Bengaluru: Amnesty International’s India chapter today said none of its employee had shouted any anti-India slogan at an event on Kashmir in Bangaluru, allegations based on which sedition charges were slapped against the human rights body.

Amensty India said allegations mentioned in a complaint by an ABVP representative against it were “without substance” and that only discussion at the event on Saturday was about allegations of human rights violations and denial of justice in Jammu and Kashmir.

Local police had slapped sedition charges against Amnesty International India yesterday following allegations that anti-India slogans were raised at the event, organised by it, during a discussion on Kashmir issue.

“No Amnesty International India employee shouted any slogans at any point,” the human rights organisation said in a statement referring to allegations that “slogans were raised that Indian Kashmir should be part of Pakistan.”

To charges that the event indirectly supported terrorists, Amnesty said the only discussion that had taken place was about allegations of human rights violations and the denial of justice to families in Kashmir.

“These are issues that have regularly been discussed in the media. They have been written about at length by members of Parliament, politicians, judges and civil society,”it said.

The event was held as part of a campaign based on the report “Denied: Failures in accountability for human rights violations by security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir”, published in July 2015, it said.
Amnesty said the report was based on in-depth research in Jammu and Kashmir, including interviews with family members of “victims”, RTI applications, examination of police and court records, and interviews with civil society groups, lawyers, and government officials.

The families of three Kashmiri victims that were interviewed for the report were invited to share their stories at the event, said Amnesty.

About allegations that some people at the event tried to assault ABVP activists, it said, “No Amnesty International India employee was involved in any form of assault.”

“Towards the end of the event, some of those who attended raised slogans, some of which referred to calls for ‘Azaadi’ (freedom). Amnesty International India as a matter of policy does not take any position in favour of or against demands for self-determination.

“However, Amnesty International India considers that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to peacefully advocate political solutions. Amnesty International India had invited the Bengaluru police to be present at the event in the interest of the security of the invited families and other attendees,” the statement said.

About allegations that Sindhujaa Iyengar, an Amnesty employee, and two others raised raised anti-national slogans, it said Iyengar was not present on stage at any point during the event.
Amnesty said footage of the event has been shared with the police.

The rights body said Amnesty has worked extensively on human rights violations in Pakistan, including “the enforced disappearances and unlawful killings of political activists in Balochistan, violations by security forces in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and violence against journalists by groups including the ISI”.

Asked about reports that “anti-India” slogans were also raised by some students at the Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology in Tumkuru, 70 km from here, with which the Home Minister is associated, Parameshwara said an FIR had been registered in that case also and police were investigating it.

“One security fellow says I don’t understand what they (students) said. We don’t know at this stage – it is not very clear. There (Tumkuru) also an FIR has been registered and they are looking into it,” he said.

Asked if any action has been suggested against the culprits, he said action would be taken as per the law.

“No, no, no. I will go according to law. Action will be taken according to results obtained from police investigation. Beyond that I don’t think I can do anything,” he said.

Asked whether the government had swung into action due to the central government’s pressure, Parameshwara denied such reports, saying the government has its own duty to fulfil.

“It is not like that. Why should the Centre force us to register a simple FIR?. I don’t think so. We have our own duty to fulfil. If there is any such case, naturally the law will take its own course and police definitely work under those laws,” he said.

Simha said there has been no FIR filed against Kashmiris who raised the slogans, but only against Amnesty International.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “Police are enquiring. An FIR has been registered.”
Noting that an FIR had already been registered on sedition charge, he said after an enquiry, police would take action according to law.

Senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said patriotic and nationalist people could not tolerate “anti-India” slogans.

“What happened in JNU is being repeated here”, he said, adding, “this must be stopped.”
Yeddyurappa said BJP would fight to ensure that the culprits were brought to book and added that he had written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the issue.

Amnesty India today said none of its employees were involved in any form of assault against anyone at the event.

It said that towards the end of the event, some of those who attended raised slogans, some of which referred to calls for ‘Azaadi’ (freedom).

But, it said, Amnesty International India as a matter of policy does not take any position in favour of or against demands for self-determination.However, it considers that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to peacefully advocate political solutions.

Amnesty International India had invited Bengaluru police to be present at the event, in the interest of the security of the invited families and other attendees. “We have shared our footage of the event with the police,” it said.

(Agencies)

Srinagar: Four youth were killed and six others injured today in security forces action against stone-pelting protestors in Magam area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district, taking the death toll in the ongoing unrest in the Valley to 64

A group of youth pelted stones at a CRPF vehicle at Aripathan in Magam area this morning, a police official said.

In the retaliatory action by the security forces, one youth was killed while seven others sustained injuries, the official said.

Condition of two of the injured is stated to be critical.

Meanwhile, curfew remained in force in entire Srinagar district and Anantnag town while restrictions were in place in the rest of the Valley as normal life remained paralysed for the 39th consecutive day.

The official said curfew and restrictions were imposed to thwart the plans of separatists to organise sit-in protest against the civilian killings at main market places of the Valley.

“Curfew remained in force in entire Srinagar district and Anantnag town in south Kashmir as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order,” the police official said.

Schools, colleges and private offices remained closed while public transport remained off the roads due to the strike called by the separatists.The attendance in government offices was thin.

Internet and mobile services across the Valley remained suspended.
While broadband services were snapped on Saturday evening, the mobile telephony was suspended late in the night on the same day.

Normal life has been affected due to protests against the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8.

60 persons, including two cops, have been killed and several thousand others have been injured in the clashes that began on July 9.

(PTI/Agencies)

Una: Vowing to intensify their agitation at a protest rally on Independence day, the Dalit community in Gujarat today said they will launch a mega rail roko stir if their demand for granting five acres of land for each family is not met by Gujarat government within one month.

As thousands of Dalits gathered in Una on the occasion of the country’s 70th Independence Day where Prime Minister Narendra Modi also came under fire, their leaders sought freedom from atrocities and discrimination, amid chants of “Jai Bhim”.

The tricolor was jointly unfurled by Radhika Vemula, mother of dalit scholar Rohith Vemula who had committed suicide in Hyderabad and Balu Sarvaiya, father of one of the victims of Una dalit flogging incident, in the presence of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

The week-long rally which started from Ahmedabad by Una Dalit Atachiyar Ladat Samiti (UDALS), culminated in Una, the place where some dalits where brutally beaten by cow vigilantes for skinning a dead cow last month sparking outrage.

“You take cow’s tail, give us land,” Jignesh Mavani, a lawyer-turned politician who established the UDALS and led the march, told the huge gathering.

“We have presented our demand before the state government. If you do not accept our demand of giving five acres land to each dalit family in next one month, we will launch a rail roko agitation,” Mevani said.

He also made those who were present there to take a pledge not to be in the business of skinning of cows.

Targeting Modi, Mevani said, “The sheer scale of protests had forced him to speak out on the issue. Modi did not speak a word when three youths were killed in police firing in Thangadh town in 2012, another incident of Dalit atrocity,” Kanhaiya said the hype of Gujarat Model of development has been punctured by dalits of the state.

“We want freedom from castesim. We will not tolerate any more atrocities on dalits anywhere in the country. Everybody has to come together to fight against such atrocities.”

Radhika Vemula in her address said, “I have not got justice for my son. He had to commit suicide just because he was dalit.

“But it is good to see that Dalit movement in Gujarat has forced the chief minister Anandiben Patel to resign. I have come here so that no other Dalit children face what my son had to suffer.”

Muslim community members came in large numbers to support the Dalit community in their campaign. Slogans like “Dalits-Muslims bhai bhai” were heard at the gathering.

As many as seven members of Dalit community from Mota Samadhiyala village in Una taluk in Gir Somnath district were on July 11 brutally assaulted by some self-styled cow vigilantes for skinning a dead cow.

(Agencies)

The owners of Bangalore-based SAAMAR International School said, they’ll sue News 9 TV Channel for a broadcast that reported that the school has banned the singing of national anthem.

The owners, who spoke to Nasheman.in, said that the school has been celebrating Independence Day since its inception and the allegation that, it is anti-national is “totally fake and false information”.

New Delhi: India on Monday marked 70 years of its independence with peace and joy but the celebrations were marred by bombings in Manipur and a militant attack in Kashmir that killed a para-military officer.

As the nation immersed itself in patriotic fervour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi and chief ministers across the state listed achievements of their governments in their Independence Day addresses watched by millions.

Many of the governments announced a string of measures for their people including a plan by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to hike minimum wages in Delhi by about 50 per cent.

The main function of the day was, as every year since Independence in 1947, held in Delhi where people in large numbers assembled in front of the historic Red Fort to listen to their Prime Minister on a windy morning.

Among other things in his more than 90-minute address to the nation, Modi urged Indians to fight social and religious divisions and make the country stronger.

“Every citizen should fight against the differences in the society on the basis of caste and class. We have to take everyone together, be it Dalits, tribals, oppressed and people from the financially weaker section,” he said.

Modi’s bete noire, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Prime Minister to implement his wage hike scheme throughout the country.

“Those who have less in life should have more in law. So we have decided to increase the minimum wages in Delhi by about 50 per cent,” Kejriwal told a packed Chhatrasal Stadium in the national capital.

In Delhi, amid terror threats, the authorities had thrown thick security cover in and around the city, including the area around the Red Fort.

Snipers were deployed and anti-aircraft guns installed around the historic fort, and much of Delhi was turned into a garrison town.

Security was also heightened in the restive Kashmir Valley. But militants still attacked paramilitary forces in an old city area and killed a senior Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer, police said. Two militants were also gunned down in the gunfight.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called for peace in the Kashmir Valley which has been on the boil since July 8 killing of a rebel commander. It triggered widespread unrest that has left 56 people dead and thousands injured.

Srinagar wore a deserted look following a shutdown called by separatist leaders in the valley which has remained under curfew for much of the past five weeks.

In the northeastern state of Manipur, three security personnel and two girls were injured as two bombs exploded on deserted streets of Imphal amid a shutdown called by militants, officials and residents said.

In the neighbouring Mizoram, Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla said the state “is the most peaceful in the country heading for a steady progress of development”.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar of Tripura, also in the northeast, lashed out at the central government for what he called its attempts to snatch all powers of the state governments and for trying to force the states to beg for aid.

In Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recalled the Indian Freedom Movement, services of the freedom fighters and sacrifices of the martyrs for India’s freedom from the British rule.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh announced a six per cent hike in dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees and pensioners from January 1 this year.

In Haryana, Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki felt giddy at the Independence Day parade due to hot and humid conditions after he unfurled the national flag.

Down south, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked the people to be watchful against fundamentalists and sought public support in the stand against subversive thoughts and activities.

In the Karnataka capital Bengaluru, patriotic fervour gripped the city as thousands of people, including women and children attired in colourful clothes, thronged celebrations for the Independence Day anniversary.

In Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said, “Freedom does not mean just the right to speak, write… True freedom rests in economic freedom.”

The Independence Day was also celebrated in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

(IANS)