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Criminal Case filed in Australia against Prime Minister Narendra Modi

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Modi

The American Justice Center (AJC), an organization established to bring human rights abusers to justice, has announced the filing of a criminal complaint in Australia against visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his role in aiding, abetting and inciting organized attacks against the minorities of Gujarat state before and during the horrific genocide of 2002.

The lawsuit is being brought under the aegis of AJC, by Mr. Asif Vahora, a survivor of the 2002 massacres, in which over 2,000 people were killed and over 150,000 displaced. The complaint refers to the destruction of “20,000 Muslim homes and businesses and 360 places of worship.”

The complaint against Prime Minister Modi has been lodged under Australia’s “The Criminal Code Act 1995” which provides Australian courts jurisdiction over cases involving crimes against humanity worldwide (Id. §§ 268.117(1) & 15.4). Justifying the prosecution of Modi in Australian Courts, the complaint states that Modi’s actions during February-March 2002 violate sections 268.3,4,5,8 & 9 of Australia’s Criminal Code Act of 1995.

The complaint, lodged with Honorable Robert Bromwich SC, Director Commonwealth Public Prosecutions, Australia, charges Mr. Modi with crimes against humanity and genocide resulting in the killing of more than 2,000 Muslims and displacement of several hundred thousand.

“Our relentless pursuit of justice has now taken us to the Australian shores, where Mr. Modi will have to account for his criminal misdeeds in Gujarat,” said Mr. Joseph Whittington, Jr., President of AJC, and also the 2nd Ward Alderman of Harvey, Illinois.

Mr. Modi’s rise to power comes in the backdrop of increasing persecution of religious minorities in India. In August this year, India’s Christian population, numbering about 24 million, marked the sixth anniversary of horrific anti-Christian massacres in the state of Odisha, considered the worst anti-Christian pogrom of the 21st century. Prominent watch-dog group “International Christian Concern,” reported an alarming rise in the attacks on rural churches in recent months. In May 2014, several villages in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh passed local ordinances banning all non-Hindu religious activities, in effect banning Christianity. Vatican Radio, the Holy See’s official news outlet, reported on the possibility of Christians being “purged,” from villages across three states.

Recently, AJC spearheaded an Alien Tort case against PM Modi during his visit to the United States in September. Following the AJC complaint, a US federal court issued a summons against the visiting PM. The case is currently under review by the US Federal Court. As in the Tort case brought against Mr. Modi in the US, AJC is providing legal support and advice to the survivors in their effort to hold Mr. Modi accountable for the loss of lives and property that was caused by his complicity in the Gujarat massacres.

“Under Australia’s criminal code, mere presence of the accused foreigner in Australia is a sufficient basis for jurisdiction over acts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed abroad,” said Mr. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to AJC. “Thus it adopts a mode of jurisdiction equivalent to universal jurisdiction,” added Mr. Pannun.

The Gujarat genocide of 2002 was one of the worst episodes of sectarian violence in independent India, and was marked with horrific crimes against humanity, including the rape of several hundred women. Many of the victims were subsequently burned alive. Although the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the mass violence did not prosecute Mr. Modi, an amicus curiae appointed by the Supreme Court had recommended

Mr. Modi’s prosecution. A case filed by Mrs. Zakia Jafri, widow of slain Parliamentarian Ehsan Jafri, is pending against Mr. Modi in the Gujarat High Court.

The American Justice Center (AJC) is a human rights organization dedicated to holding human rights abusers and perpetrators of mass violence accountable. AJC provides legal aid and support for international judicial redress to victims deprived of legitimate and legal means to justice.

REFERENCES:

Criminal Complaint in Australia Against Indian PM Narendra Modi
http://www.americanjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Modi-CriminalComplaint-Filed-Australia-Nov-13.pdf

Supporting Evidence for Criminal Complaint in Australia Against Indian PM Narendra Modi
http://www.americanjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Supporting-Evidence-Criminal-Complaint-Against-PM-Modi-Australia.pdf

US Court issues summons against Indian PM Modi ahead of his arrival
http://www.americanjusticecenter.org/press-release/

AJC challenges Narendra Modi’s immunity; announces $10,000 reward for serving US Court’s summons
http://www.americanjusticecenter.org/ajc-challenges-narendra-modis-immunity-announces-10000-reward-for-serving-us-courts-summons/

US Federal Court allows AJC, Gujarat victims to challenge US Government’s “Suggestion of Immunity” to PM Modi
http://www.americanjusticecenter.org/us-federal-court-allows-ajc-gujarat-victims-to-challenge-us-governments-suggestion-of-immunity-to-pm-modi/

The Diplomat: US Federal Court Issues Summons Against Narendra Modi
http://thediplomat.com/2014/09/us-federal-court-issues-summons-against-narendra-modi/

REUTERS: Small-town U.S. politician emerges as unlikely foe of Modi
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/09/27/modi-usa-visit-riots-lawsuit-idINKCN0HM01720140927

Jiyo Parsi Ads – The Ministry of Minority Affairs has funded this absurd campaign seeking multiplication of Parsis

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Jiyo Parsi is a Government of India supported scheme to arrest the decline in population of the Parsi Zoroastrian Community in India. Headed by Shernaz Cama, the program launched a major ad blitzkrieg today. The advertisements will run in the print media in the days and weeks to come.

Jiyo-Parsis

Amid criticism Deve Gowda announces son as JD(S) Karnataka Chief

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JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda, newly appointed party’s state chief H D Kumaraswamy and others at the JD(S) office in Bengaluru on Thursday. Photo: Nagaraja Gadekal, The New Indian Express

JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda, newly appointed party’s state chief H D Kumaraswamy and others at the JD(S) office in Bengaluru on Thursday. Photo: Nagaraja Gadekal, The New Indian Express

Bengaluru: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Thursday announced appointment of his son H D Kumaraswamy as President of the JDS state unit, even as he acknowledged there was a need to dispel the impression that his was a “father-son party.”

Gowda, who has come under constant attack over his family maintaining a stranglehold over JDS, defended the appointment of Kumaraswamy, a former Chief Minister who is under pressure in recent weeks to play a more active role.

It was a “big tragedy” that JDS was being labelled “father-son party” in Karnataka, Gowda said.

“Aren’t father and their children in the same party in other states?, the JDS chief asked.” If Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal Chief Minister) and Mayawati (BSP leader) had children, what would they have done?, he said, hitting back at the detractors who accuse him of promoting dynastic politics.

The state unit president’s post was lying vacant for the past seven months following the death of A Krishnappa due to heart attack on April 23. He was party candidate for Tumkur Lok Sabha seat. The backward classes leader had assumed the charge in September last year.

The decision to appoint Kumaraswamy was taken at a high-level meeting of party state office-bearers, legislators, district unit presidents and former legislators held here in which Gowda took part.

This is not the first time Kumaraswamy is holding the post. He was appointed as the JDS president in 2008 after the death of Meerajuddin Patel.

Kumaraswamy had quit the post following the party’s defeat in last year’s August 21 bypolls to Bengaluru Rural and Mandya Lok Sabha seats, considered the party’s bastion.

Gowda also announced apointments of Mahantesh Patil and Amarnath Shetty as Vice Presidents, Sharada Purya Nayak, Dinakar Shetty (Gneral Secretaries) and Meenakshi Naneesh and Dr Riaz Farooq (Secretaries).

Assuming the charge, Kumraswamy said he would make all efforts to build the party and take up farmers’ issues.

In 2013, he resigned from the Lok Sabha after winning election to the Karnataka Assembly in which his party emerged the second largest in terms of vote share percentage.

Rohit Sharma's 264 powers India to 404/5 against Sri Lanka

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rohit-sharma

Kolkata: Rohit Sharma (264) made history by becoming the highest individual scorer in One-Day International (ODI) cricket and also became the first batsman to score two double hundreds as he powered India to a mammoth 404 for five in their fourth match against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens here Thursday.

The 27-year-old smashed nine sixes and 33 fours to register the record score in 173 deliveries against a hapless Sri Lankan bowling attack.

Rohit, who scored 209 against Australia in November 2013, stitched a 202-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Virat Kohli (66).

Brief Scores:
India: 404 for five in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 264, Virat Kohli 66; Angelo Mathews 2/44, Nuwan Kulasekara 1/89, Shaminda Eranga 1-77) vs Sri Lanka.

(IANS)

Fewer undertrials might solve prison overcrowding, says NHRC

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Wrongful Imprisonment

New Delhi: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chairperson Justice (retd.) K.G. Balakrishnan Thursday said overcrowding in Indian prisons can be reduced if the number of undertrials is brought down.

“If a charge sheet is being filed and there is no indication that the accused may influence witnesses or the evidence, what is the reason of keeping him behind bars,” Balakrishnan told IANS at a two-day national seminar on prison reforms.

He also said steps should be taken to decrease problems in jails. “State governments should invest to build more jails and improve infrastructure,” he said.

Many prision and government officials attended the seminar and informed the participants on the status of the prisons in their respective states.

The seminar will conclude Friday.

(IANS)

BJP Kashmir candidate opposes repeal of Article 370

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jammu and kashmir

Srinagar: Hina Bhat, BJP candidate for the Amira Kadal assembly constituency here, Thursday said she does not support abrogation of Article 370 and expressed the hope the contentious issue would not figure in the party’s manifesto for the state elections.

When IANS asked Bhat whether she stood by her statement in local media that she would be the first to pick up the gun if Article 370 was abrogated, she said: “It is my personal opinion that Article 370 cannot be abrogated.”

“Yes, if it is abrogated, I will oppose it tooth and nail.”

She also questioned reports that abrogation of Article 370 would be part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.

“Have you seen the manifesto? How do you say abrogation of Article 370 would be part of our assembly election manifesto?” she asked.

On Tuesday, while inaugurating the party’s media cell in Jammu, Jitendra Singh, minister of state at the Prime Minister’s office (PMO), told reporters: “All issues (including Article 370) which have been part of the BJP manifesto all these years will be part of the agenda. They will continue to be so.”

“The ideological issue (Article 370) which you are pointing at, BJP’s stand is very clear on it and it is known to you.”

“But in each election at a given time, you have to prioritise and you have to go by the aspiration of the people. The aspiration of the people as of now, in 2014, in November and December, when we go to polls, is to liberate this state and people from years and years of misgovernance, corruption and misappropriation of central funds,” the minister said.

(IANS)

AMU students protest against ‘negative portrayal’ of university in media

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protest AMU students media

Aligarh: Students of Aligarh Muslim University protested here on Wednesday at the alleged negative portrayal of the university in certain sections of the media. The AMU Students’ Union and Women’s College Students’ Union staged a protest march in the university campus and said that simple administrative issues were allegedly blown into an issue of gender bias by the media.

The students also condemned the “irresponsible and careless” remarks of the Vice- Chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah.

“The AMUSU and Women’s College Students’ Union feel shocked and angered by intense negative portrayal of AMU in some section of the media. The anti-women depiction of the historical campus of AMU is not only factually wrong but also an unnecessary sensationalisation of a simple administrative issue into an issue of gender bias,” said Abdullah Azzam the AMUSU president.

He said the allegation of gender bias against the university was wrong as Maulana Azad Library has more than 2,700 registered female members including PG students, research scholars and students of various professional courses.

Arguing that the women’s college has its own library meant to cater the requirements of the college girls, he highlighted the long standing demand of the Women’s College Students’ Union regarding updating the existing library and providing easy access to the books of Maulana Azad Library.

Meanwhile, the university administration has also clarified the position.

“It must be put on record that there is absolutely no issue of gender in allowing or not allowing membership to Maulana Azad Library. Girl students of the University which include research scholars, postgraduate and undergraduate students (including students in undergraduate professional courses) are members of Maulana Azad Library and they avail its facilities in a routine manner,” said Dr Rahat Abrar, Public Relations Officer.

“AMU Women’s College offers education in conventional undergraduate courses and is located around 3 kilometers away from the main campus of the University. It has its own system including the library and book bank.”

Dr. Abrar further said that Maulana Azad Library was established in 1960 and AMU Women’s College in 1936 and since then the two have been functioning smoothly. “The University has not imposed or introduced any new rule regarding membership to Maulana Azad Library as the media reports seem to mischievously suggest,” he said.

Machil Fake Encounter: 7 Army personnel found guilty, sentenced to life imprisonment

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Victims: Aasha Begam, mother of Shezad Ahmad with picture of her son. Next her Jabeena, wife of Shezad and his five year old son Shahid. Shezad was killed in the Machil Fake Encounter. Photo: Javed Dar

Victims: Aasha Begam, mother of Shezad Ahmad with picture of her son. Next her Jabeena, wife of Shezad and his five year old son Shahid. Shezad was killed in the Machil Fake Encounter. Photo: Javed Dar

Srinagar: A court has convicted seven Indian Army personnel including two officers for involvement in the 2010 Machil fake encounter case in Kashmir.

The military court has handed out life imprisonment to all the men and they have been suspended from service.

The court found the troopers guilty of killing civilians and hatching a conspiracy to cover-up the case.

In 2010, three youth were lured to Kupwara region with the promise of job and were killed in a staged encounter by troops near the Line of Control.

The Army had dubbed them as ‘Pakistani terrorists’ who had infiltrated into Kashmir.

Following the discovery that the slain men were civilians, a court of enquiry was ordered and court martial proceedings had begun in January 2014.

Seven soldiers, two civilians and one member of territorial Army had been found guilty in the proceedings.

A colonel rank officer and a captain have been found guilty in the fake encounter.

The order comes as a relief for the families of victims who had demanded action against the Army officers. The case had triggered massive protests against the Army in the valley.

Chhattisgarh sterilization tragedy: Doctor R K Gupta arrested, blames govt for making him breach guidelines

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Indian women who underwent sterilization surgeries receive treatment at the CIMS hospital in Bilaspur, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. Eight Indian women have died and more than a dozen others in critical condition Tuesday after undergoing sterilization surgeries in a free government-run program to help slow the country's population growth. A total of 83 women, all poor villagers under the age of 32, had the operations Saturday in a hospital outside Bilaspur city. Each of the women had received a payment of 600 rupees, or about $10, to participate in the program, said the state's chief medical officer, Dr. S.K. Mandal. (Source: AP)

ndian women who underwent sterilization surgeries receive treatment at the CIMS hospital in Bilaspur, in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014. Eight Indian women have died and more than a dozen others in critical condition Tuesday after undergoing sterilization surgeries in a free government-run program to help slow the country’s population growth. A total of 83 women, all poor villagers under the age of 32, had the operations Saturday in a hospital outside Bilaspur city. Each of the women had received a payment of 600 rupees, or about $10, to participate in the program, said the state’s chief medical officer, Dr. S.K. Mandal. (Source: AP)

New Delhi: Dr RK Gupta, who conducted 83 laparoscopic surgeries in just five hours in Bilaspur on Saturday, has been arrested. He was arrested late on Wednesday night from Baloda Bazar. Gupta, who was awarded by the Raman Singh government on January 26 this year for conducting a record number of female sterilizations, has already been suspended and is facing a FIR.

Meanwhile, a team of specialist doctors is reaching Raipur from Hyderabad. They will assist in the treatment of women. Fourteen women have died so far following tubectomies in two separate government camps within two days in Bilaspur.

One of them is a Baiga, a primate tribe protected by law. The government has banned the sterilization of these tribes. Alleging that these deaths amounted to“murders by the government,” PCC Chief Bhupesh Baghel has demanded the immediate resignation of Raman Singh. President of All India Mahila Congress Shobha Ojha has arrived in Chhattisgarh today and reached Bilaspur.

Female sterilization remains the most popular method of population control in India, where public health facilities often lack funding and fake medicines are rampant. The Chhattisgarh tragedy is one of the worst in recent memory from the one-day sterilization drives India regularly holds to keep its 1.2 billion population from growing too fast. Preliminary post-mortem results show no sign of infection from poor sanitary conditions, said Promod Tewari, the top government medical official in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, the town where the sterilizations occurred. That points to flawed antibiotics and painkillers that were given to patients after the surgery as the cause of death, he said.

Sterilization mishaps are common in India. From April 2010 to March 2013, the government paid about Rs.51 crore for 15,264 deaths or failed surgeries, Harsh Vardhan, who was India’s health minister at the time, told parliament on 18 July. Sterilizations are voluntary and couples choose between a tubectomy or vasectomy, he said.

Gupta said he conducted the 83 operations over about six hours, with each one taking about five minutes. He blamed the government for making him breach guidelines that limit a doctor from performing more than 30 in a day.

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