March 2019

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8 March 2019 ASIA www.theasianindependent.co.uk Names of 82 Punjab Sportspersons for state honour approved Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has approved names of 82 sportspersons to be conferred the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award, the state’s highest sports honour. He also approved the proposal to include 12 Padma Shri, Arjuna and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardees from the state in this list, according to an official statement here on Sunday. The decision, taken by the Chief Minister while chairing the Award Apex Committee meeting on Saturday, would clear the last eight years’ backlog. The award carries cash prize of Rs 2 lakh along with a trophy of Maharaja Iran slams Britain for blacklisting Lebanese Hezbollah Ranjit Singh. Singh also asked state Sports Minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi to thrash out the modalities for setting up a sports university and review the progress regularly to ensure that the project was completed within the timeframe. The Chief Minister also gave his consent to flag off the full marathon, dedicated to the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, on March 31. Singh said the sports ecosystem, strengthened with the upgradation of infrastructure in the last two years, would be instrumental in nurturing the budding talent. The state’s new sports policy had provided the muchneeded thrust to nurturing budding players, he said. Khattar launches Rs 4,106 crore projects Amethi ordnance factory was already producing small arms: Rahul Gandhi New Delhi, Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘habitual liar’, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the ordnance factory Modi inaugurated in Amethi on Sunday had been producing small arms for a while. “Prime Minister, I laid the foundation of Amethi’s ordnance factory in 2010. For the past several years, it has been producing small arms. Yesterday, you went to Amethi and being forced from the habit, you lied again,” the Congress President tweeted in Hindi. He also questioned if Modi “don’t feel ashamed at all”. On Sunday, Modi inaugurated the ordnance factory which will produce AK-203 assault rifles and subsequently export them to other countries. Speaking at the event, Modi said that this work had begun way back in 2009. 52 specially abled couples tie knot in mass wedding Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned Britain’s move to blacklist Lebanon’s Hezbollah as a terrorist group. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said in a statement that Hezbollah is a very popular group in Lebanon, Xinhua news agency reported. “Hezbollah has a number of parliamentary seats and is present in the Lebanese cabinet,” Qasemi said, adding that in the meantime, “Hezbollah is supported by the Lebanese people for defending the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against the Zionist regime (Israel) occupation and aggression.” The move by Britain is turning a blind eye on a large section of the Lebanese people and legal position of Hezbollah in the Lebanon’s political structure, he said. On Monday, Britain said that it planned to blacklist all wings of Hezbollah due to its “destabilising role in the Middle East.” Hezbollah on Friday condemned the British decision to list it as a terrorist organisation, saying that Britain has “servile obedience to the US administration”. Chandigarh, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here on Sunday launched 211 development projects worth Rs 4,106 crore through video conferencing. Addressing people after the ceremony, Khattar said: “This would usher in an era of development in the state.” The Chief Minister also said he had made 7,916 announcements pertaining to development during his stint. Taking on the earlier Congress government, he said: “Only 6,500 announcements had been made by the previous Chief Minister during his 10- year regime.” The projects inaugurate on Sunday include 63 projects worth Rs 408 crore and laying of the foundation stones for 148 projects worth Rs 3,698 crore, a government statement said. Khattar also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a new scheme, Pradhan Mantri Shramyogi Maandhan Yojana, on March 5. “All eligible beneficiaries of the scheme would have to contribute a monthly premium of Rs 55 or Rs 200, and they would be entitled for monthly pension of Rs 3,000 after the age of 60,” he said. Several injured in clashes as police stop BJP bike rally in Bengal Kolkata, Several people, mostly BJP members, were injured as clashes broke out in various parts of West Bengal on Sunday when police sought to stop party activists from taking out ‘Vijay Sankalp’ bike rallies. Launched by Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Friday, the bike rallies are a part of the party’s nationwide outreach campaign ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, in West Bengal, the rallies were denied permission because of board examinations and traffic issues, a senior police officer said. In Kolkata, police intercepted rally participants on Central Avenue, Jorabagan, Kakurgachi and other important points. In West Medinipur’s Goaltore area, BJP activists tried to break police barricades, leading to a baton charge by police and a scuffle, which left several people injured. The BJP, in a statement, claimed that 40 workers were injured, 22 arrested and 200 bikes vandalised in West Medinipur. In South Dinjapur, 10 were injured, while as many as 176 workers were arrested in Asansol, with two of them seriously injured. In north Kolkata, 35 workers were taken into custody and 10 workers were badly injured, the statement said. BJP state unit President Dilip Ghosh said if the police and the administration continued to create hindrances to their party programmes, the party would retaliate. “The workers were deliberately attacked and instigated to retaliate, leading to disruptions on the streets. Police wanted us to resist, so that Trinamool could make it an issue and that is what exactly happened,” Ghosh said. However, Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee warned the administration would strongly oppose all such efforts to spread communal violence. He said as a political party, the Trinamool would ensure peace and harmony in the state. New Delhi, Over 50 differently-abled couples tied the knot at a mass wedding ceremony, here on Sunday. The mass wedding was organised by Narayan Seva Sansthan, a charitable organisation, which runs a hospital. It offers free polio treatment and surgery for differently-abled. Traditional customs and rituals were followed at the wedding. Narayan Seva Sansthan has organised 30 mass marriages in the last 18 years for couples belonging to the differently-abled and economically weaker sections. “Narayan Seva Sansthan has been organising Divyang Vivah for the last 18 years. The objective is to provide support to the differently-abled and underprivileged people and make them part of mainstream society,” Prashant Agarwal, president, Narayan Seva Sansthan, said. “The couples were given household goods to start their married life. Accessories and makeup articles were also given to brides,” he said. Prashant Kishor apologises after NDA leaders didn’t pay homage to slain CRPF trooper Patna, After the father of a slain CRPF trooper expressed anguish and anger over National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders for not paying homage to his dead son, Janata Dal-United (JDU) national Vice President Prashant Kishor has apologised to him. “We are sorry for the error of judgement on part of those of us who should have been there with you in this hour of grief,” Kishor said in a tweet on Sunday. Pintu Singh, a resident of Begusarai district, was killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Friday during an anti-terrorist operation. After none of the NDA leaders or Bihar ministers were present at the Patna airport when his body was brought in on Sunday, his father Chakradhar Singh said: “Ministers are only concerned about remaining in power. It shows how concerned they are about the soldiers. “NDA leaders were more concern about Sankalp rally of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi. They have neglected to pay homage to a brave soldier who was killed for the country.”
www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA March 2019 9 While the nation mourn the deaths of 42 Jawans of the CRPF and rightfully so standing with these people, sons of the farmers and Bahujan communities. The fact is it is the poor who face the challenge but brahmanical elite in India enjoy the money in the TV studios with their pathetic discussions and deliberate provocations. Rather than questioning the absolute failures of this government which is rarely bothered to bring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir, allowed its paid channels to abuse every Kashmiri and use the Kashmir issue for political purposes. We know well that the Sanghis, would now jump with their favorite topic of Hindu and Muslim. They tried with Aligarh Muslim University and they will do it more during the elections. Is it not the shameful thing that these channels continue to rant the anti Muslim bias and speak deliberately in a language which make Muslims and Pakistan as synonymous and interchangeable. The fact is that Pakistani power elite, the military and ISI will always use this narrative to destablise India but they have failed miserably. Now these paper tigers want to wage a war with Pakistan as if this is just a one day affair. Yesterday, I was at an apartment and taking the elevator when a boy around 8-9 years of age also took it. He was having a ‘pistol’ in his hand saying that he would lead the Indian army and finish all the anti nationals and Pakistanis. My friend just jokingly told him ‘beta you are needed on the border, that would be better’. What I am saying is that the Indian middle classes which are predominantly savarna Hindus want to enjoy everything without an inch of sacrifices. We all know who were the people who died, who are getting killed. They are all the poor. A majority of them hailing from OBC-Dalit communities. If we want to know their regional background, majority of them hail from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Rajasthan but then this will always be the case naturally. The channels are discussing whether we can eliminate Pakistan or not but none debated on the intelligence failure. They dont want to discuss the failure of the government to encourage the political process in the state. When you want to eliminate everything and make it an administrative issue, then these are bound to happen but any saner talk these times will give you a tag of being anti national. Those who dont know the history and complexities of partition of India, jump into it to suggest how Nehru gave Pakistan to Muslim and sadly these are people with a wider ‘following’. Obviously, being famous and having big follower-ship on social media, is not the guarantee of saying truth but then Islamabad : Islamabad should begin its own probe into the activities of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistani newspaper said on Saturday, with two editorials faulting Pakistan for boycotting the OIC meet due to India's presence. The Dawn termed as "incongruous" Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's announcement of boycotting the OIC's Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in the UAE because of an invitation by the grouping to his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj to address Stop war mongering on and focus on building bridges in JAMMU AND KASHMIR they ‘gain’ knowledge through Sangh Parivar fed ‘whatsapp University’. I have said it many time to people how the Sangh Parivar spread these lies about partition of India. I want to ask them as suppose India remain unpartitioned then how would govern it and deal with your fellow citizens who do not belong to your religion. How do you bring peace in society if you dont want to acknowledge their right to live with dignity. Right now, the same thing is happening on their views on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Pragmatics and all those who know the harsh realities will ask for political process and discuss the issues in details but Sanghis would term all those living in Kashmir as Pakistanis and therefore no right to live in India. So land and geographical entity become more important than the people for the Sanghis. Hence if we say that partitioned be undone, they wont realise that in that condition Muslims would be the biggest block. Their solution to everything is that if the Muslims and Christians dont ‘like’ India then they must leave India. Now, ‘like’ in typical Sanghi language is to ‘accept’ brahmanical hegemony, be a second class citizen and not ask for any rights equivalent to caste Savarnas. They have the same ideas about Kashmir as they dont want to talk to Kashmiris as what are their issues, problems and other grievances. No, every Kashmiri is a suspect and that has made government and its agencies suspect in the eyes of the people. The most dangerous role has been played by the Sanghi media which is creating a war like situation. Frankly, more than a war they want to create civil war by deliberately creating narratives, targeting Muslims, their institutions and leaders. Will that take us anywhere ? Pakistan’s power structure dominated by the military actively added by the western world to suit their own interests in Afghanistan, has never accepted a secular plural progressive India. The more we succeed in living together in greater harmony, the argument and justification of a theocratic By Vidya Bhushan Rawat social and human rights activist state fail to impress any one. Theocracies and militarisation are not the answer for these created hatred. The polarisation help the merchandisers of hatred who continue to build their narrative of ‘victimisation’ and ‘oppression’. Once we are strong internally and listen to the issues of the people in a democratic way, things will become better but to build a strong India the precondition is to respect and honor its ethnic diversities and understand the historicity of the issues. Sensitiveness of people in border states need to be understood as it is not merely geography but people who are important. You can not allow things like that happened in Jammu yesterday when Muslims were targeted by the communal begot. Government of India must send strong guidelines to these TV channels to behave responsibly. Let the ministry of External Affairs do its work of doing things diplomatically as well as Ministry of Home to do the task of bringing normalcy in the valley. Jammu and Kashmir police and its officers have complained against the mischief being played by these Sanghi channels as they want to use the opportunity to demonise the Muslims and make the ground for favorable political atmosphere for the ruling party. The ‘deshbhakt’ have forgotten that it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his foreign minister Jaswant Singh and intelligence chief Ajit Doval who handed over the dreaded terrorist of the JeM to his friends in Kandahar. Moreover, the meeting. "In the midst of a crisis with India, to reject an opportunity to put across Pakistan's point of view to the OIC countries is a decision that will do little to advance this country's diplomatic position," it said in an editorial. In similar vein, the Daily Times said that Islamabad "has, perhaps, hastily decided to boycott and apparently send junior officials" to the OIC summit. It quoted former President Asif Ali Zardari as expressing valid concerns over the boycott since Pakistan may have lost "a momentous opportunity" to effectively convey its concerns and take that time too, the government came under pressure as the families of those abducted were abusing the government and asking for taking immediate action. The hysteria had been created and as government faulted on many places, it could not allow, its middle class vote bank turn against it, hence it agreed. Now, those who near dear got released never complained but others continued to speak. Frankly speaking, it is the same crowed which market the nationalism for their own profit. The soldiers , the son of soil who sweat and die for the nation do not get the money that these paid deshbhakts on TV screen get. The retired generals are in ‘big’ ‘demands’ as if they are the only panacea for the nation. Why should we talk about poverty, discrimination, caste system, untouchability, student unrest, employment, farmers suicide etc, when we have got a ‘bigger’ issue now. The thing is that many of these hatemongers were waiting for such an issue to come so that they do their chest thumping and keep the atmosphere ‘hot’ so that other important issues gets into cold storage. When the Taj was attacked in Mumbai, these channels were live broadcasting troops movement and started condemning the government. They did not give any credit to the government and made them villain. They praised the army but not give credit to political leadership as if army did work without the guidance of political leadership but when surgical strikes happened the media gave credit to the government. This corrupted media does not question this government for its failure. All its questions are to the opposition hence it want Rahul Gandhi and others not to ‘politicise’ the issue but does not question a Manoj Tiwari dancing on some c-grade Bhojpuri songs or Modi and Amit Shah continue campaigning elsewhere. It is highly appreciable that all the opposition parties stood together and asked the government to do the needful . The response from the major sections of society was far better and superior than the Sanghi inspired TV channels and politicians who are back to their divisive and hate propaganda. We need utmost restraint in these hours. Let those who are working on the ground do those things. Political process must take center stage along with increasing vigilance on the border. Creating communal polarisation will only gladden the heart of those who want the Indian subcontinent in perpetual war so that more money is spent on arms and ammunition and ignore the bigger issues of poverty, illiteracy, superstition and ignorance. Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social and human rights activist. He blogs at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com twitter @freetohumanity Email: vbrawat@gmail.com Islamabad should have attended OIC meet: Pakistani editorials other members of the organisation into confidence over the India-Pakistan ties. Although India must prove that JeM carried out the suicide bombing which killed 40 CRPF troopers on February 14, "Pakistan must nevertheless start investigating the role of JeM and(its chief Masood) Azhar in the Pulwama attack on its own", said an editorial. Added the Dawn: "Slowly and and incrementally, the region may be limping back towards relative normality, but there is still much to be done before the current crisis can be deemed to be over."
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March 2019

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