Tag: India

‘Do not buy from Muslims Vendors’: BJP leader calls for social boycott

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India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a notice to one of its leaders after a video showing him asking people not to buy vegetables from Muslims surfaced amid a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. “Keep one thing in mind. I am telling everyone openly. There is no need to buy vegetables from ‘miyans’ [Muslims],” legislator Suresh Tiwari from Deoria town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh was heard saying in the mobile phone video that went viral on Tuesday. Millions in India are facing unprecedented job losses and hunger…

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India’s new Kashmir domicile law mirrors Israel’s settler-colonial blueprint

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As the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic amid a global race to stop its spread, India has passed a new law in Kashmir which residents fear will change the demographic status of the Muslim-majority territory.  The new domicile law announced by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs on 1 April grants permanent residency rights, which entails owning and buying property and access to government jobs, for anyone who has resided in Indian-administered Kashmir for a period of 15 years.  The move has sparked anger in the contested region, with civilians from a range of political opinions questioning…

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India put in ‘Shameful’ list of 38 Countries for Reprisals on Rights Activists by UN

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The annual report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres included allegations of ill-treatment, surveillance, criminalisation and public stigmatisation campaigns targeting victims and human rights defenders in the countries. The UN listed 38 “shameful” countries including China and Russia on Wednesday which it said had carried out reprisals or intimidation against people cooperating with it on human rights, through killings, torture and arbitrary arrests. The annual report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also included allegations of ill-treatment, surveillance, criminalisation and public stigmatisation campaigns targeting victims and human rights defenders. “The world owes…

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After Jammu, India, Pak trade fire along Uri sector in Kashmir

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After several civilian killings along the International Border in Jammu region, the armies of India and Pakistan traded fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri region of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district Wednesday night. An official said that Pakistan army violated ceasefire around 9:55 pm by resorting to fire from automatic weapons and shelling in Kamalkote area. The shelling continued till 12:30 am, he said. The official said that several army posts were fired at by the Pakistani army. He said that Indian army retaliated to the fire. However,…

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India, US conspiring to sabotage Indus Waters Treaty: Khawaja Asif

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Pakistan has accused India and the US of being “involved in an international conspiracy to sabotage the Indus Water(s) Treaty”,+ reported Pakistani media. India is “also supporting the conspiracies being hatched by Afghanistan against Pakistan”, isn’t giving any response to “Pakistan’s peace initiatives” and is, like Afghanistan, involved in a “blame game” with Islamabad as the target, said Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s new foreign minister. In his first press conference since being appointed foreign minister, Asif also reportedly said that “Pakistan’s desire for peace and good relations with neighbours should not…

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India, Pakistan trade fire along LoC, 5 civilians killed scores injured

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Five civilians were killed as the armies of India and Pakistan traded heavy fire along the Line of Control in Poonch sector, reports said. An official said that Mohammad Showkat and his wife Shafiya were killed after a shell fired from across the border hit their house in Khari Karmama sector in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Their three children were injured in the attack, he said, adding that they were shifted to District Hospsital Poonch for treatment. Three civilians were killed and six others injured due to “unprovoked…

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India, Pakistan to hold talks on Kishanganga, Rattle hydropower projects in US

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India and Pakistan would hold three-day secretary-level talks on the Kishanganga and Ratle hydropower projects from April 11 in Washington following the “intervention” by the US and the World Bank, a senior Pakistani minister has said. Speaking on the sidelines of the two-day talks between Indus Water Commissioners from both sides, Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif welcomed India’s decision to resume negotiations under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty on the proposed Pakul Dal, Miyar and Lower Kalnai hydro power projects, disputed by Pakistan. “The US has intervened at the…

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India, Pakistan must include Kashmiris in dialogue: Mirwaiz

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Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said India and Pakistan should “evolve a mechanism to include the people of Kashmir in the proposed composite dialogue”. Speaking to media persons before leaving for New Delhi to attend the Pakistan Day function, Mirwaiz said the APHC had always stood for cordial ties between the two countries. “We believe that instead of confrontation, there should be coordination between the two countries to put the entire subcontinent on the path of peace, progress and stability. For that to…

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India, Pakistan to rely on secret diplomacy for Kashmir deal: Reports

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Indian representatives will use ‘back channels’ for in-depth discussions on Kashmir ‘Secret diplomacy’ will be the strategy that India and Pakistan are likely to rely upon to broker a deal on the long pending Kashmir dispute, a report in a Pakistan newspaper said. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi have decided to use ‘back channels’ for in-depth discussions on Kashmir through their respective confidantes,” Express Tribune reported quoting sources. The foreign secretaries will discuss Kashmir but their mandate will be restricted to necessary confidence-building measures (CBMs)…

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India, Pak get back to the dialogue table, but people of Kashmir have little hope

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India and Pakistan may have finally ended their diplomatic deadlock with the meeting of National Security Advisors in Bangkok, but the news has been met with little enthusiasm in the Kashmir Valley, where most people expressed pessimism about the future of the latest round of talks. On Monday morning in the heart of Lal Chowk, the commercial hub of Srinagar, vendors and shopkeepers were seen glued to local newspapers. Most papers gave a prominent mention to the NSA talks held between Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart, Lt Gen NSA…

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