Agency
Bangladesh Supreme Court starts hearing Jamaat leader Azhar’s appeal against war crimes verdict
https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2019/06/18/supreme-court-starts-hearing-azhars-appeal-against-war-crimes-verdict
In Bangladesh, the Appellate Division has started hearing former Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam’s appeal that challenged his death sentence in a 1971 war crimes case. A 4-member bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain conducted the longstanding hearing on Tuesday.This is the 10th appeal to the top court against the verdict of the tribunal-ICT. Lawyer Zainul Abedin Tuhin who defended Azhar pleaded more time for hearing.Turning down the request for more time, Justice Hossain said, “I’ve approved enough time. Why didn’t you prepare? You must start hearing today."On the day, the chief justice scheduled the next hearing for Jun 18.bdnews24.com
Refugee girls in Beirut 'face sexual violence, forced marriage'
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2019/06/refugee-girls-beirut-face-sexual-violence-forced-marriage-190617132510754.html
More than half of the girls living as refugees in Beirut have reported that they face sexual violence and sexual harassment with alarming regularity, new research by Plan International, a development and humanitarian organisation, has revealed.Based on surveys of 400 girls aged between 10 and 19, study on Tuesday described the multiple threats of abuse girls faced growing up in Lebanon's capital city.Close to 70 percent of those surveyed reported feeling unsafe if they travelled around the city alone during the day, while nearly 90 percent said they feared for their safety at night.Girls spoke of being harassed or chased by men and boys, while others expressed concern about being kidnapped or raped."We're too afraid [to go out alone].There are always drunk men who harass us and even the ones who aren't drunk harass us,"an 18-year-old Syrian girl from Burj al-Barajneh, in the Beirut suburbs, told the researchers.10% of girls surveyed reported being married or engaged - a practice becoming increasingly common, according to Plan International."Some girls, their parents oblige them to leave school to get married. My friends all got married and now they have kids," a 13-year-old Syrian girl in Burj al-Barajneh said. The report, launched in the run-up to World Refugee Day on June 20, called on govts, UN and civil society actors in Lebanon to take action to support refugee girls.aljazeera
'Systemic failure' of UN ahead of military crackdown in Myanmar: Review
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/failure-military-crackdown-review-190618003011700.html
There was a "systemic failure" of UN in dealing with the situation in Myanmar ahead of a deadly 2017 military crackdown because it did not have a unified strategy and lacked UNSC support, according to an internal report. The crackdown drove over 730,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.UN investigators have said the operation was executed with "genocidal intent" and included mass killings, gang rapes and widespread arson. Myanmar denies widespread wrongdoing and says military campaign across hundreds of villages in northern Rakhine was in response to attacks by Rohingya "insurgents"."Without question, serious errors were committed and opportunities were lost in UN system following a fragmented strategy rather than a common plan of action," wrote former Guatemalan foreign minister and UN ambassador Gert Rosenthal in a 34-page internal review, seen by Reuters."The overall responsibility was of a collective character; in other words, it truly can be characterised as a systemic failure of UN,"said Rosenthal, who was appointed by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier this year to look at UN involvement in Myanmar from 2010 to 2018.aljazeera
Shut out from Bangladesh schools, Rohingyas turn to madrassas
https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/shut-out-from-bangladesh-schools-rohingyas-turn-to-madrassas-119061800393_1.html
7 Sudan groups call for formation of technocratic caretaker government
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190618-7-sudan-groups-call-for-formation-of-technocratic-caretaker-government/
A coalition of Sudanese opposition forces said yesterday that they continue to demand the formation of a caretaker govt of independent technocrats. During a meeting in Khartoum with the deputy head of Sudan’s ruling military council, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the opposition bloc which is made up of seven political factions, presented its vision to the ruling military and rejected all forms of “foreign intervention”.The majority of the political parties had taken part in the national dialogue with ousted president Omar Al-Bashir before he was forced out of power in April.MEMO/AA
Sudan protesters urge night rallies amid impasse with military
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/sudan-protesters-urge-night-rallies-impasse-military-190617200514806.html
Sudan's protest leaders have called for nighttime demonstrations and marches in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country, amid a tense standoff with the ruling military council over who should lead the transition after the removal of the autocrat Omar al-Bashir. The protest leaders on Monday said they have begun a "revolutionary escalation" to pressure Transitional Military Council(TMC) to hand over power to civilians and condemn the crackdown on a sit-in camp earlier this month.Thousands of demonstrators who had camped outside the army headquarters in the capital for weeks were violently dispersed by gunmen in military fatigues on June 3, leaving dozens dead and hundreds wounded, according to doctors and witnesses.Protesters blame the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group for the crackdown and TMC says it has launched an investigation.aljazeera
Israel Supreme Court backs demolition of 13 buildings under PA control
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190618-israel-supreme-court-backs-demolition-of-13-buildings-under-pa-control/
Israel’s Supreme Court has given the green light for the state to demolish 13 apartment blocks built in “Area A” of the occupied West Bank, but which now lie inside the route of the illegal Separation Wall.According to Haaretz, Palestinians say that the ruling “sets a precedent that will enable the demolition of thousands of buildings in the West Bank”.The court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, backed the state’s argument that the buildings do not have the required permits, and thus can be demolished. The buildings contain roughly 100 apartments, 20 of which are already inhabited and the rest are under construction.The buildings are in Wadi Hummus which is located on the edge of Sur Baher, in southeast Jerusalem. As described by Haaretz, “unlike the rest of the village, this neighbourhood lies beyond the city’s municipal boundaries, in the West Bank”. Most is designated “Area A”, under the administrative control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).middleeastmonitor
S.Lanka abusing UN law to make arrests:rights group
https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/sri-lanka-abusing-un-law-to-make-arrests-rights-group-119061700649_1.html
Colombo:Media activists has accused Sri Lankan police of using a UN convention on hate speech to crack down on media freedom and the country's Muslim minority.The Free Media Movement rights group said police Special Task Force(STF) attempted to arrest a respected journalist for his writing on anti-Muslim riots and Buddhist extremists using UN-backed law. STF told a magistrate on Friday they were pursuing freelance writer Kusal Perera under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act."Free Media Movement strongly condemns the attempts to pursue legal action under the provisions of the ICCPR Act and urges all responsible stakeholders to draw their attention to avoid using the law unfairly," the group said.Police have also drawn criticism over the detention of a Muslim woman during anti-Muslim riots last month. She was wearing a T-shirt with a print of a ship's steering wheel which police mistook for the Dharma Chakra, a Buddhist symbol.The woman was held in remand custody for 3 weeks before a senior police officer intervened to press for her release. Award winning author and poet Shakthika Sathkumara has been held since April under the ICCPR act for his work hinting at homosexuality among the Buddhist clergy."We feel that police exceeded their authority in using the ICCPR and we will take action against those responsible," the officer said, asking not to be named.The leftist People's Liberation Front (JVP) party said police have arbitrarily detained several Muslim men and women since the Easter Sunday attacks that killed 258 people.AFP
Critics denounce Quebec ban on religious symbols in public sector: Reuters
https://in.reuters.com/article/canada-quebec-religion/critics-denounce-quebec-ban-on-religious-symbols-in-public-sector-idINKCN1TI20V
Civil liberties and Muslim groups on Monday vowed to challenge a new law in Canadian province of Quebec that bans some public sector employees from wearing religious symbols during work hours, arguing it triggered the “politics of fear.”Critics said the long-expected Bill 21 that was passed by the predominately French-speaking province’s legislature on Sunday mainly targeted Muslim women who wear hijabs.“We will be filing a challenge to the law,” said Mustafa Farooq, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “I think Bill 21 is a law that will do irreparable harm to communities in Quebec.”“This creates a second-class citizenship,” he said, adding that the group would seek a court injunction to block the law that he called “a recipe for the politics of fear.”The law covers public workers in positions of authority, including teachers, judges and police officers, but exempts current government employees and civil servants. It sets province’s centre-right Coalition Avenir Québec govt on a collision course with Liberal PM Justin Trudeau, who promotes religious freedom, in a federal election year where Quebec is a vital battleground.
Syria says it doesn't want to fight with Turkey
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/syria-doesn-fight-turkey-190618075211096.html
Syria does not want to see fighting with Turkey, its foreign minister said on Tuesday, after Ankara said one of its posts in Syria's Idlib region was attacked from an area controlled by Syrian government forces.Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his country's civil war, and Turkey, long a backer of the rebels fighting him, co-sponsored a de-escalation pact for the area that has been in place since last year.But the deal has faltered in recent months, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee. About 300 people have been killed by Syrian and Russian air raids and shelling in the area since late April, according to UN. Idlib, in Syria's northwest along the border with Turkey, is the last remaining bastion of anti-government rebels after eight years of civil war.aljazeera
'The leaderless': Inside masked face of Hong Kong's protests
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/leaderless-masked-face-hong-kong-protests-190618032833711.html
Millions of people descended on the streets of Hong Kong over past 10 days, stunning the authorities of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory and forcing city's pro-China leadership to shelve a proposed extradition bill.Unlike 2014 Umbrella Movement, the protesters this time around were more willing to take direct action and risk retaliation by the police. On June 9, an estimated one million people marched in opposition to controversial bill that would allow suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial, sending a powerful message to Chief Executive Carrie Lam. 3 days later, tens of thousands were once again on the streets, surrounding the government complex where the bill was due to be debated. Some of the protesters, wearing masks and goggles and carrying umbrellas for protection, attempted to storm the building, triggering retaliation by the police.By Saturday Lam had capitulated, saying she would postpone the bill.But protesters wanted more. The next day, an estimated 2 million Hong Kongers marched through the streets - the third big rally within a week. This time the police were more low-key.aljazeera
Flash: views & NEWS
India should abolish state govts since Modi can run the country all by himself?Shivam Vij
https://theprint.in/opinion/india-should-abolish-state-governments-since-modi-can-run-the-country-all-by-himself/250953/?fbclid=IwAR2rA55KOi66h5yY1vDQIhf571hAQ_Xfe8SYYXfd0cmkoEpsTZNPm8Uaf7Q
Can Bangla Nationalism Counter Hindi-Hindu Nationalism in Bengal?Monobina Gupta
https://thewire.in/politics/bangla-language-nationalism-mamata-banerjee-hindi-bjp
India doesn't need hindi to unify masses:ArunavKaul
https://thewire.in/rights/education-policy-hindi-national-language
Is Litchi the Real Culprit Behind 1995's Mysterious Muzaffarpur Child Deaths?Manasi Gandhi
https://thewire.in/health/litchi-hypoglycin-lancet-mcpg
NRC violates constitutional morality, principles of international law: Colin Gonsalves
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/assam-nrc-list-national-register-of-citizens-citizenship-bill-5785382/
Upper castes continue to dominate social media usage,Muslims more exposed than Dalits,Tribals: study
https://www.news18.com/news/india/upper-castes-continue-to-dominate-social-media-usage-muslims-more-exposed-than-dalits-and-tribals-study-2191313.html
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(Released at: 8:00 PM)
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