State Congress president Jagdish Thakor urged Muslim leaders, including Kadir Pirzada, to frame a time-bound programme targeting 60 Assembly seats with a sizable Muslim population.

They also urged the minority community not to get carried away by the propaganda of the new entrants in the fray – All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which they termed as the BJP’s “B and C teams”, saying that doing so would divide its votes and ultimately help the ruling party.

They were speaking at a function to felicitate Kadir Pirzada, the newly-appointed working president of the party’s Gujarat unit, and other leaders.

Assembly elections in the BJP-ruled Gujarat are due by the end of this year.

Speaking on the occasion, state Congress president Jagdish Thakor urged Muslim leaders, including Pirzada, to frame a time-bound programme targeting 60 Assembly seats with a sizable Muslim population.

He also called for an election manifesto for the minority communities.

“All of us know who are behind the communal riots happening in the country, and how they benefit from it. We know and still fall prey to it. We should stay cautious about not falling into the trap,” he said.

Thakor said the Congress has always stayed with the minorities and never changed its ideology, irrespective of whether it occupies power or not.

“A Congress prime minister used to say with confidence that minorities have the first right on the country’s treasury. Congress knows how much saying so has hurt the party, but it will still not compromise on its ideology,” Thakor said, addressing the function organised by the party’s state minority department.

Remembering late Congress leader Ahmed Patel on the occasion, party veteran Arjun Modhwadia said that as the head of the family, Patel kept the party leaders united.

“But when he is not with us, it is our responsibility to remain united,” he said.

He also cautioned the Muslim voters to stay united and not to get swayed by the two parties that have entered the fray “to divide votes”.

“The two parties have come once again, and we are all concerned. It is because we are ourselves not confident of our unity. But we should defeat these A and B teams,” he said.

“We have to ensure that our complaints with each other are resolved and in 2022 (election), the A team does not return to power with the help of B and C teams,” he said.

Jignesh Mevani, who has also been appointed as a working president of the Gujarat Congress, remembered arrested social activist Teesta Setalvad and her struggle “for justice to the Muslims of Gujarat.”

He said he always stood with the minorities and struggled for them.

Mevani said the 2002 Assembly election is crucial for the future of the country and will have implications on the country’s Constitution.

During his address, Pirzada demanded representation for the community and claimed that Congress formed the government with the help of the Muslim votes.

“If a community with 3-4 per cent population demands its representation, then why should we, being 1 crore in the population of 6.5 crore, not demand our representation?” he asked.

“The community is at times at a loss as to who it should talk to. On the one hand, we have no government, while on the other there is no representation. You ran after Hardik (Patel, the former Congress leader who joined BJP), and forgot that these (Muslims) are the people who formed the Congress government,” he said.

The party leaders urged the Muslim community to step out in large numbers to cast their votes during the Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, AAP head Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to hold a town hall meeting and a press conference on Thursday in Surat city of Gujarat where the Assembly polls are due this year.

The Delhi chief minister arrived here late Wednesday night and said that in the next few weeks, his party would share with the people of Gujarat its agenda on what it plans to do for them if voted to power in the state.

This is his second visit to the state so far this month.

“I visited Gujarat several times in the recent past, and people of the state have given a lot of love. The people of Gujarat are fed up with 27 years of the BJP rule and want a change,” Kejriwal said after landing at the Surat airport.

“We have talked to the public about what they want and in the next few weeks, we will put before them our agenda, as to what our agenda will be when voted to power,” he said.

Before Kejriwal arrived in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gujarat unit chief C R Paatil warned people that they should not get misguided by the “revadi culture” of freebies as it could eventually turn the state and India into Sri Lanka, which is currently going through a severe economic crisis.

Though Paatil did not name anyone, he was apparently targeting the AAP and its national convener Kejriwal, who has promised free electricity if voted to power in Gujarat.

Kejriwal last visited Gujarat on July 3, when he held a town hall on the issue of free electricity in Ahmedabad.

During the interaction with people, he then said free electricity was possible in Gujarat and that he would soon visit the state with a formula on how his party can provide it if voted to power.

Presenting the “Delhi model,” he had said free electricity is possible in Gujarat if corruption is eliminated.

The AAP has made free electricity a major poll plank in Gujarat, where polls are due in December.

The party has positioned itself as a major contender in the state, where elections have traditionally seen a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress.

The U.N. also said an amnesty for former government officials the Taliban announced last year has not been consistently upheld.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan also highlighted the poor situation of women and girls since the Taliban takeover and how they have been stripped of many of their human rights under Afghanistan’s current rulers.

“It is beyond time for all Afghans to be able to live in peace and rebuild their lives after 20 years of armed conflict. Our monitoring reveals that despite the improved security situation since 15 August, the people of Afghanistan, in particular women and girls, are deprived of the full enjoyment of their human rights,” said Markus Potzel, deputy special representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan.

The report said as many as 700 people have been killed and 1,400 wounded since mid-August 2021, when the Taliban overran the Afghan capital of Kabul as the United States and NATO were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country.

The majority of those casualties were linked to attacks by the Islamic State group’s affiliate in the country, a bitter rival of the Taliban which has targeted ethnic and religious minority communities in places where they go to school, worship and go about their daily lives.

Afghanistan has seen persistent bombings and other attacks on civilians, often targeting the mainly Shiite Muslim ethnic Hazara minority. Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State group’s affiliate in the country.

The report added that the Taliban have made clear their position on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of opinion.

They have limited dissent by cracking down on protests and curbing media freedoms, including by arbitrarily arresting journalists, protestors and civil society activists and issuing restrictions on media outlets.

The report catalogued human rights violations affecting 173 journalists and media workers, 163 of which were attributed to the de facto authorities. Among these were 122 instances of arbitrary arrest and detention, 58 instances of ill-treatment, 33 instances of threats and intimidation and 12 instances of incommunicado detention.

Six journalists were also killed since August, 2021, including five by self-identified Islamic State affiliates and one by unknown perpetrators.

The right to the freedoms of peaceful assembly, expression and opinion are “necessary for the development and progression of a nation,” said Fiona Frazer, the U.N.’s human rights representative in Afghanistan.

“They allow meaningful debate to flourish, also benefiting those who govern by allowing them to better understand the issues and problems facing the population,” she added.

The U.N. also said an amnesty for former government officials the Taliban announced last year has not been consistently upheld. Frazer said the U.N. recorded 160 extrajudicial killings and 178 arrests of former government and military officials.

The report said human rights violations must be investigated by the authorities, perpetrators held accountable, and incidents should be prevented from reoccurring in the future.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid called the U.N. report “baseless and propaganda” and its findings “not true.”

Arbitrary arrests and killings are not allowed in the country and if anyone commits such crimes, they will be considered guilty and face legal action, he added.

After their takeover last year, the Taliban quickly started enforcing a sharply tougher line, harking back to similar radical measures when the Taliban last ruled the country, from 1996 to 2001.

They issued edicts requiring women to cover their faces except for their eyes in public, including women presenters on TV, and banned girls from attending school past the sixth grade.

The U.N. report added that the erosion of women’s rights has been one of the most notable aspects of the de facto administration to date. Since August, women and girls have progressively had their rights to fully participate in education, the workplace and other aspects of public and daily life restricted and in many cases completely taken away.

The decision not to allow girls to return to secondary school means that a generation of girls will not complete their full 12 years of basic education, the U.N. said.

“The education and participation of women and girls in public life is fundamental to any modern society. The relegation of women and girls to the home denies Afghanistan the benefit of the significant contributions they have to offer. Education for all is not only a basic human right, it is the key to progress and development of a nation,” said Potzel, the U.N. envoy.

During the previous Taliban rule in Afghanistan, they subjected women to overwhelming restrictions, banning them from education and participation in public life and requiring them to wear the all-encompassing burqa.

UDUPI: Udupi police, who were investigating a case against former RDPR minister and BJP leader KS Eshwarappa who was facing charges of abetting the suicide of contractor Santhosh Patil from Belagavi, have cleared the former minister in the case. The police filed an 85-page long ‘B’ report before the 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru, which is the special court for cases against elected representatives.

It may be recalled that Patil had written to PM Narendra Modi claiming to have invested Rs 4 crore on building roadsin his village in Belagavi based on oral instructions byEshwarappa. He had asked the PM to direct Eshwarappa tosettle his bills. Accusing the minister of cheating him, Patil had alleged that he had to
offer Rs 15 lakh in bribe to the rural development department to get paid.

Reacting, Eshwarappa said, “I denied the charges when it were made against me. With the blessings of mother Goddess Chowdeshwari, I got the clean chit and am now free of all the charges”.

DD Sahyadri is Prasar Bharati’s Marathi-language channel dedicated to bringing infotainment and educational TV programs to audiences across Maharashtra.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday demanded that state-run Prasar Bharati should telecast only Marathi language programmes on its regional television channel DD Sahyadri.

DD Sahyadri is Prasar Bharati’s Marathi-language channel dedicated to bringing infotainment and educational TV programs to audiences across Maharashtra.

Thackeray made the demand in a letter addressed to Neeraj Agrawal, additional director general (western region) of Doordarshan here.

“DD Sahyadri channel, founded on August 15, 1994, is expected to telecast all of its programmes in the Marathi language. However, we have noticed that this channel telecasts programmes in other languages,” it said.

“We have received several complaints regarding the same from the audience of the channel. It has been also noticed that guests invited to speak in some programmes, like interviews or discussions, can speak in Hindi language. This is against the foundation of this channel,” the letter said.

Thackeray also cautioned the officials saying, “Kindly consider our demand and take necessary actions, otherwise the MNS will take appropriate steps to address the problem.”

The leader also said that there was no dearth of people who have excelled in the fields of cooking, cinema, music or any other sectors and they can speak Marathi very well.

The DD Sahyadri can always conduct programmes in Marathi inviting them on its shows, he said.

Thackeray also made a reference to how local DD channels and other private channels from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are particular about their respective regional languages.

SINGAPORE: Singapore has granted a 14-day short-term visit pass to former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa as he entered the country on a “private visit” on July 14, according to immigration authorities here.

Rajapaksa, 73, on July 13 fled Sri Lanka to the Maldives and then Singapore and resigned after a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy.

In a statement released in response to media queries about Rajapaksa’s visit to Singapore, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said that he was granted a short-term visit pass (STVP) on arrival.

Rajapaksa was issued a 14-day visit pass when he arrived here on July 14, according to a report by The Straits Times newspaper.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said last week that Rajapaksa has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum.

The ICA said visitors from Sri Lanka who enter Singapore for social visits will generally be issued with an STVP with a duration of up to 30 days.

Those who need to extend their stay here may apply online for an extension of their STVP. Applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, said the ICA. Meanwhile, Sri Lankans in Singapore remains optimistic about the situation back home.

But they say a real change has to go beyond the changing of guards with more decisive policies and more engaged voters, Channel News Asia reported as it interviewed several Sri Lankans in the country.

Some Sri Lankans in Singapore is skipping meals to save money and sending items such as medicine and other essential goods back to their home country amid the economic crisis there.

Some are shipping bicycles as it is very difficult to travel in the country, one Sri Lankan told the Channel.

“People are using bikes as a mode of transport and we have a shortage of bikes (back home) because we have only two manufacturers (in the country),” said Samira Peiris, an engineer, who had recently moved to Singapore to work.

Peiris says a meal in Singapore is equivalent to three back home and as such he skips meals and cuts down on spending.

“This is not purely out of desperation but I don’t feel it is right for me to enjoy life here when people back home are suffering.,” he added. 

He said many others like him in Singapore are coming up with ways to contribute. Paul William, an auditor, said that Sri Lankans in Singapore would definitely send money when they can. But they want to send it through a reliable source as that is the main concern.

“If it goes into the wrong hands, then there is no point,” said William. He added, “Every single time we meet a Sri Lankan, this is the discussion we have.”

William, a permanent resident here, is concerned about how his 72-year-old mother is coping. He is sending her money through the United Kingdom where his sister is based.

He also hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accusing him of trying to break the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party at a time when the state was struggling to come to terms with floods.

NEW DELHI: Faced by a rebellion in its ranks, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said the party was ready for a fight over the symbol and control of the organisation.

Interacting with the media here, Raut also claimed that the BJP was trying to break Maharashtra into three pieces, and making a dent in the Shiv Sena ranks was part of the saffron party’s conspiracy.

He also hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accusing him of trying to break the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party at a time when the state was struggling to come to terms with massive floods in some parts.

“We are ready for any fight, be it for the symbol or the party organisation. A few MPs and MLAs may be leaving us. But MLAs and MPs alone do not make up the Shiv Sena,” Raut said, adding Shiv Sainiks will make it difficult for the rebels to win any election in the future.

He reminded the breakaway faction of the assistance given to them by the party supremo Uddhav Thackeray politically, socially and financially over the years.

Raut also took a swipe at Shinde saying he had to make visits to Delhi as he was a “BJP chief minister”.

“I never recall Shiv Sena chief ministers Manohar Joshi or Narayan Rane making rounds of the national capital for cabinet expansion and other issues,” he said.

Shiv Sena parliamentary party is staring at a split in its ranks with a breakaway faction set to approach Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with a plea to recognise them as a separate group with Rahul Shewale as their leader.

RAIPUR:  Chhattisgarh minister T S Singhdeo who resigned as panchayat and rural development minister has sought an appointment from the Congress high command apparently “to share his viewpoints” as he left for Delhi on Monday.

He will also meet senior Congress leaders in the national capital before proceeding on July 21 to the poll-bound Gujarat where he has been appointed as senior party observer by AICC, said the sources close to him.

His letter addressed to the chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday citing the reasons behind leaving the panchayat department has led to turmoil within the Congress party in the state.

Several party MLAs including the ministers expressing displeasure over the Singhdeo’s move are seeking action against him for making public the contents of his letter, which according to them carry expressions no different than the language of the opposition.

“Perhaps I couldn’t prove to be an effective panchayat minister to fulfill the goal as set down in the poll manifesto,” he said in Raipur.

Singh Deo, locked in a power tussle with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, has given up the charge of the panchayat and rural development department citing reasons like non-allotment of funds by the CM for the construction of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

However, he still holds health and family welfare, medical education, 20-point implementation and commercial tax (GST) portfolios.

Asked about reports that a few Congress MLAs have demanded action against him, the health minister sought to know how making a point amounts to “indiscipline”.

“A Union minister came here (apparently referring to the visit of Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh to the state) and commented on MNREGA (rural jobs scheme) as well as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

“I took the responsibility for it (alleged tardy pace of implementation of schemes) and resigned from the department. How is it an act of indiscipline? I am in frequent talks with everyone in the government and have made all the things public,”” said Singh Deo while talking to PTI.

“I have defended the (state) government and taken the responsibility for works not being done in my department (Panchayat and Rural Development),” he said.

Giriraj Singh, who was in Chhattisgarh last week, had criticized the Congress government for the way it has been implementing central welfare schemes.

After the latest political development in the state, which goes polls in late 2023, Singh Deo has sought time from the party’s central leadership.

“I will be visiting Ahmedabad via Delhi. Time has been sought to meet the high command and if there is a meeting, then there will be a conversation about the current events,” the Congress leader said.

Singh Deo has been appointed an observer by the party for the Gujarat assembly polls slated by the year-end.

““I have learnt that the issue of my resignation was brought up in the meeting of the Congress Legislative Party on Sunday and a few MLAs demanded action in this regard. I also came to know that Punia Ji (the party’s state in charge P L Punia) listened to the MLAs and said he will convey their sentiments to the people concerned,”” said Singh Deo.

The Congress minister did not attend the CLP meeting.

Talking to reporters on Sunday, Chief Minister Baghel had said he was yet to receive Singh Deo’s resignation from the panchayat and rural development department and that he learnt about the latter’s move through the media.

Responding to this, Singh Deo said the resignation letter was sent on Saturday and when he was hold that the CM’s office was closed, he emailed the missive.

“Before my resignation, I had a talk with the chief minister and informed him about everything,” he said.

The minister said he met Baghel in the state assembly on Monday but there was no discussion on the resignation issue.

In his resignation letter to the chief minister, Singh Deo had claimed not a single house was built for homeless people under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as funds were not allotted despite “repeated request”.

In the four-page resignation letter, Singh Deo cited various reasons, saying he was unable to fulfil the department’s targets as per the vision of the Jan Ghoshna Patra (poll manifesto), given the “current scenario”.