Srinagar, Jul 13 (PTI) For the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, no official function was held to commemorate Martyrs'' Day observed on July 13 every year in memory of those killed in firing by soldiers of Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh in 1931.

In a break from past, there was no function at the Martyrs graveyard here after the government dropped July 13 from the list of gazetted holidays last year, officials said.

The holidays on July 13 as well as on December 5 - the birth anniversary of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah - were dropped after the abrogation of Article 370 by the Centre on August 5 last year.

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the then prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir, had declared July 13 as a holiday in 1948.

Apart from the official function at the Martyrs graveyard, mainstream political leaders also used to visit it to pay homage to the 22 Kashmiris who were killed in Dogra army''s firing while protesting the autocratic rule of Maharaja Hari Singh.

The officials said no mainstream political leader visited the graveyard on Monday in view of the strict restrictions imposed in most parts of Kashmir to contain the spread of coronavirus infection.

Separatist Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had on Saturday called for a strike on Monday.

A National Conference (NC) leader, however, said the party had applied for permission to visit the Martyrs graveyard, but there was no response from the district administration.

Meanwhile, both NC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - the two regional forces in Jammu and Kashmir - paid glowing tributes to the martyrs on this day.

In a statement, the NC said the day marked the inauguration of struggle of Jammu and Kashmir against oppression and discrimination.

The day has an emblematic importance for the people of Jammu and Kashmir as it marked the launch of widespread people''s agitation for the restoration of their due human rights...

Every year we invocate, remember the supreme sacrifice of the martyrs of 13 July 1931, the idea behind remembering them is not merely an act of reminiscing past, memorializing, there is more to it, on this day we galvanize our lives with their mission as was done by (NC founder) Sher-e-Kashmir (Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah) all through his life, NC president Farooq Abdullah said.

Farooq Abdullah, the Member of Parliament from Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, said it is the day of assertion of Jammu and Kashmir''s identity and rights of its people.

The day marks the shift from stoicism to dynamism. It was a fight of the tyrannized against a tyrant, of the oppressed against oppressors... I on this day pay my earnest tributes to all the martyrs who laid their lives on that day to secure a new dawn of freedom for future generations.

The martyrs of 1931 will continue to be a beacon of light for us and for the coming generations. Every single drop of their blood is sacred to us, he said.

NC vice-president Omar Abdullah while paying tributes to the martyrs said the day marks the collective defiance of the oppressed against oppressors.

The day is the watershed moment in the people''s struggle for restoration of their universal human rights. It was their valour that inspired millions of others to rise against the then despotic and autocratic regime. We observe the day to reiterate our commitment to fight evil with kindness, violence with non-violence and peaceful struggle, he said.

The PDP, while paying tributes to the martyrs said, their role in Jammu and Kashmir''s freedom struggle can neither be undone nor can be forgotten.

The memory of 13th July martyrs cannot be erased by changing the government calendar of holidays as they will live forever in the hearts and memories of every freedom loving democrat, a PDP spokesman said in a statement.

He said the PDP reiterates its commitment to the objectives of justice, empowerment and democratic rights that the martyrs have laid their lives down for.

PTI SSB MIJ SRY

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI

Read the original here:

First time in JKs history, Martyrs Day observed sans official events - Outlook India

FORCED MIGRATION. Screenshots from TikTok videos taken and stitched by Coda Story.

Videos showing hundreds of Uyghur people being transported to forced labor schemes have shed new light on Chinas continuing oppression of the Muslim ethnic group.

In the early months of the coronavirus outbreak, the government locked down more than 50 million people in Hubei province and imposed strict stay-at-home measures in cities across the country. However, footage shared on social media suggests that, at the same time, a state-mandated mass migration of Uyghurs was taking place in the northwestern province of Xinjiang.

In January, dozens of videos began to surface on Douyin a version of TikTok, made by the same company, only available to Chinese users showing crowds of people being packed onto trains, buses and airplanes.

The footage shows Uyghurs being transported as part of what Beijing refers to as a poverty alleviation initiative. Sent far from home, they are put to work in tightly surveilled factory labor programs and often housed in dedicated labor compounds.

Video: Videos on Douyin show masked Uyghurs lining up outside Yengisar station near Kashgar; preparing to board a plane from Hotan to work in Fujian and Guangxi provinces; and standing in formation outside Akto station.

In February, more videos were posted by a local media center in the Xinjiang city of Hotan. In one, a crowd of people stand in formation, dressed in matching red anoraks, their faces obscured by surgical masks. Each also wears a blue lanyard and has a suitcase beside them. A caption explained that the men and women are migrant workers, ready to board a plane to the heavily industrialized coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangxi.

Chinese national state media also covered the transportation, which took place in late February just as Chinas coronavirus numbers had reached a peak.

One report stated that the workers were being sent on a free charter flight. Another featured images of men and women about to fly to Hunan province, where they were to work on the production line at a technology company. Although the mask covered most of her face, she could still feel her excitement, it said of one Uyghur woman. The article then quoted her as saying, As long as your hands and feet are quick, the more you do, the more you earn.

Chinese authorities maintained they were helping pull Uyghur people out of deprivation. We will do our utmost to help laborers who are willing to go out to work as soon as possible, to ensure that the prevention and control of the epidemic and the struggle against poverty are both addressed, a spokesperson for Hotans Human Resources and Social Security Bureau told state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Another video posted on Douyin in March shows, according to the caption, a group of 850 people being moved to Korla, Xinjiangs second-largest city, to work in the textile industry. Masked Uyghurs are seen walking in single file and lining up to have their temperature checked, before boarding buses and trains.

The government-run relocation of Uyghurs has been described by experts and human rights groups as an extension of Chinas mass surveillance and indoctrination system. Since 2016, as many as a one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been held in concentration camps, referred to by the Chinese Communist Party as vocational training centers or re-education facilities.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Video: Uniformed Uyghurs wait to board trains from Yarkant county station (left) and Akto station (right), both near Kashgar, Southern Xinjiang

Darren Byler is an anthropologist at the University of Colorado, who specializes in Uyghur studies. Referring to the labor program, he said, Theres very likely a re-education aspect to it or some really tight form of control in the factory environment.

While information from Xinjiang has been scarce during the pandemic, reports have emerged that in some areas placed under lockdown, Uyghurs were not allowed to leave their homes and were dependent on state deliveries of essential supplies. The Washington D.C.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project has drawn attention to footage circulated on Chinese social media, in which people say that their households were starving.

Xinjiang has reported just 76 coronavirus cases and six deaths since January. Uyghurs living abroad consider these figures to be suspiciously low, given the provinces population of almost 22 million people.

While Beijing maintains that most people have been released from government camps and returned to society, many observers believe that they have been shuttled into labor programs or other forms of detention.

The Chinese government seeks to portray the forced labor program as a benevolent initiative, providing economic opportunities to the people of a historically deprived region. In recent months, state media in Xinjiang has reported that these work placements will emancipate the mind and eliminate old habits.

Video: A video, posted by a Xinjiang media center, looks inside one of the live-work compounds Uyghurs are assigned to.

Zumret Dawut, 38, spent two months in a detention camp in Xinjiangs capital city of Urumqi. While there, she underwent hours of indoctrination, during which she was beaten and made to recite Chinese Communist Party propaganda. A report by the Associated Press in June revealed that China has been forcing birth control and sterilization on Uyghur women. In the course of her confinement, Dawut was given regular injections and pills that tranquilized her and stopped her periods.

After her release in June 2018, Dawut left Xinjiang. The following year, she flew to the U.S., where she now lives. Using a cellphone that she brought with her from China, she is still able to access Douyin, which is usually firewalled outside of the country.

I first started seeing videos of Uyghurs being transferred back in January, she said.

Dawut engaged with the content via likes and comments, so the apps algorithm showed her more. Though some of the footage sent her way originated from state media agencies, dozens of videos were posted by Uyghurs themselves. She noticed that clips in the latter category all featured the same haunting, Chinese-language rendition of the Italian protest song Bella Ciao.

I have to be very quick to download these videos, she said, explaining that the app usually swiftly deletes them.

Asked whether Douyin censors Uyghur-related content, a spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the company treats all users on our platform the same, regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation.

One video found by Dawut, posted to Douyin by a Xinjiang news outlet in March, shows a group of more than 500 Uyghurs arriving for a work placement in Korla. The footage includes their new accommodation: austere rooms fitted with bunk beds, shared kitchenettes and a common living area.

Such dormitories are often part of larger compounds, complete with watchtowers and onsite indoctrination centers. These facilities feature prominently in Uyghurs for Sale, a report published in March by Australias Strategic Policy Institute.

Its authors state that the forced labor program amounts to re-education 2.0, in which Uyghurs undergo mandatory indoctrination after working long hours in factory jobs, and fear detention if they attempt to quit.

The report also details Uyghur workers being offered to factories in batches of 100, via online forums, then sent to work in supply chains linked to international companies, including Apple, Nike and Gap. It also explains that Uyghur labor is a lucrative industry: companies that hire Uyghurs on a long-term basis receive payments of up to $720 per person from the Xinjiang government.

A series of advertisements on Baidu Chinas answer to Google suggest that this incentivized market for cheap Uyghur labor has thrived throughout the pandemic. One advert, from April, offered Xinjiang Uyghur workers, all female, 18-35 years old, proficient in Chinese, obey arrangements. Another, from late March, stated that the government assures security, an apparent reference to the widespread perception of Uyghurs as dangerous extremists. The posts said workers could be paid as little as 13 yuan ($1.86) per hour.

Baidu did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Video: On many of the videos, a Chinese version of the Italian folk song Bella Ciao plays over the top.

Forced labor also forms part of Xinjiangs prison system. Nursimangul Abdurashid, 32, left the province in 2013. She now lives with her husband and six-year-old daughter in Turkey, where she works as a marketing executive. In the years since she left the city of Kashgar, her parents and two brothers have been detained, and the family home now stands empty.

In 2017, Abdurashid learned that her older brother had been put to work in an electronics factory, while being held in a detention camp in the city of Artux for the alleged non-payment of a debt. The same year, her younger brother was arrested and charged with preparing to commit terrorist activities, after applying for a passport to study in Turkey.

Abdurashid recalled how he had been desperate to go to university. He wanted to be a teacher. He gave up his dream, she said.

Abdurashid now fears that both of her brothers aged 30 and 34 have been pushed deeper into Xinjiangs forced labor system. Now, she scours the faces of Uyghur workers in Douyin videos, trying to find out what has happened to them.

I want to see them alive, at least, she said. Seeing so many young boys and girls heading into the unknown makes me so sad.

China experts believe that detentions and forced labor are part of a deliberate strategy to destroy Uyghur life in Xinjiang. While language, architecture, religion and culture have all been attacked and suppressed during the government crackdown, the forced migration of thousands of Uyghurs can be viewed as an attempt to tear apart a whole community.

Video: A group of 179 people line up to hear a speech about the beauty of hard labor before departing on a charter flight from Hotan, southwestern Xinjiang, to labor programs in Fujian and Guangxi.

The main goal is to move people away from their hometowns, to isolate them from their family, from their roots, and to make it harder for them to escape or move around, said Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, the Australian reports lead author, during a Zoom call. They become more dependent on these work arrangements that are assigned to them. This is part of the efforts of the re-education campaign.

In mid-June, President Donald Trump signed into law a bill to sanction China for its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. The new legislation was introduced shortly after leaked extracts from a new book by former National Security Adviser John Bolton alleged that Trump told President Xi that he should go ahead with the construction of prison camps in the province.

Meanwhile, Zumret Dawut continues to monitor Douyin, searching for more evidence of Chinas oppression of her people. She thinks a lot about the Chinese version of Bella Ciao heard in so many of the videos. Once an anthem for agricultural workers protesting against harsh conditions in the rice fields of 19th-century Italy, the songs lyrics include a line that translates as, The day will come when we will all work in freedom.

This is a message to our people, said Dawut. Dont forget about us. Rappler.com

Rachel Sherman and Joseph Gordon contributed research.

Isobel Cockerell is a reporter with Coda Story. A graduate of Columbia Journalism School, she has also reported for WIRED, USA Today, Rappler, The Daily Beast, the Huffington Post and others.

This article has been republished from Coda Story with permission.

See original here:

Revealed: New videos expose China's forced migration of Uyghurs during the pandemic - Rappler

It is said that when Benjamin Franklin emerged from the concluding session of the Constitutional Convention, one Mrs. Powell asked him, What have you given us?

A Republic, he responded, if you can keep it.

That claim, of course, stood glossed by the trenchant irony that, at that point in 1787, the American constitution framed in Independence Hall in Philadelphia did not include the right to vote for American women.

Only after heroic struggles by American suffragettes was that right realised in 1920.

Just as the formal right granted in 1870 to African-American men to vote was actually to fructify as late as 1965 when the Voting Rights Bill was passed.

Yet, some 230 years after the adoption of the American constitution, the United States under the Trump presidency can be seen to be embroiled in another historic battle to preserve the republic and all its democratic and institutional accomplishments.

The situation in India is not too different.

The Indian constitution granted the right to universal adult franchise from its very inception, transcending some stiff opposition from deeply conservative sections of the Constituent Assembly.

The Constitution of India. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A pivotal aspect of that revolutionary accomplishment was the new emphasis on expanding literacy in order to lift the mass of Indians out of ignorance and render their exercise of franchise sentient and independent. Long decades of struggle were finally to culminate in the legislation by parliament on August 4, 2009, which made access to free school education a legally enforceable right.

Needless to say, that education about republican values and citizens struggles to realise them is transmitted to students in academic institutions through a study of social and political science curriculum, and, overall, through a study of the history of cultural oppressions and aspirations.

Those histories also teach us that when nation-states come to centralise economic and political power, the existence and sanctity of democratic institutions and imperatives notwithstanding, it is not the hard sciences that offer much resistance. Such resistance invariably comes from the social scientists and historians who insist on educating us about the non-negotiable status of republican goals and the required modes of governmental conduct thereof.

Also read: The Republic at 71: Faced With an Unbending Government, Indians Continue to Speak Out

Caveat: There was a time when the hard sciences became the chief instruments of progressive historical transformation (recall Copernicus and all those that followed in changing irretrievably our consciousness of material forces and phenomenon). But, as the new revolutionary classes settled down to profit accumulation, science needed to be reduced suitably to technologies that would no longer ask humanist questions but serve the interests of endowed classes.

For a century or more now, the burden of humanist scrutiny has been carried forward by historians and social scientists. One must always remember that many historians and social scientists have, nonetheless, continued to owe allegiance to revanchist and reactionary structures of thought.

Closed authority structures then develop a vested interest in keeping from citizens critical knowledge of social and political formations and of constitutional values that pertain to principles of republican democracy, even while they obtain executive legitimacy from democratic forms of government formation. The possibility of such a degradation of liberal archives of politics into authoritarianism was eloquently explored by Horkheimer and Adorno in their path-breaking Dialectic of Enlightenment.

Such authorities begin to clip the wings of the sources of progressive humanist knowledge by either cutting resources to the social sciences, or by taking recourse to sundry strong-arm methods available to the state. But, most of all, by reformulating schools curricula to the states ideological requirements.

A demonstrator attends a protest against riots following clashes between people demonstrating for and against a new citizenship law in New Delhi, India, March 3, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Adnan Abidi

Within any educational system, it is a given that the content and quality of curricula suggest what authorities who frame those curricula think to be desirable or deleterious to the development of citizens cognitive allegiance to the ideological preferences of ruling social forces.

And, exclusions from the curricula are often far more indicative of the bent of those authorities than the inclusions.

In that context, the shredding of subjects inscribed in the Social Science, Political Science, and History text books of class 9, 10, and 11 of Indian schools just announced by the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) on directive from the Minister of Human Resource Development, no less, must be seen as a telling pointer to the priorities of the present central government.

Also read: Chapters on Citizenship, Secularism, Federalism Scrapped as CBSE Prunes Syllabus for COVID

Arguing that the burden on senior school students needs to be reduced, for the year 2020-2021 In view of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 calamity, it is proposed that subjects like, inter alia, Democracy and Diversity, Gender, Religion, Caste, Popular Struggles and Movements, Challenges to Democracy, Citizenship, Nationalism, Secularism, Federalism, Planning Commission and Five-Year Plans, Peasants, Zamindars, and the State, Understanding Partition, and Mathematical Reason be excluded from the existing curriculum for purposes of examinations.

In effect, all those materials that bear on the formation of republican citizenship, a republican constitution, and a critical understanding of how we came to be and who we are, and what our role as citizens of a republic is in upholding republican principles are to be ejected as matters of lesser consequence than the imbibing of supposedly ideologically neutral skills. The ejection of such materials, of course, reveals how frustrated authorities are with their critical and social import.

All this of course falls pat within the intellectual parameters of a nationalism that looks upon open liberal enquiry into state formations as anathema. In so far as such enquiry often brings into question the unanalysed or tendentious economic, cultural and historical predilections of closed authority structures, it is always the social sciences and truthful history writing that present the most obstacles to the closure of the governing arrangements of autocratic rule.

Also read: CBSEs Deletion of Chapters on Ecology, Evolution During Pandemic Ironic, Say Biologists

It should be clear from the above list of exclusions that the bad and the ugly must be jettisoned from study and deliberation; unsurprisingly, all of these exclusions impinge on the right of diverse oppressed segments of the citizenry to learn of both their sources of oppression and their republican rights and prerogatives.

Coming as this does in the wake of what we have seen of the plight of millions of trudging immigrantsan instructive episode that brought to the fore the continuing fault lines of caste, class, gender, and religious identitythe diktat seems to announce a clampdown on such learning and pedagogy that may raise questions of macro-historical distress and discrimination that continue to plague the republic.

Note that the honourable minster does not include such subjects in the core values of education or of learning achievement.

Just as one wonders what Franklin may have thought of the current goings-on in the American Republic, one may wonder what the founding fathers of the Indian freedom movement and the framers of the Indian Constitution may have thought of these revanchist moves in the substance and conduct of Indian school education.

John Dewey, that doyen of educationists, once wrote that the true aim and purpose of education is education.

Not so.

Badri Raina has taught at Delhi University.

Originally posted here:

Republican Values, Or Things That Students Need Not Learn - The Wire

Public officials have the responsibility to protect America from rampaging mobs that seek to destroy monuments and demoralize Americans.

The destruction is a means to an end a Marxist reshaping of America that has little to do with protecting the lives of innocents.

If it were only about protecting innocents, we could come to agreement on reforms in civil discussions.

AYahoo News/YouGov surveyfound that 84% of Americans strongly or somewhat approved of the firing of the officers involved in George Floyds death. This would have been a good starting place for real cooperation on the subject of police brutality if the radical Left wanted solutions.

Public officials must stand against lawless destruction and allow Americans the opportunity to engage in civil discussions as they continue the ongoing quest for the ideals in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Politicians who think they can hide in their offices until this crisis blows over are making a monumental (no pun intended) mistake. When you give into mobs, you get more mobs. It is time to stand up.

America can handle a nuanced discussion about race. They can differentiate between an obviously true phrase, Black lives matter, and an organization by the same name that has questionable leadership and some goals that are not shared by most Americans, such as defunding the police. But such understanding requires true leadership not politicians with talking points.

We need thoughtful leadership such as that of Evangelist Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr., who recently said: While we are protecting our history, we are overcoming our biases; this is happening simultaneously. There is no need to vandalize property and real estate in this process. We must remember the good; thats legacy. We must avoid repeating the bad; bad is sin. Remember, statues can be idols. As one blood, one human race; its time to return to God.

Americas citizens are demanding that elected officials safeguard public and private monuments and buildings from rioters and leftist radicals who are inspired by self-professedtrained Marxists.

The federal government has been spurred on by a recent Executive Order by President Trump, which instructs federal law enforcement to prosecute people who damage federal monuments, and threatens to withhold federal funding from state and local governments that fail to protect their own public monuments and statues.

The Department of Homeland Security took action toprotect federal monumentsover the July 4 holiday; however, many state and local officials have been cowardly and the result is lawlessness and violence in our streets.

The American Constitutional Rights Union is taking names. Literally. Our project Protect Monuments (www.protectmonuments.org) encourages public officials to sign a pledge to protect public and private monuments and buildings.

Why private? Black Lives Matter member Sean King recently called for destruction of images of a European Jesus stating on twitter: All murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends should also come down. They are a gross form white supremacy. Created as tools of oppression. Racist propaganda. They should all come down.

We have no qualms about calling out cowardly politicians and officials who refuse to stand up for civil discourse over lawlessness.

Just as we fight every day to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans. We will not sit idly while domestic terrorists, anarchists and thugs criminally destroy monuments and private property. We will call out any public official who allows lawlessness and destruction, according to ACRUPolicy Board Member Amb. J. Kenneth Blackwell.

Stop the mobs. Then start the discussions.

Lori Roman is President of the American Constitutional Rights Union. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.

See the rest here:

Stop the mobs; start the discussions - Lowell Sun

New Delhi: Every day, an average of five people die in custody in India, with some of them succumbing to torture in police or judicial custody. 2019 was no better, as 117 people died in police custody while 1,606 deaths were recorded in judicial custody. And yet, there has not been a single conviction in the deaths of 500 persons allegedly due to torture in police custody between 2005 and 2018.

A report by the National Campaign Against Torture a platform for NGOs working on torture in India has highlighted how torture continues to remain a favoured tool in the hands of the police to extract information and confessions, or sometimes just to victimise oppressed sections of society.

The India: Annual Report on Torture 2019 has also identified `15 trends of torture and impunity which reveal how torture has also become a systemic tool of oppression, extortion and silencing dissent. Further, it alleges that high levels of criminality exist within the police and amongst jail officials.

Watch: Indias 23-Year-Old Failure to Ratify UN Convention Against Torture is Shameful

Drawing from the past, the report said with respect to the death of 500 persons remanded to police custody by court between 2005-18, 281 cases were registered and 54 policemen were chargesheeted, but not one has been convicted so far.

The report said in 2019, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recorded 1,723 cases of death in custody. It noted that most deaths in police custody occur primarily as a result of torture. Of the 125 deaths in police custody, 93 (74.4%) were due to alleged torture or foul play while 24 people (19.2%) died under suspicious circumstances such as suspected suicide (16 persons), illness (7 persons) and slipping in bathroom (1 person). Uttar Pradesh had the highest incidence of such deaths with 14 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu and Punjab with 11 cases each.

Many theft suspects allegedly tortured to death

The report also highlighted how while probing non-heinous crimes, police personnel in several states went to the extent of torturing the suspects to death. It said the practice of torturing the suspects in police custody to punish them or gather information or extract confessions continued to be rampant.

From a 17-year-old boy in Tamil Nadu, to Hira Bajania of Gujarat, Karan Kumar of Punjab, Nesar Ansari of Bihar and Ashok Bansal of Madhya Pradesh, the report cited cases where people were allegedly tortured to death only because they were suspected to have committed thefts. This apart, it pointed out how some, like Rajesh of Kerala, died by suicide as they are unable to bear such torture.

Also read: Custodial Torture: It Is the Criminal Justice System That Requires Investigation

In some cases, groups of people are also subjected to torture as the cops want to extract confessions. In this regard, the report cited the case of two Dalit brothers Deepak and Dashrath and 12 labourers, including women, of Gujarat who were tortured to extract confessions in connection with a case of murder. Often, it said, people are also tortured by cops or jail staff to extort money from them or their relatives.

Torture includes beating, pulling nails, burning and even rape

The method of torture revealed by the report show the level of criminality in the police and jail officials. It also shows how operating in closed systems, they have a sense of entitlement and impunity.

The report said from acts like slapping, kicking with boots, beating with sticks, pulling hair, torture also includes barbaric methods like hammering iron nails in the body (as in the case of Gufran Alam and Taslim Ansari of Bihar), applying roller on legs and burning (as happened to Rizwan Asad Pandit of Jammu & Kashmir), and falanga or beating with sticks on the soles (as with Rajkumar of Kerala).

Sometimes, the police and jail staff even go to the extent of stabbing people with a screwdriver (as Pradeep Tomar of Uttar Pradesh was subjected to) or giving electric shock (as with Yadav Lal Prasad of Punjab and Monu of Uttar Pradesh). Often, private parts are also targeted. There have been instances of cops pouring petrol on private parts (as in the case of Monu of Uttar Pradesh) or applying chilly powder to them (in the case of Raj Kumar of Kerala)

Sexual crimes also perpetrated by the custodians of law

As part of torture, the report pointed to cases where the victims were forced to perform oral sex (as in the case of Hira Bajania and 12 others of Gujarat). Also, it said women continue to be tortured or targeted for sexual violence in custody.

In this regard, the report said a 35-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly illegally detained, subjected to torture and raped in police custody by nine police personnel at Sardarshahar police station in Churu district of Rajasthan. Her nails were also plucked by the cops who tortured her, the report said.

Most victims from poor, marginalised sections

The report said most victims were from poor and marginalised sections and were targeted because of their socio-economic status. It said 75 of the 125 people killed in police custody belonged to such communities with 13 of them being Dalits or from tribal communities, 15 being Muslims and 37 being those who were picked up for petty crimes.

Also read: Most States Have Flouted Mandatory Judicial Inquiry into Custodial Deaths for 15 Years

After these heinous crimes of torture, the report said, the police often tries to cover up by destroying incriminating evidence of torture, not conducting post-mortems or cremating the bodies of torture victims in haste.

The NCAT recorded at least four such cases. These included the 17-year-old boy from Tamil Nadu; Hira Bajania of Gujarat, and Mangal Das of Tripura.

Even minors not spared

On how minors also end up being victims, the report said it was because the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 has not been implemented properly. It pointed out that those allegedly killed due to torture include four children in police custody and one in a juvenile home.

In jails too, the report said, torture was common. In this regard, it referred to how Nabbir, an inmate of Tihar jail in Delhi was allegedly tortured by a jail superintendent who branded Om symbol into his back before depriving him of food for two days.

Torture by armed forces

The NCAT report also accused the Indian Army and Central Armed Forces deployed in the insurgency affected areas and the border areas of being involved in torture. It said Mungshang Konghay was allegedly tortured in the custody of 17th Assam Rifles at Litan in Ukhrul district of Manipur in May 2019. The victim alleged that he was tortured to make him confess that he is a member of an underground group, it added.

Similarly, it said, in June 2019, 17-year-old Tarun Mondal was allegedly tortured to death in the custody of Border Security Force (BSF) in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Suspected of cattle smuggling, he was first shot below the knee and then beaten with boots and rifles till he fell unconscious.

Also read: Justice for Jayaraj and Bennix Means Ending a Culture of Impunity

The report also blamed armed opposition groups like those in Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland of using torture against informers. It said two people Arif Sofi of Khudwani and Mehraj Ahmed Dar were abducted by militants from their homes in Kulgam district of J&K on the suspicion of being informers. Though they were later released, one of them succumbed to his injuries.

Similarly, Hangkon Solting was tortured to death by alleged National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) (R) militants in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, it said. It also spoke about how Maoists use brutal killing and torture of their hostages, including after being subjected to summary trial in so-called `Jan Adalats or peoples courts, in full public view to instil fear among the people.

Centre not keen on bringing own law, ratifying UN law against torture

Finally, despite the large number of cases of torture being reported each year, the NCAT lamented that the Government of India has no intention to ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT) or enact a national law against torture despite the Law Commission of India submitting the draft Prevention of Torture Bill, 2017 for enactment by the parliament in October 2017.

It added that the refusal of the Supreme Court, in its judgment of September 2019, to issue directions to the Centre to enact a national anti-torture law has further emboldened the government to not ratify the UNCAT.

Excerpt from:

Custodial Torture Continues Unabated in India Amidst Culture of Impunity: Report - The Wire

MinnPost photo by Tom Nehil

Rep. Ilhan Omars most prominent challenger in the DFL primary is Antone Melton-Meaux, a newcomer to DFL politics.

Welcome to this weeks edition of the D.C. Memo. This week from Washington, the Fifth District primary, Jason Lewis responds to MinnPosts coverage and Andy Slavitt says something hopeful on COVID-19.

Rep. Ilhan Omars most prominent challenger in the DFL primary is Antone Melton-Meaux, a newcomer to DFL politics. Whos funding Melton-Meaux? Where did he come from?

You can read more at MinnPost.

HuffPost also has a breakdown of the race, primarily looking at how right-leaning Israeli policy groups are targeting Omar and assisting Melton-Meaux. Heres a bit of it:

Antone Melton-Meaux, 47, the Minneapolis attorney seeking to unseat Omar, 37, in the states Aug. 11 Democratic primaries, raised more than $1.5 million in May alone.

Much of that cash comes from political action committees opposed to more U.S. pressure on the Israeli government. Two such groups, Pro-Israel America and NORPAC, have bundled upwards of $450,000 for Melton-Meaux to date.

These Israel hawks investment in unseating Omar follows an expensive and ultimately unsuccessful intervention on behalf of House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel. Given Engels massive deficit in the in-person vote, the New York Democrat has all-but-officially lost to Jamaal Bowman, a progressive challenger who is more critical of Israel, in his June 23 primary.

I reported last week that Jason Lewis, the endorsed Republican for Senate in MN, previously said Trayvon Martin was a thug, a kid in trouble, not a saint, not a role model, and guilty.

On Monday, Lewis was asked by a radio host what he thought about the discrepancy between his words about George Floyd, whose death he called tragic, and his words about Trayon Martin. He laughed.

Host: You called the death of George Floyd tragic, because it was, but you said different things after another person died a long time ago, so how do you rectify that, Jason?

Jason Lewis: I dont know, its kind of amazing.

You can listen to the clip here at about the 42 minute mark.

On July 7, during a speech in front of the Minnesota state capitol, Rep. Ilhan Omar called for dismantling the whole system of oppression. Right-wing media immediately jumped on the clip, suggesting that Omar was saying we need to dismantle the entire U.S. political system.

The Daily Caller ran this headline: Ilhan Omar Calls For The Dismantling Of US Economy, Political System.

Fact-checking website Snopes rates that claim as false.

Andy Slavitt, the former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, talked to the Minnesota State House about COVID-19 this week. His assessment: Minnesota can have its economy back if it stays hyper-vigilant.

The good news is that with all the time Ive spent with leaders around the country, with scientists, with epidemiologists, that with the right strategy and the right approach, we can get through this virus. We can live with this virus and we can indeed have our economy back, Slavitt told the Minnesota Houses Select Committee on Minnesotas Pandemic Response and Rebuilding.

Today we are asked whether the land these treaties promised remains an Indian reservation for purposes of federal criminal law. Because Congress has not said otherwise, we hold the government to its word, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, in a 5-4 decision affirming that nearly half of Oklahoma is within an Indian reservation.

Omar Rashad and Katherine Swartz for CalMatters: UC will sue Trump administration over new international student visa rules

Joining Harvard and MIT, the University of California is set to sue the Trump administration for a policy change that would force international students not taking in-person classes to leave the country.

Thats all for this week. Thanks for sticking around. Until next week, feel free to send tips, suggestions, and sound advice to: gschneider@minnpost.com. Follow at @gabemschneider. And dont forget to become a MinnPost member.

Read the original post:

DC Memo: Focus on the Fifth District - MinnPost

NBC Sports

Peter King is on vacation until July 20, and he lined up some guest writers to fill his Monday spot on Football Morning in America. Today, its Michael Thomas, who plays safety for the Houston Texans.

Previous guest columns: Michael MacCambridge (June 15) Front-Line Workers (June 22) Joe Browne (June 29) Kim Pegula (July 5)

Three months into the 2016 seasonmy friend Colin Kaepernicks last in the NFLthe 49ers came to Miami for a game. The Niners were 1-9. We were 6-4 and headed for the playoffs. I entered the NFL on San Franciscos practice squad in 2012; by 2016, I was in my fourth season playing safety for the Dolphins, and I took the field that afternoon in south Florida knowing our biggest priority on defense was to stop Kap.

In the last four years, Kaps been blackballed from the NFL and has become an international hero for the oppressed. Ill get to that subject in a moment, but I want to express what a great player he was when he last played, and why I believe he absolutely must have the chance to get his job in the NFL back. Now.

The pressure on Kap that hot afternoon was enormous. We had won five games in a row. Though he was a great player, he was getting a lot of attention for other reasons. Kap started protesting during the National Anthem that preseason, to draw attention to systemic racism and police brutality, first sitting during the anthem and later kneeling. Eric Reid joined him in San Francisco. It was not a popular stance with the public. Kenny Stills, a wide receiver on our team, and I joined in solidarity in Miami so during the anthem before that game, while I was kneeling, I could look across the field and see Kap doing the same.

That feeling was monumental. We were getting nothing from the league, no statement of support, no willingness to back the players. There was more tension that day, because Kap had previously worn a T-shirt with a photo of a meeting between Fidel Castro and Malcolm X. In south Florida, with such a large Cuban population, anything pro-Castro does not go over well. So that was a massive thing for the Miami media, and he had a heated discussion with a reporter from the Miami Herald during a mid-week press conference that got a lot of attention. That game had extra juice before we lined up on Sunday.

Kap played an incredible game. It might have been his last truly great game in the NFL. He threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns and he had his last 100-yard rushing game in the league, with 113 yards on the ground. We were up 31-24 but they had first and goal at the six-yard line with five seconds left and Kap was looking to get them into the end zone, tie the game and send us to overtime. He got the snap and tried to run it in, and for a minute it looked like he was going to do it. But he got tackled by Ndamukong Suh and Kiko Alonso at the two-yard line, and that was the game.

We rushed the field, we were celebrating, and I remember being mad at myself afterwards because by the time we were done with all that, Im pretty sure Kap was off the field, and we didnt get to chop it up. Obviously, I was glad we won. When Im playing against Kap, when Im playing against anyone, Im trying to make my plays and win the game as my absolute first priority. But at the same time, Kaps my guy, and I want him to ball. And I was really happy that he balled, because there was absolutely nothing negative anyone could say about that game. We know the added pressure that came with us taking a knee. If you give them any excuse, theyll tear you down and demand you get cut. Youre just a distraction.

That season was life-changing for me. Following the back-to-back unjust murders of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling in the summer of 2016, I knew I had to do something. I was done with t-shirts and hashtags. I was ready to fight, because this was bigger than me. I had zero guarantees in my contract at the time. Miami could cut me at any point and not owe me a thing, not even owe me a goodbye.

I had to make a decision. My parents always raised me to be a leader, to take a stand for what was right regardless of potential punishment, but even they were scared. My wife Gloria and I prayed about it. Heres what it came down to: If I say that I care about my people, if I say that I care about the Black community, I needed to do something. My daughter would be watching.

To be honest, I had no idea what exactly that something was going to be. Until I saw Colin Kaepernick kneel during the National Anthem. When I heard why he was protesting, that he was fighting against systemic oppression and police brutality, it was an incredible moment of clarity.

Kenny, who has conviction like no other, said to me, Mike, thats what we need to do. Players across the league were having conversations about locking arms, raising fists, but we knew that would distract from the message and allow it to be co-opted. We had to kneel in solidarity with Kap, and we had to have that conviction to know that even if we were going to get bashed, we were in it with our brothers. In our hearts, we knew it was the right thing to do.

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick woke me up.

I pray that we figure out a way to make this NFL season work safely amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Im a vice president on the board of directors of the NFL Players Association, and were talking about that right now. If and when it does, I have no doubt that well hear any number of statements and sentiments from the teams, from the league and from Roger Goodell about racial injustice, about Black Lives Matter, about making change. Were already hearing them now. Great. Its the middle of July. But I dont think any player will really believe the sentiments of the NFL if Colin Kaepernick doesnt have a job in the league this season.

When I initially spoke with Peter King about writing this column, he wanted to know if I might propose a creative solution to make that job happen for Kap. I said no. The NFL created this problem. The NFL has to solve it. Its not my job to do that. If the league really feels like its going to back the players when it comes to ending racism, Colin should have a job. Thats the only way that the Black community and the players are going to truly believe the NFL is serious about what they say. Otherwise, people will always reference what you did to your own. You have to look in the mirror and clean your own house first.

Like I said, Ive played against Colin, and hes a winning quarterback. He wasnt winning the last time we faced each other, but hes proven he can compete, and hes taken his team to the Super Bowl. People love to talk about how long Colin has been out the game, how hard it might be for him to get back to that NFL level. But I know hes been working and staying in shape. Thats different than actually playing, and I dont know if his first role when he comes back will be the starting quarterback for a team. But I know for a fact that of all the backup quarterbacks on a roster right now, hed be one of the best, if not the best. And probably better than some of the second-tier starters.

Like the rest of us, hed have to come into camp and prove himself. Thats the beauty of our game. Respect is earned by your play. He built up a lot of that respect in the past. I have no doubt that with all the work hes been putting in, even since hes been blackballed out of the league, that hed be able to come in and compete. And then it would be up to him to prove his worth and earn that respect again.

Beyond that, hes the type of quarterback that todays NFL is built for. Its built for the mobile quarterback, its built for the quarterback who can run but also throw. Hes that dual-threat option. Hes mobile, and he has a big arm that can hit the deep threat. He causes confusion for defenses if he gets into any kind of zone-read option. And obviously the RPO game is bigger than ever. Set aside for a second what the league would gain in terms of credibility by bringing him back. From a pure football standpoint, his style fits the league perfectly.

Colin is always going to be the name and the face of this movement, and he should be. But I dont think his stance is anywhere near as monumental without the unwavering support of Eric Reid. With Eric, you have a first-round draft pick, a Pro Bowl type player whos young, whos checking off all the boxes on the list of things you need to get to free agency and kill it on the open market.

Eric and I both hit free agency in 2018, hes two years younger than me, and for him, nothing? He struggled to get a job in Carolina, and now hes without a team again. All because he used his platform to fight against police brutality and systemic oppression and align with Colin Kaepernick. When you talk about Colin, you have to talk about Eric. In the same breath that Im calling for Colin to by employed, I guarantee you Colin will be calling for Eric to be employed this season as well.

In conversations Ive had with other players, even the player who didnt take a knee, everyone is overwhelmingly in agreement that these men need to be playing in the league. If theres a group thats opposed to that, I certainly havent spoken with them. Most people, myself included, feel like Kap is a hero for what he did. He woke up the next generation of players to use their voice and their platform to protest police brutality and systemic oppression.

Four years removed from 2016, there has been real change, and its come from the players. Players are realizing their power, and they know the impact it has when they speak out against social injustices and racism. The young stars of today and tomorrow are doing it, and its so necessary because everything starts from the top. If the faces of the NFL Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, Michael Thomas (the other one, of Saints fame) are calling for an end to systemic oppression, and saying it publicly? Putting their faces behind it? Demanding the league back them while doing it? The video Michael Thomas engineered, featuring so many young stars, was so powerful, and Roger Goodell responded. That was a start. Now theres more to do.

If its not the faces of the leaguethe big starscalling for these things, its easy to dismiss. Im not going to name names, but for so long the top players in the NFL of the past, many of whom were not Black, werent going to use their platform to fight for these causes. The league felt okay to talk about faith, family and football and to have players only support the causes that they said we could support. Players got trapped and confined to this clich. And even if you wanted to address non-polarizing issues in our country, this was the feeling: You know I care about these issues, you know that Im Black, you know that I care about the Black Community. But at the same time, there was a serious fear: If I speak out and say something, Ill mess up my money!

But now with all the top players speaking out, theyve applied pressure to the league and left them no choice but to join the fight. Theyre the new faces of the league. If theyre speaking out on systemic oppression and racism in this country, then that opens the door for every other player. And they also know that the next generation of stars is watching. The college athletes. Youve seen players at Texas A&M, Clemson, Oklahoma State, HBCUs across the nation, and at my alma mater, Stanford, using their platforms. It doesnt matter where they are. Theyre seeing their big brothers in the NFL fight to end systemic oppression. They feel strongly about making real change for the Black community too.

In 2016, we looked to the league to back us up. Even if they didnt want to use their platform to express solidarity for our cause, we at least wanted them to come out and say that they supported their players. We couldnt even get a statement with that bare minimum of backing.

But now were hearing from Patrick Mahomes. The league MVP and Super Bowl MVP is starring in a Black Lives Matter video and has made his support for the cause part of who is he as a player and a person. Last week, he signed to a 10-year extension worth about half a billion dollars, one of the largest contracts the sports world has ever seen (rightfully deserved). To have somebody of that caliber stepping up to say something for the Black community is a tremendous thing. The NFL is nearly 70 percent black. He knew they had to pay him. The NFL knew they had to pay him. And to hear him and Lamar and Deshaun speak on this topic is powerful and monumental.

Of course, Im no Patrick Mahomes. When I took a knee in 2016, I was still under a minimum contract, bound to the Miami Dolphins. My daughter was two years old at the time. I had to make a decision knowing that Im not the face of the NFL and that I dont have any sort of guarantee in my contract. My first time hitting free agency came ahead of the 2018 season and I remember communicating with Eric Reid every morning, praying. Teams wouldnt even respond to us. It was a tough time. Ill say this: I was blessed to ultimately be able to sign with the Giants.

There was another team, and I wont name names, that wanted to sign me and thought they could capitalize on my off-field situation. They thought Id be seen as undesirable and that theyd get great value for me. Thankfully I was able to sign with the Giants, and I have nothing but great things to say about that organization. I accomplished a lot of career goals in New York: I made my first Pro Bowl and I finally signed a deal that had some type of guarantee. Some might argue that I didnt get my true market value or that I missed opportunities with other teams because I chose to take a knee. Ive said all Im going to say on that for now, and Ill leave that to everyone else to debate.

Some people make the argument that Colin would rather be a martyr for this cause than be a quarterback in the NFL. Theyll talk about recent news of his docuseries with ESPN and his deal with the Walt Disney Co. to argue hes more interested in telling stories than playing football. But the people who are making those things mutually exclusive are feeding into the same system that keeps players from standing up for their communities. Colin used his voice and his platform to speak out on police brutality and systemic racism on his own terms and the response from some was to assume that means he doesnt want to be a quarterback in this league.

Thats why I love the fact that this next generation is so woke. I have no doubt that Colins initial stance helped plant the seeds and inspire those young stars to realize what happens when you use your platform to fight for causes in your own neighborhood. And that is so powerful. Oh, and here we are four years later and the narrative in our nation around protest, racial injustice and police brutality has changed enormously. Colin was right!

Beyond sports, on a national scale, everyone wants to know where we should focus all this energy. Not just every Black person, but every person period. The protests are great, the activism is important, but how do we really fight to end systemic oppression? To me, that next step is for everyone committed to this fight players, league partners, protestors, politicians to try to attack systemic racism at its core and demand that our government, at both the congressional level and in the Senate, pass H.R. 40, the bill to study and develop proposals for reparations for African-Americans.

Representative John Conyers of Michigan first introduced H.R. 40 in 1989. Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee introduced the current bill in June of 2019. The 40 in the bills name is a reference to the promises made to freed slaves following the Civil War that were never delivered. Those freed slaves were supposed to be given 40 acres and a mule from land and resources formerly held by the Confederacy, a systematic government initiative to rectify the ills of slavery and help rebuild the lives it had irreparably damaged.

But that promise went unfulfilled. Instead, slavery merely gave way to Jim Crow segregation and continued systemic disenfranchisement for Black people in America. As Rep. Jackson Lee said, Slavery is Americas original sin, and this country has yet to atone for the atrocities visited upon generations of enslaved Africans and their descendants. Its time.

Im only 30 years old, but throughout my lifetime, we havent even been able to truly have a conversation about the framework for reparations, let alone reparations themselves. The conversation always stalls on how we would do it, how much it would cost, what it would possibly look like. And thats what H.R. 40 is for, to answer all these questions.

It horrifies me that its taken such drastic events for us to get to the place where this idea starts to enter the mainstream. But, okay, were here now. People are starting to talk about it. Thats great. It took protests in the streets. It took countless people being unjustly murdered at the hands, knees and guns of police to finally have a real conversation. But thats what it took.

Ive seen lots of athletes speak out on specific issues that they want to tackle. LeBron James, for instance, has put his focus on fighting voter suppression. I think thats great. The fact that its 2020 and were still talking about the right to vote? That sucks. There are a million single individual battles that need to be fought and won. But does that approach create generational wealth for our kids and our grandkids? I dont think so.

We keep dancing around the conversation. We keep getting incremental little wins, symbolic wins. Thats not enough. The average white family in America has 10 times the wealth of the average Black family. Thats why its not enough to take little pieces of the pie. We have to push for change at the core.

What we really need is for people to accept that this is a system that limits what Black people in America can achieve and accumulate. For everyone asking whats next, let me say it unequivocally: We need to pass H.R. 40 and begin a serious conversation about the framework for reparations for Black people in the United States. We cant let this energy, this moment and this momentum go to waste.

Reading this column thus far, you might decide that I only care about social justice issues, that my life as a football player isnt important to me. Thats not true. I love football, and I love the life its allowed me to lead. Ive been in the NFL since 2012. I came in undrafted, made my way from the practice squad in San Francisco to spend five years in Miami. I became a Pro Bowler with the New York Giants. Ive been a captain and a leader for my teams, and Ive been a leader in the NFLPA. Everyone wants to find safe ways to get back to work and were no exception. And this season is particularly special because Im coming home to Houstonwhere I was born and raisedto play football in my town for the first time since high school. Here are some things I think from my life as a football player.

1. I think its going to be really strange to see Tom Brady play for Tampa Bay this year. Playing for Miami, we came up against the Patriots regularly and in his prime, I think Tom Brady is arguably the best of all time. My very first time facing him was actually my very first game in the NFL, when I was signed off the practice squad from San Francisco in December of 2013.

Early one Monday morning that December I woke up to a bunch of texts and missed calls from my agent, who told me that I had to decide right now if I wanted to go to Miami, because otherwise they were going to move on to the next guy. Shed called 10 times already. So I said of course, got to Miami Tuesday night and by Wednesday Im with the team.

That Sunday, I played in my first NFL game against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. I wasnt supposed to be touching the field on defense. The fourth quarter comes around and the starting corner is hurt. Okay, so then they need me to run down on kickoff. I run down on kickoff, make my first tackle. Im thrilled, I know that my name is going to be on the stat sheet and theres going to be evidence that I really played.

The next play, another DB gets hurt. We only have seven DBs and we have to play five at a time, so the DB coach comes up to me and says, Mike? Thats your name right, Michael Thomas? I see you played slot in college. Youre going to have to play slot again. Okay. So Tom Brady sees that and literally every play hes coming to me. Theyre either running the ball or hes throwing it to Julian Edelman or Danny Amendola or whoever Im guarding in the slot. Im holding on, I make a couple plays, but theyre driving down the field. Theyve got a first down at the 19-yard line with 27 seconds left and Im guarding Amendola and hes running a go route to the end zone. I look up and the balls coming. Amendola actually gets it in his hands in the end zone but I fight until the end, fight until we get to the ground and the ball pops out. Its an incomplete, the crowd goes crazy, and now Im juiced.

And now its fourth down. Coach calls a timeout and tells me theyre going to help me out and put me in double coverage with the safety. Im thinking, thank God. Even if they win, just dont let it be on me. Its my first game in the league!

We get out there, they line up. Tom Brady says hut, they snap it, and whoever was in the slot dove underneath to the safety, so I free up. I start backpedalling a little to offer some body pressure to the outside corner. I look up and the ball is coming, intended for Austin Collie. Its like a movie scene. Everything is in slow motion. I leap up in the air and catch it and after I fall down in the end zone it hits me. I just caught the game-winning interception! Thats Tom Brady! I just won the game! All my teammates are jumping up and down, cameras are in my face, the crowd is going crazy, I start crying and yelling for my mama. It was absolutely like a movie. That was my welcome to Miami moment, my welcome to the NFL moment, and fans ask me about that play, I kid you not, every other day. Ill never forget it.

2. I think Im a Jim Harbaugh guy through and through. He brought me to San Francisco when I went undrafted out of Stanford. Hes a hilarious guy and hes a guy who knows how to win. Hes very tough. Some might even say hes an a-hole. But he knows how to get the most out of his players, how to put the best guys out there and how to evaluate talent. Hes a great coach and Im glad I had the opportunity to say I played for him.

He recruited me to Stanford too, and Ill tell you the line that got me hooked, because full disclosure, as a 15- or 16-year-old kid, I had no idea what Stanford was, and no idea where it was. I thought it was in the Ivy League or something. My dad had just showed me an article about Harbaugh coaching at Stanford and had told me all about his playing career. I kid you not, I got a text probably 20 minutes later saying: This is Jim Harbaugh. Theres going to be a lot of teams out there that want you, Mike. But we need you. And thats when I said, okay, let me pay attention to this guy. I saw that the school was in California, that they played in the Pac-12, and the rest is history. Jim Harbaugh knows how to recruit.

3. I know I just got through saying that Tom Brady is the greatest of all time. But I think Ill never forget playing the Packers in Miami in 2014, facing Aaron Rodgers, on the last play of the game, in the red zone. Were up 24-20. He breaks the huddle, looks at our defense, smiles, doesnt even buckle his chin strap, says hut and throws the game-winning touchdown. That guy was so smooth, and his arm talent is unbelievable.

Now when youre talking arm talent, you have to include Patrick Mahomes. But I dont think its a coincidence that Rodgers and Mahomes are doing State Farm commercials together. They have the one-two punch in the league when it comes to pure arm talent. But Rodgers has that thing where he can just make any throw. I think most DBs would tell you that hes one of the absolute best and most dangerous quarterbacks well face, ever.

4. I think Rob Gronkowski was that guy where it didnt matter how great you defended him all game. The defense knew that he was going to find a way to seal himself off or get himself open and find a way to score. He was definitely the toughest tight end to face, because he knows Tom Brady is going to find a way to get him the ball. He was a mental problem because he had a great quarterback (and this season hell have him again) and hes a big dude who can move and be physical. It was always a battle. But we knew to keep guarding him, keep battling, because otherwise hes going to make plays.

5. I think that the fact that I had to come into the NFL the hard way, undrafted, practice squad, building my way up from nothing, is the reason that so many players around the league respect me. They know nothing was handed to me. I wouldnt change anything about my career. Ive had to work hard for everything I got. But the fact that Ive had so many great experiences, met so many great people and been able to give back to my community helps me feel like Ive done it the right way. I have veered outside of the box in many things, whether its business or activism, when the moment calls for it. But to me, its all a blessing. My life and career are things Ive been graced with, and I dont take any of it for granted.

6. I think that one of my favorite parts of living and playing in New York was being able to see Broadway shows on date nights with my wife. The last two we saw were two of my favorites, Aint Too Proud, about the Temptations, and Tina, the Tina Turner Musical. Those left a lasting impression on me.

Before I actually signed with New York, we saw Hamilton on Broadway with the original cast. Id heard so much about it and Id seen how high the ticket prices were, so I knew there was hype, but when the curtain went up and they started rapping? It blew my mind, it blew my wifes mind. My first thought was the play was something classes should be taking their students to see, to start that conversation on U.S. history.

I have a bunch of different playlists on my phone depending on the mood Im in and Wait for It, where Leslie Odom Jr. sings as Aaron Burr, is on my Inspiration playlist. It gives me chills and goose bumps. Sometimes thats what Im listening to before games, its that good.

7. Like I said, Im coming home to play in Houston this season, and I think my quarterback, Deshaun Watson, will be this years league MVP. You can call me a homer because hes my quarterback and my hometown quarterback. But I believe he has the skill set and the weapons around him to play at that level. He has a team thats built to win right now.

The DeAndre Hopkins trade was a major story for the entire NFL community, and now its all clearly on Deshaun. The team believes in him and he believes in himself, and I think that hes the type of dynamic quarterback who can rack up points for his offense. Like I said, everyone is going to be looking to him now that DeAndre Hopkins is in Arizona, and I feel that hes built to answer that call. At the end of this season, hell not only be in the race for MVP, but hell win it.

8. I think Saquon Barkley is in for a record-breaking season in his third year. I remember when I first saw him with the Giants ahead of the 2018 season. This was pre-pandemic times, so everyone was bringing draft talent in for visits. I saw him in the hallway taking a tour before the draft and I said, Thats the guy from Penn State? He just looked like a player crafted in a lab, and that was while he was in regular clothes.

When it came to the draft, with Cleveland having the first and fourth pick and us in between with the second, I knew that if they used their first pick on a quarterback, we had to do the right thing and take this kid. And thank God we did. From the day he stepped into our facility, he brought a different energy to the team and I think it was much needed at the time. You just knew he would be a captain. Hes a natural-born leader.

Im talking about all his qualities off the field. But when you see him on the field, it just feels different. Everybody whos ever seen him, played with him or played against him knows this kid is a generational talent. He had an amazing first year and made the Pro Bowl. Then he got injured last year and I know it hindered him. Now, hes hungry. You can see from the workout videos hes posting that hes primed to get back to it. Hes the type of guy who can run the ball, catch the ball, bring it out of the backfield, just do it all. With a new head coach and a new system in New York this year, I dont think anything, short of injury, will stop him from having a breakout year.

9. I think that if you lined up all the NFL players with the fastest 40-yard dash times for a foot race, Tyreek Hill would win. I think he could beat just about any player in the league in a foot race. There are so many guys that are blazing fast, can run a quick 40 or have that speed on the track, but his football speed is just different. Tyreek has the track background and it translates to the game.

To be clear, this is coming from me, a guy who isnt even in the conversation. Even if we did race, it wouldnt be entertaining. They wouldnt even put odds on it in Vegas, because everyone already knows how that story would end.

We always see a lot of competition between players on social media, and its especially pronounced right now when everyone has a lot of time on their hands. Were all itching to just get out there and compete. Thats what we do. Thats whats separated us from other kids all our lives. Hes been posting to see if anyone will take him up on a foot race, and a few people have weighed in but honestly, I dont think many people want that smoke. My friend Jakeem Grant did step up and say hed take the challenge. Jakeem, I love you, Ill root for you, but I think that Tyreek could beat all the fastest guys in the league on pure speed.

10. I think I want to see defensive players have the same marketability and opportunities as the faces of the league as offensive players. Richard Sherman is probably the closest thing we have. He built that larger-than-life persona at the height of the Legion of Boom in Seattle and thats the sort of thing we need. The bigger a player like Richard Sherman is, the better it will be for the next generation of defensive superstars, like a Jamal Adams, so that they can continue to grow their marketability and raise their platform.

I think about Ndamukong Suh getting an $100 million deal while I was in Miami, and how crazy people thought it was, because he was a defensive lineman. Maybe this is just wishful thinking for our next generation of players, but Id love to see day of the $200 million contract for a defensive player, a half a billion-dollar contract like were seeing for the quarterbacks and offensive players.

Beyond that, its about the off-field marketability, and I think to achieve that from the defensive side of the ball, you have to be willing to be the villain. Everyone wants to see points scored, to see the 50-50, high-flying game marked by touchdown after touchdown. Fans need it, fantasy football needs it, Vegas needs it, the television ratings need it. But as defensive players, were here to stop all that. Were here to shut people down. To get as many opportunities as we can, I think we have to be willing to embrace that villain person to become the larger-than-life figure thats sought after for deals, endorsements and big contracts.

Obviously that persona has to come with performing on the field, and thats why I think Jamal Adams is probably the next big thing who could fill that outsized role after Richard Sherman. His productivity on the field is there. I dont know what exactly the hype looks like maybe its commercials, like Troy Polamalu with the hair, or maybe its getting to the point where, like Sherm, hes big enough to make it on the cover of Madden. Whatever it is, I just want that for our defensive players, that shine, visibility and compensation, even if it means leaning in to that role as a villain.

Link:

Why Colin Kapernick should be in the NFL, by Michael Thomas - NBC Sports - NFL

Town Talk Diner and Gastropub owners Kacey White and Charles Stotts discuss their future plans after their business was destroyed during violent Minneapolis riots.

Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar says she wants to tear down the systems of oppression that exist in our economy. Her stated aim is to fight economic inequality, but the reality of the ideology of dismantling she and so many politicians on the left have voiced is the destruction of livelihoods and hope in vulnerable communities.

Minnesota, Omars home and mine, has become a tragic Exhibit A for what tearing down the system too often looks like. As rioters and looters ravaged minority neighborhoods in Minneapolis, those of us who warned that the damage to businesses and property would have lasting negative effects were derided.

IF THE $600 WEEKLY UNEMPLOYMENT BOOST ISN'T EXTENDED, IT'S NOT JUST LAID-OFF WORKERS WHO WILL SUFFER

Justice, we were told, is bigger than property. Tearing down is the beginning of building something better.

The problem is that those who participated in the dismantling seem far less interested in doing anything about the rebuilding.

As Michael Tracey writes in the Wall Street Journal, The national media might have moved on from the riots in Minneapolis, but residents have nowhere to go. Much of the Twin Cities is still in ruins. Boarded-up storefronts still display makeshift notices that read black-owned or minority-owned to ward off further destruction.

This is not what justice and economic equality look like.

The rhetoric of dismantling may work for politicians and activists who thrive on attention, but its the unglamorous reality of re-building that Americas struggling communities are crying out for.

Justice is indeed bigger than property, but its not smaller. The destruction of livelihoods, whether through looting, the absence of law enforcement, or heavy-handed government taxation, regulation, and restriction, will always be a barrier to real justice, because it deprives people of the resources that give them agency and voice in their communities.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Omar says her call to tear down systems of oppression is meant to fight economic inequality. But her support of policy programs like the Green New Deal would have the opposite effect.

Wide swaths of the American economy would be wiped out by new regulation and restrictions. Private investment would dry up as higher taxes siphoned money to the federal government. Power would be taken out of the hands of local business and local communities and instead be even more concentrated in D.C. It would be an equality of diminished opportunity, not prosperity.

All of us should share the goal of advancing economic outcomes in minority communities. And, in fact, in the years prior to the coronavirus pandemic,we were seeing striking gains. Late last year, thanks to a strong labor market and growing economy, the unemployment gap between Black and white workers dropped to an all-time low of 2 percentage points.

It took forced government shutdowns of the economy to reverse that progress, underscoring just how important accelerating and expanding not tearing down access to private sector growth is to fighting inequality.

We have much more work to do and nobody should be satisfied with a smaller gap. But thats all the more reason to get our policy right, not throw away the gains weve seen in favor of vague, extreme, and illogical ideology.

The rhetoric of dismantling may work for politicians and activists who thrive on attention, but its the unglamorous reality of re-building that Americas struggling communities are crying out for. And justice demands that we hear them.

ProfessorBrian Brenbergis a Fox News contributor. He is Chair of the Program in Business and Finance and Executive Vice President atThe Kings College in Manhattan. Follow him on Twitter:@BrianBrenberg

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Continued here:

Ilhan Omar, others want to 'tear down the system' but real economic equality can only come from this - Fox Business