Afghan repatriation

Op/Ed, 29 April 2024. Compared to the roughshod manner in which the caretaker set-up dealt with the issue, the elected government seems a lot more patient where the repatriation of Afghan nationals is concerned.

According to a recent news report, the validity of the Proof of Registration cards given to Afghan refugees has been extended to 30 June this year so that they may continue to avail education, banking and other facilities in Pakistan.

Perhaps the decision could have come a little sooner, considering that these cards had previously been valid till 01 April. One hopes that no one was made to suffer any inconvenience over the delayed decision.

Nonetheless, it is welcome news that the elected government is being more accommodating where the rights of refugees are concerned — one recalls the brutish manner in which the ‘repatriation’ drive began, with hundreds of thousands of Afghan men, women and children rounded up and placed in holding camps near the border to be ‘sent home’ to Afghanistan.

A recalibration was much needed. Considering the human costs involved, repatriation must be done as humanely as possible without injuring the dignity of those being told to leave.

While it is still early days, it appears that the policy of returning aliens who have called Pakistan home in recent years will stay in place. Ideally, a country should be open to all, to live in and be free as long as they agree to respect its customs and laws and promise to contribute to its social, cultural and economic development.

However, considering the challenges being faced by Pakistan and its depleting resources, those who make our national policies believe it is time the country excused itself from hosting anyone not entitled to its citizenship.

Those championing this line of reasoning believe Pakistan is well within its rights and international laws to demand all refugees to leave. If this is the consensus, then so be it.

However, the new government would send a much more positive message if it shows itself to be accommodative of those with Afghan ancestry but who were born in Pakistan, as well as the men and women who have married here.

The two countries share a deep social bond which cannot be aborted through a sudden policy change. The process must play out, but it must be completed with due consideration for the human rights of those affected.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1830279/afghan-repatriation

The Print – Indira, Manmohan, Modi, all raised income inequality. Until Hindu fears took the driving seat

The issue of inequality has assumed the blazing limelight at a time when inequality in India is said to be higher than it was in the British Raj. It’s a ripe situation for half-truths and incendiary statements.

TCA Sharad Raghavan

Op/Ed, 27 April, 2024. Reducing inequality and redistributing wealth are ideas that have sparked revolutions, toppled governments, and enabled despots. Such ideas have also elevated some nations -especially Scandinavian ones and a few in Europe – as paragons of social justice.

The Indian government has been grappling with the same ideas for the larger part of a century now, but can’t seem to decide on how much of a Robin Hood to be.

From Indira Gandhi’s ‘Garibi Hatao’ to Manmohan Singh’s ‘inclusive growth’ to Narendra Modi’s ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ – income inequality has never really left Indian political imagination. This week, it all came down to two primal fears of Hindu voters – Muslims and Mangalsutra.

Should the government take from the rich (‘steal’ in the context of taxes might be a bit harsh) and give to the poor? The Congress has tried this in the past. Or should it simply give to the poor without taking from the rich? The Modi government is trying this now.

Either way, the issue of inequality and redistribution is once again on a hot streak — stressed by Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi, and pretty much everyone with an opinion — and that’s why it is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the Week.

It’s naturally an evocative issue and no wonder that Rahul Gandhi’s 2014-15 remark of the Modi government being a ‘suit-boot ki sarkar’ resonated so well with the public. It hit the right chords with his supporters while also twanging away at the establishment’s nerves.

Add to this a recent study, co-authored by Western economists like Thomas Piketty, which claims that inequality in India is higher than it was in the British Raj, and you have a situation ripe for an escalating conflagration of assertions, half-truths, and incendiary statements.

Inheritance tax rears its head again

The ball was sent rolling and, indeed, careening wildly by Indian Overseas Congress chairman and long-time Gandhi family advisor Sam Pitroda earlier this week, when he called for a discussion on whether India needs an “inheritance tax”.

Speaking at a rally in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, Modi referred to Pitroda’s comments and said the mantra of the Congress was “loot zindagi ke saath bhi aur zindagi ke baad bhi” (Congress will loot you during your life and beyond it), a play on the popular tagline of the Life Insurance Corporation of India.

Meanwhile, the Congress leapt into damage-control mode, with its communications-in-charge Jairam Ramesh taking to X to assure everybody that “the Congress has no plan whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax”.

Praveen Chakravarty, chairman of the All India Professionals’ Congress and a key member of the party’s manifesto committee, wrote an entire article on it.

Chakravarty even went so far as to fling Pitroda under the bus, referring to his statement as “a past-his-prime Congressman’s stray comments”. Talk about desperate damage control.

The thing is, the Congress has already tried the inheritance tax experiment, and discarded it as a failure. Back in 1953, the Jawaharlal Nehru government brought in the tax – called the estate duty – to reduce inequality and provide states more resources. The British government had been talking about such a tax in India as far back as 1935.

By 1985, the Rajiv Gandhi government found the estate duty had comprehensively failed, and so abolished it. Other attempts to redistribute wealth through taxation, such as the gift tax and the wealth tax, lasted longer – being removed in 1998 and 2016, respectively.

Modi, Rahul & Mangalsutra

Parallel to this, there also arose the controversy around Modi’s speech in Rajasthan, where he said that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had once remarked that Muslims had the first claim on the nation’s resources.

“This means they will distribute this wealth to those who have more children, to infiltrators,” Modi said in Hindi.The outrage that followed was stupendous, with social media enthusiasts sharing and re-sharing his speech – which might have done as much harm as good – and making all kinds of fun of the Election Commission for remaining silent.

Even the international media took note.Unfazed, the PM on Tuesday reiterated his assertion that the Congress would redistribute the country’s wealth and give it to ‘select people’.What likely emboldened him to stick to this message was Rahul Gandhi doubling down on statements of his own that had created quite a stir.

“We will hold a financial and institutional survey after that,” Gandhi said. “Yeh pata lagayenge ki Hindustan ka dhan kiske hathon mein hai, kaun se varg ke haath mein hai. Aur is aitihasik kadam ke baad hum krantikari kaam shuru karenge.

(We will find out in whose hands the nation’s wealth is in, which class of people they are. And after this historic step, we will undertake revolutionary work).”This, too, was used extensively by Modi to rile up crowds.

Evocatively, he warned people that the Congress wanted to ‘X-ray’ the nation – a term Gandhi himself used – and take the Mangalsutras of the women, confiscate their stree-dhan, seize any extra property held by anybody, and redistribute it all.

Over this last week, Gandhi has reiterated his financial survey remark, although he clarified that he hadn’t mentioned any actions to be taken on the basis of such a survey. With both leaders not backing down, the Election Commission on Thursday finally issued notices to the Congress and the BJP over the remarks made by Gandhi and Modi.

This, too, created quite a stir since the notices didn’t go to the alleged violators individually, but to their respective parties.

Inequality in more than just politics

Now, if you thought that the issue of wealth redistribution was restricted to the political domain, please keep an eye on the courts – no less than a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India – and what it will decide about whether the private property of an individual can be regarded as resources of the community.

And while the redistribution discussion has been about the rich and the poor, let’s not forget that India often has a wealth difference even between husband and wife. Incredibly, even this aspect was covered this week.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that ‘stree-dhan’ is the “absolute property” of the wife and that the husband has no title over it.

The issue of inequality will likely die down in a few days, replaced by something else that captures headlines, but the last week saw it assume the blazing limelight – a position it should assume every once in a while.

https://theprint.in/opinion/newsmaker-of-the-week/indira-manmohan-modi-all-raised-income-inequality-until-hindu-fears-took-the-driving-seat/2059074

The News – What can Pakistan do for Kashmir?

Touqir Hussain
26 April 2024

Singapore – 26 April 2024. Kashmiris in Indian illegally occupied Kashmir protesting against the Indian occupation as the forces of India looked on.

Kashmir is no ordinary dispute. It is about a territory, its people, and the dynamics of their history, culture, and aspirations for freedom. And it is about the ethics of international politics.

The dispute affects and reflects the tensions between the national identities, political ambitions, and contrasting views of the history of the two disputants – India and Pakistan.

In five years, Indian Prime Minister Modi has expunged the above reality by rewriting the script of the Kashmir tragedy. India knew that the success of the Kashmir cause depended on two factors – the strength of the insurgency and Pakistan’s support to the Kashmir cause.

It was not just the Kashmiris that stood in India’s way, Pakistan did too.

So the Indian strategy was to launch a campaign of isolating and defaming Pakistan and to put it on the defensive and make it off balance.

The idea was to marginalize it and force it to back away from supporting the Kashmiris with a view to demoralizing them as they would have no one to look up to for support. And then unleash extreme repressive measures to bludgeon them into submission.

The theme of the new Kashmir tragedy may have been Hindutva inspired but its plot was built around India’s rise and Pakistan’s diminished international status in recent decades.

The power disparity and the widening gap between the global standing of the two countries enabled India to break loose from the gravitational pull of the past India-Pakistan hyphenation.

This hyphenation had inclined the big powers to always consider the two countries and their disputes together. But that has all changed.

India is a global player now serving the West’s economic and strategic interests. Pakistan is still useful to the international community as a partner but has also become a source of concern as the alleged host of extremist organizations.

Taking advantage of the seat at the high table and the West’s, especially America’s, concerns about security, India went on to launch a campaign of isolating and vilifying Pakistan by accusing it of ‘terrorism’ which became India’s code word for attacking Pakistan’s Kashmir policy.

The Indian propaganda exaggerated the terrorist threat and insinuated that it was aimed at the destabilization of India in whose stability the West had come to have a big stake because of its role in the containment of China.

With these arguments India managed to dictate its own view of Kashmir which the West, and even Pakistan’s friends in the Gulf, accepted unreservedly for their own reasons.

Pakistan’s international image, which was already damaged due to governance issues and troubled relations with Washington on account of the failure of the Afghanistan war, got a further hit.

As Pakistan lost, so did Occupied Kashmir – providing a perfect setting for Prime Minister Modi’s August 5, 2019 action.

Rightly calculating that Pakistan would not be able to mobilize any international support for the Kashmir cause, the Indian prime minister with his move stripped Pakistan of whatever locus standing it had on the dispute.

And confident that the West would turn a blind eye he set the process of annexation in motion beginning with maximum repression.

The repression continues. To quash any form of resistance unbearable restrictions have been placed on the freedom of expression and basic civil liberties.

A pervasive atmosphere of fear has been instilled among the citizens of Occupied Kashmir to intimidate and coerce them into unlawful assimilation.

Consequences of dissent range from job suspension to incarceration in distant Indian states. Media coverage is virtually non-existent as journalists have been detained, and media organizations subjected to raids.

The illegal occupation has seeped through every aspect of life in Kashmir. Public school educators and officials are coerced into displaying allegiance by posting pictures with the Indian flag on national occasions like Independence Day and Republic Day, sometimes even being pressured to hoist the flag at their residences.

This practice is just one instance of the myriad ways in which Kashmiris are subjected to humiliation, being forced into actions that contradict the spirit of Kashmiri resistance and promote pro-Indian sentiments.

India’s state machinery, including intelligence agencies, frequently employs tools such as the Public Safety Act (PSA) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) – both part of colonial sedition laws – to quell any form of resistance and instill a pervasive atmosphere of fear.

People are hesitant to even speak about their grievances, fearing severe consequences ranging from job suspension to incarceration in distant Indian states. This pattern underscores India’s efforts to reinforce its authority and perpetuate its occupation of the region.

Utilizing the rhetoric of ‘development’, the state has embarked on initiatives such as establishing ‘smart cities’, alongside initiatives to resettle non-Kashmiris and alter the demographic landscape. This exemplifies the broader strategy of complete assimilation of Kashmir into India.

Historically Kashmiris have contested Indian repression through various means, including armed resistance. However, the dynamics of protest have shifted significantly. Kashmiris find themselves largely powerless to take action, let alone mount any effective resistance.

The significance of any possible role by Pakistan has largely faded. Young Kashmiris have come to the realization that, with its ability to aid them in ending the occupation being limited, Pakistan has lost its earlier relevance to the cause.

India feels it has found the solution to the Kashmir ‘problem’ without Pakistan’s help and is under no obligation to give any concessions.

So what are Pakistan’s options? Neither wars nor Pakistan’s support for the Kashmiri resistance has helped solve the dispute. Nor will the UN resolutions help since without big powers and the concerned parties’ backing for them they are ineffective, and relevant largely as an historical document.

That leaves Pakistan with only one option – normalization of relations with India, especially the resumption of trade. Even though trade will be more to India’s advantage, it may not agree to talk much less normalize unless Pakistan drops the Kashmir related pre-conditions.

Normalization if it happens might ease tensions with India but will not give any influence to Pakistan.
But it could open up future possibilities of Pakistan calibrating the level of economic engagement with transit rights giving Islamabad some leverage regarding Kashmir.

But for that Pakistan has to rise economically and rebuild its international standing to the level that India cannot isolate it, and the benefits of the relationship exceed the cost of ignoring it.

Bottom line: The struggle of Pakistan and the Kashmiris is for the long haul.

The writer, a former ambassador, is adjunct professor at Georgetown University and visiting senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1182244-what-can-pakistan-do-for-kashmir

The Telegraph – In contrast to Rajasthan Modi dons Muslim-friendly face in Aligarh with increased Haj quota

Modi also reiterated what he had said in Rajasthan about the Congress confiscating people’s assets but left out the part about these being distributed among Muslims

Piyush Srivastava

Lucknow – Uttar Pradesh – India, 23 April 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said his government had got Saudi Arabia to increase India’s Haj quota and arranged for Muslim women to go on the pilgrimage alone, presenting a minority-friendly face a day after delivering a polarising speech that targeted the community.

On Sunday in Rajasthan, Modi had alluded to the largest minority community as “infiltrators” and “those who have more children” while alleging the Congress manifesto promises to take away citizens’ assets — including (Hindu) women’s mangalsutras — and hand them over to Muslims.

A day later in Aligarh, where Muslims make up 42 per cent of the population, Modi’s speech seemed to emphasise his long-time claim about being a benefactor of Muslim women – for instance, by banning the instant triple talaq.

“There was a rush earlier because of lower quotas for Haj and only powerful people used to get this opportunity (for the pilgrimage). I requested the crown prince of Saudi Arabia to increase the Haj quota for our Muslim brothers and sisters in India,” Modi said at Aligarh’s Numaish Maidan.

“Today, not only has the Haj quota for India been increased but the visa rules have also been relaxed. The government took a major decision because our Muslim mothers and sisters were unable to go on Haj alone. The government has allowed our women to set out for Haj without mahram (husband, brother or son).”

He added: “Thousands of those sisters whose dream of going on Haj has been fulfilled have blessed me. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party always played the politics of appeasement but did nothing for the political, social and economic growth of the Muslims.”

Modi also reiterated what he had said in Rajasthan about the Congress confiscating people’s assets but left out the part about these being distributed among Muslims.

“I want to alert the people of the country about a dangerous plan of the Congress’s alliance. I alert the people of Aligarh – the Congress and the INDI alliance have their eyes on your income, on your wealth,” Modi said.

“The shahzada (prince, an allusion to Rahul Gandhi) of the Congress has said that if voted to power, they would conduct surveys about who earns how much, who has how much property… and who has how many houses.

“This wealth will be confiscated by the (Congress-INDIA) government and distributed among others. Our mothers and sisters have gold. It is considered sacred. But their eyes are set on amending the law to snatch the properties from our mothers and sisters – the mangalsutras of mothers and sisters are not safe.”

https://www.telegraphindia.com/elections/lok-sabha-election-2024/in-contrast-to-rajasthan-modi-dons-muslim-friendly-face-in-aligarh-with-increased-haj-quota/cid/2015111

Hindustan Times – Maryam Nawaz reaches out to Sikh pilgrims at Pakistan’s Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara

Maryam, as part of the celebrations of harvest festival of Punjab Baisakhi, welcomed 2.400 Sikhs who are currently visiting Pakistan to attend the festivities.

HT Correspondent

Kartarpur – Panjab – Pakistan, 20 April 2024, Chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province Maryam Nawaz on Thursday invoked Punjabi pride, met a group of Sikh pilgrims, mostly from India, and reminded the gathering at the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara that her father Nawaz Sharif said the country should not fight with its neighbours.

Maryam, as part of the first official state-level celebrations of Baisakhi, the harvest festival of Punjab, welcomed some 2,400 Sikhs who are currently visiting Pakistan to attend the festivities.

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur Sahib has the samadhi of the first Sikh master Guru Nanak and Sikh pilgrims from all over visit the place to perform rituals.

Addressing the gathering at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, 130 km northeast of Lahore, Maryam quoted her father and three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as saying, “We should not fight with our neighbours. We need to open our hearts for them.”

Maryam, 50, is considered the political heir of Nawaz Sharif. She was elected as the first woman chief minister in Pakistan in February.

“When I became the chief minister, I received greetings from Punjabi brothers from across the border too. I am a Pakistani, but I am a Panjabi (hardcore Panjabi) too,” she said.

“We wish to speak Panjabi here like the people of Indian Punjab. My grandfather, Mian Sharif, is from Jati Umra, Amritsar. When a Punjabi Indian brought soil of Jati Umra, I placed it on his (grandfather’s) grave,” she said.

Maryam said she made Ramesh Singh Arora the first Sikh minister in her government.

“My father laid the foundation of Kartarpur Corridor in 2013. He also made a Sikh a member of the Panjab Assembly,” she claimed.

She said on the wish of Sikhs, she has ordered the construction of a road at Kartarpur.

The corridor was opened in November 2019 by the then prime minister Imran Khan. Maryam tried to take credit for the corridor by saying her father was keen to open it for Indian Sikhs and he took the initiative by making a local Sikh lawmaker.

Maryam also said that this is the first time that the Baisakhi festival is being celebrated in Pakistan at a government level. “This is my Punjab and we are celebrating all festivals of minority communities such as Holi, Easter, and Baisakhi together,” she said.

At the gurdwara she sat in the sanctum with pilgrims and then had langar with them. Later, she also hugged an old Indian woman who came from Amritsar and exchanged pleasantries.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/maryam-nawaz-reaches-out-to-sikh-pilgrims-at-kartarpur-101713551101508.html

New Indian Express – Democracy will end if ‘Modi-Shah sarkar’ returns to power: Kharge

“Did you all get 20 crore jobs? Ask the BJP about their 20 crore jobs (promise). Ask them where is Rs 15 lakh when they come seeking your votes.” the senior Congress leader said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday claimed that democracy will end in the country if the Modi-Shah sarkar returns to power, launching an attack on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah while addressing a public meeting in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district, Kharge said they will also scrap the Constitution.

“They will scrap the Constitution scripted by Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar. If you want to keep it alive, the right to vote for women, labourers and farmers, then vote for the Congress and its ‘panja’ (hand) symbol,” he appealed to the voters.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to address the rally in Satna but his visit was cancelled as he took ill, a party leader said earlier, adding that Kharge would fill in for him.

The Satna Lok Sabha seat will go to polls in the second phase on April 26.

Democracy will end if Modi-Shah’s government returns to power, Kharge claimed addressing the public meeting held in support of Congress candidate Siddharth Kushwaha.

Accusing PM Modi of telling lies, Kharge said the PM keeps talking about Modi ki guarantee without taking his party’s name.

He had said that if he became the prime minister, Rs 15 lakh would be given to every person by bringing back the black money stashed abroad.

“Did you get it?” he asked.

Modi had also told the young people of this country that 2 crore jobs would be generated every year, said Kharge continuing his criticism of the PM. Now 10 years have gone.

“Did you all get 20 crore jobs? Ask the BJP about their 20 crore jobs (promise). Ask them where is Rs 15 lakh when they come seeking your votes.” the senior Congress leader said.

Kharge said Modi had promised to double farmers’ income but that too has not happened.

Listing out the prices of cooking gas cylinders, milk, flour and pulses when the Congress-led UPA was in power before 2014, Kharge said rates of these commodities have skyrocketed in the past ten years.

“These are Modi’s acche din (good days). This man always says I will bring acche din. He tells so many lies. That’s why I call him jhoothon ka sardar’,” Kharge said.

The country’s unemployment rate is the highest in the past 45 years but there is no account of it, he said.

Kharge also claimed that the country’s assets like airports, roads, land, public sector undertakings and big factories are being sold to two buyers.

“Who are these two men? Adani and Ambani are buyers. Who are the sellers? Modi and Shah, Kharge said.

Loans worth Rs 16 lakh crore of rich people have been waived but the loans of poor farmers are yet to be written off, he said.

Farm loans of Rs 72,000 crore were waived under the leadership of former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.

Kharge also slammed PM Modi and Union minister Shah for taking those into the BJP fold who were “corrupt” till they were in other parties.

It seems Shah has a “big laundry with a washing machine to wash those who are corrupt” before inducting them into the BJP, the Congress leader claimed.

Besides Satna, Rewa, Tikamgarh, Khajuraho, Damoh and Hoshangabad seats will vote in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls on 26 April.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2024/Apr/21/democracy-will-end-if-modi-shah-sarkar-returns-to-power-kharge-2

The Tribune – The 20-year-old, who will remain unnamed here in deference to his family’s wishes, was a first-year student of the University of Massachusetts

In a grim first for Indians studying in US colleges and universities, a first-year student took his own life in March while playing, it is understood, a macabre online game of dares called the “Blue Whale Challenge”, which has also been called the “suicide game”.

Washington – USA – 20 April 2024. The 20-year-old, who will remain unnamed here in deference to his family’s wishes, was a first-year student of the University of Massachusetts. He was found dead on 08 March 2024.

Gregg Miliote, a spokesperson for the Bristol County District Attorney said the case is being investigated as “apparent suicide”.

This death was widely reported as a murder in which the student was misidentified as enrolled in Boston University and was said to have been robbed and that the body was found in a car in a jungle.

Gregg Miliote, a spokesperson for the Bristol County District Attorney said the case is being investigated as “apparent suicide”.

This death was widely reported as a murder in which the student was misidentified as enrolled in Boston University and was said to have been robbed and that the body was found in a car in a jungle.

The Boston Globe newspaper subsequently identified the student by name.

But while this agency will not name him in respect of his family’s wishes, the cause of death by suicide while playing this dangerous game which is known to prey on teens and young adults around the world, needs to be reported as a cautionary incident for Indian students and teens in India and abroad and parents.

The “Blue Whale Challenge” is an online game in which participants are given a dare to perform and these dares become increasingly more difficult over 50 steps.

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/diaspora/indian-students-death-in-us-possibly-linked-to-blue-whale-challenge-report-612708

BBC News – Columbia University: Ilhan Omar’s daughter suspended and 108 arrested for Gaza protest

Bernd Debusmann Jr,

More than 100 students have been arrested after police cleared a camp of pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University in New York.

The university’s president said that the “extraordinary step” came after multiple warnings and was necessary to provide a safe environment.

Among the participants in the protest was Minnesota politician Ilhan Omar’s daughter, who has been suspended.

Protests have rocked US campuses since the Israel-Gaza war began last year.Demonstrators constructed an encampment of about 50 tents on campus on Wednesday – and overnight hundreds of students and others rallied with them.

More than 100 had occupied the lawns for over 30 hours, in violation of university rules, New York Mayor Eric Adams told a news conference on Thursday.

The demonstrators were joined by independent presidential candidate Cornel West.

In a statement sent to faculty earlier on Thursday, Columbia University president Dr Nemat Shafik said she had hoped her decision to authorise the New York Police Department to clear the encampment would “never be necessary”.

“The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies,” Dr Shafik said. “Through direct conversations and in writing, the university provided multiple notices of these violations.”

Dr Shafik said she regretted that “all of these attempts to resolve the situation were rejected by the students involved”.

In total, 108 people were arrested at the protest site. Two received trespass summonses and charges of obstruction of government property.

Police had intervened in protests around the university on Wednesday, as Dr Shafik testified about antisemitism before Congress.

The Columbia Spectator, a student newspaper, reported that the swoop by officers marked the first time mass arrests had been made on campus since Vietnam War protests in 1968.

On X, formerly Twitter, Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, 21, said she had been suspended from Barnard College for “standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide” despite never having been reprimanded or disciplined in the three years she has been a student at the private women’s university.

Her mother is among the most vocal critics of Israel on Capitol Hill. In 2019 the congresswoman apologised after tweeting that US support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins baby”, a slang term for $100 bills, a post that drew accusations of antisemitism.

One of the organisations that organised the protest, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, said that the suspension of Ms Hirsi and the two other students – identified as Maryam Iqbal and Soph Dinu – meant that “they have lost access to their food, housing, and medical centre”.

“Two of the three live in student housing and have been illegally locked out with no notice,” the statement added, noting that the suspension was effective immediately.

Barnard University told the BBC that it does “not provide information about confidential student conduct proceedings”.

‘Subject to sanctions‘

A separate Barnard community update sent out on Thursday said only that staff members had asked students to leave and warned them they would be “subject to sanctions” if they failed to do so.

Written warnings were also provided on Wednesday evening, warning of interim suspensions if they did not leave the encampment later the same night.

“This morning… we started to place identified Barnard students remaining in the encampment on interim suspension, and we will continue to do so,” the statement added.

Barnard’s Student Government Association said in a statement that the suspensions were “illegitimate” and a violation of “the sanctity of the academic institution and its purpose to facilitate open dialogue”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68851168

FirstPost – How ED changed under NDA: Arrests up 2500%, convictions at 63 vs O in UPA years

FP Staff

New Delhi, India 18 April 2024. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made headlines far more times than one can remember. The central probe agency, which was earlier little heard of, has released comparative data that indicates how its effectiveness has increased by a whopping 2,500 per cent in the last decade.

The ED, powered by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002, has worked more proactively under the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) than it did under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

A number of politicians and other individuals have come under the ED scanner in the last 10 years, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal being its latest noteworthy target. Kejriwal, who is currently imprisoned in Tihar jail, was arrested by ED on March 21 over the alleged Delhi Excise Policy scam.

It is important to note that although PMLA was enacted in 2002, its provisions came into effect only in 2005. Therefore, all money laundering cases were initiated post-2005, a year after the UPA government came to power.

What does the data show?

The central probe agency arrested 2,500 per cent more people in the last decade while 63 individuals were convicted in money laundering cases as compared to none under the erstwhile government, the ED data shows according to Times of India.

ED registered 1,797 money laundering cases under the PMLA during the UPA government rule while 5,155 such cases were initiated during NDA’s rule.

In terms of chargesheets, which are filed when the agency concludes its investigation in a case and prima facie establishes charges against an individual or a group, the ED filed 1,281 such complaints under the NDA as compared to a mere 102 under UPA.

Meanwhile, the probe agency conducted 7,300 between 2014-2024 searches against 84 between 2005-2014. The number of people arrested saw a massive jump from 29 to 755.

The UPA government did not see the confiscation of any asset while the agency confiscated assets worth Rs 15,710 crore in the past decade.

Does ED only target opposition leaders?

The Opposition has time and again made the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a central point of their argument against BJP’s governance.

However, ED asserts that only 2.98 per cent of their cases are against sitting or former MPs and MLAs even as its conviction rate under the anti-money laundering law is at a high of 96 per cent.

As per data released by the agency last year, ED filed a total of 176 Enforcement Case Information Reports (ECIRs), equivalent to a police FIR, against existing and ex-MPs, MLAs and MLCs which comes to 2.98 per cent of the total 5,906 such complaints filed since the law came into being.

https://www.firstpost.com/india/enforcement-directorate-arrests-up-by-2500-per-cent-conviction-rate-nda13760891-13760891.html

The Pioneer – Shivakumar – a corrupt politician does not need his certificate: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

A day after senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar questioned the contribution made by Rajeev Chandrasekhar to the development of Kerala, the BJP leader on Wednesday hit back by saying he does not need the certificate of a “corrupt” politician who is out on bail.

Thiruvananthapuram – Kerala – India, 17 April 2024. Chandrasekhar, who is facing off against Congress’ Shashi Tharoor in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, said ever since he began his poll campaign, he has stated what he will do if he wins and will follow through on that.

He further said in the next couple of days he would be releasing a vision document on bringing development and investment to the southern state.

“Once I become an MP and a minister from here, for the next five years I will work to implement that vision document,” Chandrasekhar, also the Union Minister of State for Information Technology and Electronics, told a TV channel.

Regarding comments by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar against him, Chandrasekhar said everyone knows the Congress leader was “an out on bail and a corrupt politician”.

“I do not require his certificate. Shashi Tharoor can have his certificate. Everyone knows what kind of person Shivakumar is, his politics and his background. So I have nothing to say to him,” the BJP leader said.

Shivakumar, also the Karnataka Congress chief, was in Kerala on Tuesday and at a press conference had questioned what contribution Chandrasekhar had made to Kerala’s development.

He had also said Chandrasekhar was morally obligated to resign as a minister before contesting the elections.

Shivakumar had also claimed there was no BJP or Modi wave in the country and asserted that the INDIA bloc will form the government at the Centre.

The Karnataka Congress chief had taken part in the roadshows of Tharoor and KPCC chief K Sudhakaran in Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur, respectively.

The Lok Sabha elections will be held in Kerala on April 26 and the results will be declared on 04 June.

https://www.dailypioneer.com/2024/top-stories/shivakumar–a-corrupt-politician–don-t-need-his-certificate–rajeev-chandrasekhar.html