Day: January 11, 2022

New Delhi, January 11, 2022 (PPI-OT):Six Muslim men suffered grievous injuries as a marauding Hindutva mob armed with sticks and rods attacked them in the presence of the police in Indian state of Karnataka. Following the brutal attack in a village of Kolar district, Karnataka Police detained five people.

The police filed three cases at Rural Kolar station – two against Hindu men accused of attacking Muslims and one against a Muslim man – to ascertain the sequence of events in the light of the allegations made by the two sides. Five of the injured were undergoing treatment at Government SNR Hospital.

The incident occurred when a Muslim family, including three women and two men, was travelling in a car after performing evening prayers at the dargah (mausoleum) of a Sufi saint, Hazrat Khwaja Usman Sha Vali, on a hillock. They were allegedly accosted by some goons near village Terahalli.

According to Zubair, an eye witness, the Hindu men hurled abuses at the family and used religious slurs against the Muslim community. “When they (the goons) forcibly stopped the car,” Zubair recounted, “I intervened asking them the reason for harassing the family.”

Even as Zubair was interacting with the goons, they started attacking Liaqat, the driver of the car, with some more men joining them. “However, the family somehow managed to escape and reached the village where they informed their relatives and members of the community and registered a complaint with the police.

After the incident, locals said, the police along with a group of Muslim men visited the spot to identify the assailants. But as soon as they reached the site the alleged attackers fled the spot retreating into the woods. “We followed them into the woods in hot pursuit. It was dense forest. As we were looking for the culprits some men came forward asking as to what we were doing in their area,” said Tajamul who was part of the raiding team to assist the police.

Recounting the incident with graphical details, he said: “The next moment, there was a huge crowd of men and women equipped with sticks and rods right in front of us while we were six in all. They attacked us without uttering a word. As I watched one of my colleagues, Feroz, falling to the ground after taking a hit from the crowd, I was hit in the head by a rod. Soon after I started fainting as my head was bleeding profusely.”

However, he could be able to run away from the spot and eventually join the police party waiting for them along with the other men. “They still didn’t leave us and kept attacking us in the presence of the police team daring us to come forward if we had the guts to do so,” Tajamul said.

“I tried to fight back, but couldn’t as they pounced on me with full might and pinned me down to the ground. Thankfully some men pulled me to safety as I was still bleeding.” Visuals surfaced on the social media show a gash on Tajamul’s forehead and his face covered in blood. Another victim, identified as Anwar, has a deep wound on the back of his head.

As the news of the assault spread in the area, dozens of Muslim youths rushed to the hospital and held a protest demonstration. In response, the police allegedly resorted to baton-charge. But timely intervention of the community leaders saved the situation as the youths agreed to return home.

Jaffar Sadiq, head of the Muslim community in the village, demanded punitive action against the assailants. The three FIRs have been filed under IPC sections namely for rioting, for assault, and for use of criminal force against women. From the Muslim side, the police arrested Liaquat and his brother Mudasir after summoning them for spot inspection.

Sadiq claimed the police are under pressure from the BJP government citing the weaker sections of the IPC under which the cases have been filed against the Hindu attackers. “They deliberately dropped the attempt-to-murder charge against the accused,” said Sadiq.

The attack, he said was part of the series of hate crimes against Muslims in the area with the Hindutva groups having a free run under the incumbent BJP dispensation. Meanwhile, a delegation of Muslim leaders is planning to meet superintendent of police, Kolar to demand arrest of all those involved in the attack.

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New Delhi, January 11, 2022 (PPI-OT):Hate speeches and statements against Muslims have suddenly intensified in India in recent times. Even the recent programs held, under government’s nose, in Haridwar and New Delhi have not only provoked open provocations, but have also deliberately conspired to provoke the majority to massacre Muslims for the establishment of Hindu rashtra, but unfortunately, no legal action has been taken in these two cases so far, said Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind.

Reacting to the whole matter, Maulana Arshad Madani said that the state and central law enforcement agencies have not fulfilled their duties, which has created a very depressing situation in the whole country. The silence of the central and state governments on the controversial speeches in the Dharma Sansad and elsewhere has added to the gravity of the situation.

It is matter great sorrow that in a democratic country where every citizen has been given equal rights and all are treated equally in the constitution, some people are not only openly delivering hate speeches against the largest minority in the country but also conspiracies are hatched to incite the majority to assassinate them, and no action is taken against such people even under minor provisions.

It is a common rumour today that the silence of the government and the political people indicates that they are complicit in the crime, and that the extremists have political backing, which is probably why the police are afraid to arrest them even after the FIR. That is why miscreants carry out terrorist acts without any fear because they believe that our patrons are in power, he said.

He also said that the just people of the country are not silent, they are doing what they can. Former Chiefs of the Armed Forces, leading bureaucrats, prominent Supreme Court lawyers and hundreds of other dignitaries have written letters to the President of India, and the Chief Justice of India. But both the government and its agencies are silent. “We hope that justice will be done in this case as well as in other cases because it is not just a matter of Muslims, it is a matter of constitution, law, unity and integrity,” he said.

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New Delhi, January 11, 2022 (PPI-OT):As the schedule for the Assembly elections in five Indian states had been declared, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that the upcoming assembly elections are a right time to defeat hatred. The elections to five states Assemblies – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gao, Punjab and Manipur – would be held from February 10 to March 7, and the counting of votes will take place on March 10, as the Election Commission of India has announced.

“This is the right opportunity to defeat hatred. #Elections2022,” Mr Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. The Congress has been critical of hate campaigns and has been alleging that BJP is behind it. The party said, “Enough is enough. The #BJPHateFactory should come clean in front of the entire nation and lay bare the extent to which they have damaged our society. Otherwise, we will.”

The party posted series of tweets and said, “By categorically targeting individuals on the basis of gender, religion, region, occupation, physical attributes, etc, the #BJPHateFactory not only violates their privacy, not only violates their dignity, but also completely violates our Constitutional morality,” reports Indian media.

“Here’s how #BJPHateFactory suppresses your right to freedom of expression and speech: If you are a citizen who dares to speak truth to power through social media, then an army of fake accounts generated through #TekFog is unleashed against you, threatening to destroy life as you know it,” it said. Besides retaining power in Punjab, the Congress is seeking to defeat the BJP in states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

The toughest challenge is in Uttar Pradesh where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is in-charge with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as senior observer. Apart from Uttar Pradesh, the party is in direct contest with the BJP in three states, while in Punjab, it faces the Akali Dal-BSP and Aam Aadmi Party.

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Trenton, January 11, 2022 (PPI-OT):Senate of New Jersey, a north-eastern US state has unanimously passed a resolution condemning the 1984 Sikh massacre by India terming it as genocide. Sponsored by Senator Stephen M. Sweeney the resolution will be transmitted to the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and every member of Congress elected from this State.

It said that the Sikh community, which originated in Punjab, India, and began immigrating into the United States over 100 years ago, has played an important role in developing the United States and New Jersey.

The Sikh genocide began on November 1, 1984, after the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in New Delhi and the states of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Maharashtra.

The resolution hailed Sikhism as the world’s fifth-largest religion with nearly 309 million adherents, including roughly 1,000,000 in the United States. It said, the Sikh genocide lasted three days and over 30,000 Sikhs were brutally murdered as they were hunted in their homes, where they were hacked and burned alive.

On April 16, 2015, the California State Assembly unanimously passed Assembly Concurrent Resolution, which recognized the systematic and organized killings of Sikhs by the Indian government and remembered those who lost their lives during the 1984 Sikh genocide.

On October 17, 2018, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania unanimously passed House Resolution HR-1160 declaring the November 1984 anti-Sikh violence as genocide. Eyewitnesses, journalists, and human rights activists have compiled evidence showing that the Indian government and law enforcement officials organized, participated in, and failed to intervene to prevent the killings through direct and indirect means.

As recently as 2011, mass graves have been discovered in the villages of Hondh Chillar and Pataudi in Haryana, and many more will continue to be discovered in the future with Indian government officials and police flouting impunity.

The “Widow Colony,” the Tilak Vihar neighbourhood in New Delhi, still houses thousands of Sikh women, who were forced to bear mass rape and witness the hacking, burning, and murder of their husbands, fathers, and sons, and who are still calling for justice against the perpetrators.

Many of the survivors of the Sikh genocide eventually immigrated to the United States and established large Sikh communities in places such as Fresno, Yuba City, Stockton, Fremont, Glenrock, Pine Hill, Carteret, New York City and Philadelphia among other places.

The Sikh community in the United States and New Jersey has recovered from the material damages of the genocide as they continue to keep the memory of those who were killed alive and will never forget the Sikh genocide. Recognizing the state-sponsored violence that targeted Sikhs across India in 1984 is an important and historic step towards justice, accountability, and reconciliation, which should be an example to other governments.

The Senate of the State of New Jersey shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and every member of Congress elected from this State.

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Srinagar, January 11, 2022 (PPI-OT):In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the illegally detained senior APHC leader, Shabbir Ahmad Shah has paid rich tributes to the martyrs of Kulgam, Shopian, Srinagar and other parts of the territory. In a message from New Delhi’s infamous Tihar jail, he said it has been a prerequisite for every revolutionary movement of the world to remain vigilant about the nefarious designs of the occupiers and fight the menace of subjugation with patience and fortitude

While denouncing the recent upsurge in the custodial killings of Kashmiri youth, the incarcerated leader said it may be a hobby of the occupation forces to kill the innocent people out of communal frenzy and political vengeance but the brave freedom-loving people of Kashmir cannot forget the sacred blood and mission of the martyred youth. “We are indebted to carry their mission to its logical conclusion despite the use of brute force and repressive measures against the civilian people in Kashmir.”

The APHC leader castigating the stubbornness of India said that the commitments made by India before the International community and the UN on the Kashmir dispute warrant an early resolution through a free and fair plebiscite. The people of the Kashmir are demanding their inalienable right to self-determination but the Indian fascist regime is reluctant to accept the peaceful and democratic formula and is hell bent on using repression and suppression against the legitimate and indigenous resistance movement of Kashmir, he added.

Lauding the valour and the pledge of the people of Kashmir the incarcerated leader said that the exemplary sacrifices rendered by the people of Kashmir to end up the Indian illegal occupation is a source of inspiration for even the jailed leadership.

“We are proud of our great people who in absence of the Hurriyat leadership have displayed strong resistance against the widespread genocide, extrajudicial killings and illegal detentions at the hands of Indian occupation forces. He urged the United Nations to take serious cognizance of the ruthless killings, arbitrary arrests and other human rights abuses in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations Security council resolutions as early as possible.

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New Delhi, January 11, 2022 (PPI-OT):India’s capital New Delhi is fast becoming breeding ground for Covid-19 posing a great threat to the lives of Kashmiri political inmates languishing in Tihar and other New Delhi’s jails as Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh among 400 parliamentarians and 300 Delhi Police personnel have been tested positive for the virus.

A per data shared by the authorities, 29 inmates in New Delhi’s infamous Tihar jail and 17 in Mandoli jail were tested positive. The total number of prisoners in all the three jails of Delhi Prisons as of January 7 was 18,528. Tihar has a maximum of 12,669 inmates, Mandoli 4,018 and Rohini 1,841. Pertinently, the Kashmiri political prisoners languishing in Indian jails including Tihar are at extreme risk amid rising number of Covid-infected inmates in New Delhi.

Presently, APHC Chairman, Masarrat Aalam Butt, senior APHC leaders Shabbir Ahmad Shah, Muhammad Yasin Malik, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Aiyaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Farooq Ahmad Dar, Shahid ul Islam, Dukhtaran-e-Millat chairperson Syeda Asiya Andrabi, Fehmeeda Sofi, Naheeda Nasreen, human rights activist Khurrum Parviaz, Eng Rashid and businessman Zahoor Ahmad Watali are languishing in Tihar, Jodhpur, Agra, Haryana jail and other jails in India. They are facing a grave threat from the virus.

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New Delhi, January 11, 2022 (PPI-OT):India logged 168,063 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of the cases to 35,875,790 which includes 4,461 cases of the omicron variant. The active cases rose to 821,446, the highest in 208 days, while the death toll climbed to 484,213 with 277 fresh fatalities, according to the Indian Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

As regards Omicron cases, the Indian state Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,247 cases followed by Rajasthan at 645, Delhi 546, Karnataka 479 and Kerala 350. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 10.64 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 8.85 per cent, claimed the statement of the ministry.

The 227 new fatalities include 166 from Kerala and 17 from Delhi. A total of 4,84,213 deaths have been reported so far including 1,41,647 from Maharashtra, 49,757 from Kerala, 38,374 from Karnataka, 36,866 from Tamil Nadu, 25,177 from Delhi, 22,932 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,917 from West Bengal.

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