March 2019

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6 March 2019 ASIA www.theasianindependent.co.uk Hate filled warmongering must stop As the reports of the Indian Air Force preemptive strike on the Jaish-e- Mohammad terror camps inside Pakistan territory came, there was a sense of gratitude for ordinary Indian who felt that the terror camps must be destroyed at all cost but the media and those who want to use these bombing to raise the political climate in their favor have taken up charge and now in full flow as if it is they who did this act. Political reactions were as per their policies and with much maturity. All complimented our forces for their act of bravery but the prime minister and BJP leaders went on claiming as if it BJP’s victory. It is the same people who during the Uttarakhand tragedy or attack on Taj did not give credit to the government but made every effort to suggest that the government was different than the army and forces. Today, all the political parties across the spectrum have supported the Strike which is a good sign and BJP and its leaders must desist from taking credit of these claims. Secondly, these issues are of utmost importance and therefore it is important to leave the army and the Indian diplomacy to deal with the issue and not convert into another hate propaganda back home. India must remain united facing this as attempt will be there to create divisions. The biggest casualty during the ‘war time’ is truth particularly when media become part of the propaganda machinery of the governing class. India and Pakistan media are competing with each other in who can stoop low to the level of ridiculousness. We are not even allowing the army and the requisite Ministry to handle it. After the Pulwama, we felt proud of the way CRPF officers send their categorical message to the country that their Jawans did not die to create religious polarisation and hatred in the country. I can say that the Ministry of External Affairs Press briefing too was mature and balanced. Of course, the claims and figures mentioned are only as per the ‘information’ received. The best part was when the Foreign Secretary Mr Vijay Gokhle spoke in a fairly measured way about ‘India’s ‘non-military preemptive strike’ which clearly mean that for India it was not a war against Pakistan but specific target of ‘eliminating’ the terrorists camps and outfits. Now, it is another matter whether those camps, terrorists, hatemongers or Jehadis have been killed and whether the threat to common Indians from these terror outfits have now finished. Frankly, it was not a press-conference but a statement of India’s position after crossing the LoC or International Border. Now the ‘entertainment’ channels are reporting from ‘sources’ that over 300 terrorists were killed including Yousuf Azhar, brother in law of Masood Azhar, the chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad. The point is how do our news reporters come to the conclusion about the deaths and the individual when the entire operation was carried out in night and just confined to bombing of a particular target without any ground operations ? Why the media cant keep quiet when the military establishment has not spoken about these things. The problem is that war or military can be used for short term process to bring thing to a certain level but ultimately we all have to resort to political process. India and Pakistan can not absolve themselves from the political process as there is no other option. There are however, people, both the sides who think of eliminating or deleting communities and countries from the world map. Added with idiotic fulmination and hateful jingoism being played by the corporate sponsored TV channels who celebrate these stories of war when people want peace, During the war the level of rhetoric grows and all this is highly patriarchical, talks of machosim and create a false narrative of your ‘strength’. The biggest understanding of this is that what Pakistan is facing today because of the fanatic Islamic groups who are extra-state actors and who think they are the law unto themselves with army actively backing them. It is these fanatics whose shout is more visible than the common person in the street who wish friendly relations with India. The danger of extra-state actors destroying democratic and constitutional values in India is equally powerful. We should be more worried because whatever formed of democracy was here, it By Vidya Bhushan Rawat social and human rights activist is better than any military or dictatorial regime. We all now who are the forces taking law in their hand and hitting people at their will. Democracy there was always fragile and under control of the military but we cant have the same in India. Our forces have shown extremely professional approach on the issue of being non political but for the last few years we are witnessing the political leadership trying to reap political benefit of a military action. The soldiers die for the country and the politicians want to benefit politically. Geopolitical war games are difficult to understand. It is surprising that India did not speak anything about the suicide attack on Iranian Revolutionary Guards in which 27 of these guards were killed and the Iranian Defence Minister blamed Pakistan based militant groups. Why India remain quiet to this issue and did not attempt to find a common thread of Pakistani support for these extra state actors. It is also strange that we were more than eager to blame the Saudis who did not even bother to make a statement of condemnation of Pulwama killing. Was India’s decision of ignoring Iran was because of the fear of Americans who want to isolate Iran ? Where is the independent foreign policy ? Even Afghanistan has blamed Pakistan based Jehadi groups trying to destablise their government but it is surprising we do not have any common strategy with these countries. At the time when the President Donald Trump and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un are meeting in Vietnam which gives a new hope to the world that ultimately nations will have to speak to each other and take a clear stand against forces which have state patronage to destablise their neighbors. Each country today has a problem points and they need to resolve them through creating better circumstances and building confidence among people. India has said that it did the ‘non military preemptive strike’ on Pakistan because there were specific intelligence inputs that Jaish had planned to carry more suicide attacks in India. Should we think now that we will not have any further escalation. Will Pakistan keep quiet or respond ? Will they act against the terror groups ? Saying that it does not exists when they raise open threat is basically a blatant lie and will justify Indian action given the situation world over when nation states have to take care of their people and protect them. The only thing is whether threat to people at large will be reduced or end ? I think ,It is time for all of us to stop these jingoism and let the forces and the diplomats handle the issue. We are not afraid of government taking a decision to protect people but our problem is the fanatics back home trying to wage a war against our own people simply because we may not follow their political ideologies. The thing is simple that armed forces will protect us and may win us a war but our biggest threat is from the jingoism and hatred being spread on silver screen by the totally corrupted media which has taken the role of dividing people and creating war hysteria. We have trust in the maturity of our forces but zero trust on these loudspeakers who have no sense of accountability and responsibility towards the people. We hope good sense will prevail and diplomatic efforts will made to isolate the terror outfits and hatemongers not only nationally but also internationally so that we can wage a decisive war against poverty, superstition, discrimination and illiteracy as defeating them only will make us a great nation and a big power. Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social and human rights activist. He blogs at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com twitter @freetohumanity Email: vbrawat@gmail.com Kumbh enters Guinness Book of World Records New Delhi : The Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 has secured place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest crowd management, largest sanitation drive and largest painting exercise of public sites, the government said here on Sunday. "A three-member team from the Guinness World Records visited Prayagraj for the purpose. Exercises at a large-scale were performed before the team for four days, from February 28 to March 3. "Around 503 shuttle buses were pressed into service on the highway in one go for the team on February 28. Several people participated in a painting exercise on March 1 and 10,000 workers engaged in cleaning at the Kumbh, all performing their duties together," the Ministry of Culture said in a statement. The festival, which began on January 14, will conclude on March 4 with the sixth and final "Shahi Snan" (royal bath) on the occasion of Maha Shivratri. The previous five royal baths were held successfully with more than 22 crore pilgrims taking holy dips, the Ministry said.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA Not worthy of Nobel Peace Prize, says Imran Khan Islamabad : Pakistan Prime Soon after the Indian pilot was Minister Imran Khan, addressing calls handed over to the Indian authorities, by his countrymen on social media and the hashtag in his government to award him a Nobel Peace Prize for "de-escalating" tensions with India, on Monday said that he is not worthy of the honour. "I am not worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. The person worthy of this would be the one who solves the Kashmir dispute according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people and paves the way for peace and human development in the subcontinent," he tweeted. Supporters and officials of Khan's administration started lobbying for a Nobel Peace Prize for him following his announcement to release Indian Air Force (IAF) officer Wing Commander Abhinandan "#NobelPeacePrizeForImranKhan" started trending in Pakistan on Twitter. Until Sunday, over 300,000 people had signed online petitions seeking the Nobel for Khan. A resolution was also submitted in the country's National Assembly Secretariat last week for the same. The motion stated that Khan played a "sagacious role in reducing tension between Pakistan and India which was created due to warmongering attitude of the Indian leadership". Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party, which had earlier questioned the timing of the release of the Indian who was captured by Pakistan on inside Pakistani territory. He was pilot, expressed its sorrow over the February 27 after his MiG-21 crashed released on March 1. ongoing campaign for the award. 7 March 2019 SC upholds green bench order on saving Bengaluru lake New Delhi/Bengaluru : The Supreme Court upheld the National Green Tribunal order to clear encroachments around Bengaluru's largest Bellandur lake, said petitioner and BJP Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday. "The dismissal of the appeal to quash the Tribunal order of May 4, 2016 means defendants Mantri Tech Zone and Coremind Software Services have to pay Rs 117.5 crore and Rs 13.5 crore respectively, demolish structures and vacate over 3 acres of encroached area in the lake catchment area," said Chandrasekhar in a statement from Delhi. The order was pronounced by a three-judge bench of Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice M.R. Shah. Chandrasekhar's Namma Bengaluru Foundation moved the NGT in March 2014 and the top court subsequently to save the lake and its wetlands from rampant encroachments and pollution. Located in the city's southeast suburb, the lake is spread over 148 square kilometres. "Mantri Tech Zone, a leading real estate developer, will also have to rebuild the storm water drainage, which was diverted to make way for the illegal construction," Chandrasekhar said. His foundation has been fighting since 2014 for reclaiming the lake's catchment area from vested interests, including land sharks."The battle to save the lake was a David versus Goliath legal fight in the green bench and the apex court against builders supported by the state government. By upholding the Tribunal order, the top court cracked the builder-politico nexus that was looting Bengaluru and the lake," he alleged. India, Bangladesh begin joint military exercise New Delhi : India and Bangladesh on Sunday began a two-week-long joint military exercise in Tangail, Bangladesh, to hone their tactical and technical skills to counter insurgency and terrorism. "The eighth edition of the exercise "Sampriti" started at the Bongobondhu Cantonment, Tangail, Bangladesh, with an impressive opening ceremony on March 3. The participating contingents stood side by side and gave a ceremonial salute to the national flags of both the countries to the strains of 'Jana Gana Mana' and 'Amar Shonar Bangla'," the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. The Bangladesh contingent was represented by the 36 East Bengal Battalion, while the Indian side was represented by the 9th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles. "The aim of the exercise is to increase mutual cooperation, bonhomie and camaraderie between the two armies through inter-operability and joint tactical exercises," read the government statement. A company group from the Bangladesh Army and an equal number from the Indian Army are taking part in the exercise that will see them hone tactical and technical skills in countering insurgency and terrorism and aid the civil authorities in disaster management in an United Nations peace keeping scenario, involving combined deployment at a battalion level. The exercise, which was started in 2009 with a platoon level engagement, graduated to the company level in 2015.
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March 2019

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