PUBLISHED: 12:30 07 February 2020 | UPDATED: 12:30 07 February 2020

Paul Knott

Polish Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski (C) attends the first session of the new Polish Parliament on November 12, 2019 in Warsaw. (Photo by Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP) (Photo by WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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PAUL KNOTT explores Poland's enigmatic PiS party which, despite the deliberate weakening of the institutions of democracy and the rule of law, remains genuinely popular and likely to retain power for years to come

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The Polish people have fought for centuries to secure their freedom from dictatorship. In the 20th century, a short period of independence was followed by the horrors of Nazi occupation and four decades of Soviet oppression, ending in 1989, when the mass movement inspired by the Solidarity trade union successfully overthrew totalitarianism.

The years since may well have been the best in Poland's modern history. At first glance, then, it seems hard to understand why so many Poles now support a populist PiS (Law and Justice party, in its Polish acronym) government intent on undermining democracy and rule of law.

Since taking power in 2015, the PiS has pushed through a series of laws designed to bring the independent legal system under its control. The government claims its 'reforms' are necessary to speed up the court process in Poland, which is indeed too slow.

But their changes do not involve introducing the modern IT equipment and increased support staff that would solve the problem. Instead, the PiS government has focused on grabbing control over judicial appointments, a step that does little to increase efficiency but plenty for exerting political influence.

As part of this plan, the government has tried to force a mass retirement of judges, claiming that the judiciary still needs to be "de-communised". This makes no sense because most current judges were teenage students when the communist era ended.

The PiS has also instituted a new disciplinary chamber, which it says is needed to punish judges who commit offences such as drink-driving. That might be more believable had the chamber not been used almost exclusively so far against judges who have made decisions that PiS does not like.

The government's latest gambit is to put their justice minister in ultimate charge of directing which judges hear which cases - the legal equivalent of giving Manchester United the right to appoint their own football referees (help they would no doubt welcome at the moment).

Unsurprisingly, the government's relentless attempt to undermine judicial independence has generated strong protests from judges, lawyers and those who cherish the rule of law.

PiS' actions have also put it on a collision course with the EU. Having a free and fair legal system is a basic requirement of EU membership, with decisions of the European Court of Justice having to be implemented by member countries without political interference. This condition is essential to protect the integrity of the EU's rules-based system and allow its components such as the single market to function.

EU membership remains popular in Poland but could ultimately be terminated if its government continues on its present path. Although other serious penalties such as a suspension of Poland's EU Council voting rights and the withdrawal of its EU funding are more likely to be imposed in the near future.

Despite this, the fears about the government's attempts to suppress the rule of law do not seem to have reached everyone in society. PiS and its allies are still polling comfortably above 40%, a level that would preserve their solid majority in any election. The reasons for this support are various.

Unusually for a populist party, PiS does not have a charismatic leader. The party chief, Jarosaw Kaczynski, is an oddball character who claims not to have a computer and to have never opened a bank account until 2009.

He has largely eschewed the limelight since losing his beloved twin brother and political partner, Lech, in a plane crash in Russia in 2010 and his mother, Jadwiga, with whom he lived almost up until her death in 2013. Kaczynski has not occupied the role of president or prime minister since then. But through his leadership of the party he maintains considerable influence. Observers of Polish politics have described how he makes sure to put up front men and women who are unlikely to exert too much appeal in their own right and remains a behind the scenes string-puller par excellence.

Beyond its more successful cities where open attitudes and liberal politics are prominent - notably the old Solidarity stronghold of Gdansk - much of Poland remains socially conservative. Traditionalist Catholicism still has a stronger presence here than perhaps anywhere else in Europe. Critics have accused PiS and its supporters of playing on this expertly, stirring up prejudice against foreigners and sexual minorities in order to strengthen the party's position.

To do so, they makes full use of the other anti-democratic measures the party has enacted. Since PiS took office in 2015, Poland has fallen from 18th to 59th place in the world press freedom index compiled by the independent watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

One significant reason for this slump was PiS' seizure of the main public television station, TVP. Some surveys estimate that TVP is the sole source of news for 50% of Poles living in rural areas.

Media manipulation helps Kaczynski and the PiS to portray the legal profession as being part of a distant metropolitan elite who do not share the interests of ordinary Poles.

As often seems to be the case with populists of his type, there is a certain shameless hypocrisy in this. A native of the capital, Kaczynski is himself a lawyer by profession, with a PhD from the University of Warsaw.

As well as attacking judges, PiS and its supporters smear political opponents as being in cahoots with the wealthy business figures who abused their old-regime connections to prosper in the post-communist years. Marrying this array of dark propaganda to genuine economic success is part of a magic formula for electoral triumph for PiS.

While some Poles lack the time, inclination or information to grapple with the complexities of how a free and fair legal system should be run, everyone can understand the benefits of a booming economy that puts more zotys in their pocket.

The economy has grown by an annual average of 4% since 2004. Real incomes have tripled over that period. Unemployment is at a historic low of 3.2% and employers are imploring Poles to return from the shambles of Brexit Britain to fill vacancies at home.

This success predates PiS' current term in office but power puts them in a perfect position to claim the credit. And some credit is deserved because they have gone much further than merely maintaining what they inherited.

Last year, Poles under the age of 26 years old who earn less than 85,528 zoty a year (20,000 euros) were exempted from income tax (it is worth noting that this earnings threshold is significantly higher than the average wage in Poland of 60,000 zoty).

This follows PiS' generous "500+" child benefit policy. This programme makes monthly payments to families of 500 zoty (117 euros) for every child from the second one onwards (and for all children of poorer families). The next piece of wealth redistribution will be the implementation later this year of an extra "13th month" pension for the elderly.

Some economists are still sceptical about the cost and effectiveness of the government's initiatives. But with the economy growing strongly and the budget deficit at a record low of 0.5%, PiS can reasonably argue that its measures are affordable. And by sharing the wealth with the less well-off in ways that no recent democratic Polish government has ever contemplated, PiS can make a compelling political claim to be the party of the people.

Unless Poland's disjointed opposition parties can cohere around a similarly convincing economic appeal to the broad mass of Polish people, it is hard to see them seriously challenging PiS anytime soon.

All of which makes Kaczynski and his PiS party's determination to control every lever of power so reckless and potentially tragic.

The impartial rule of law underpins sustained economic success by ensuring that rules are respected equally, contracts are enforced and wrongdoers are punished.

Poland's economic boom is also closely tied to its EU membership status, which will certainly be damaged if its government persists in undermining the legal system. By doing so, PiS risks wrecking Poland's hard-won democracy and the genuinely popular achievements it has itself contributed to the country's current golden era.

The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.

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Poland's PiS party is threatening democracy | Latest Brexit news and top stories - The New European

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Good morning.

Were covering the delayed results from Iowa, the growing power of techs Big Five and looking ahead to President Trumps State of the Union address tonight.

The Democratic nominating process had a rocky start, after party officials announced early this morning that results from the states caucuses wouldnt be released until later today. Here are the latest updates.

The officials attributed the delay partly to inconsistencies in the reporting of results and stressed that it wasnt because of hacking. Weve pieced together the events that led up to what one former state Democratic official called a systemwide disaster.

The details: When the results are released, find them here.

Whats next: Two of our reporters in Des Moines noted, With no hard numbers to reckon with, no cold math to disprove the dream, no fewer than five candidates marched onstage to deliver something resembling a victory speech.

Background: After a razor-close finish in Iowa between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in 2016, new standards this year required officials to submit three numbers rather than one from each of the states 1,600-plus precincts. That change, and a new app, slowed the reporting of results.

Closer look: People who were briefed on the app by the Iowa Democratic Party told The Times that it hadnt been tested properly. A spokeswoman for the state party denied that the apps failure had played a role in the delays.

The Daily: Todays episode is about the confusion.

Catch up: Heres a primer on how Iowas first-in-the-nation nominating contest works.

President Trump will deliver his third State of the Union address this evening, in the House where he was impeached just seven weeks ago and a day before a vote is scheduled in the Senate that is likely to acquit him of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Its unclear whether the president will address his impeachment trial. White House officials said the speech would highlight Mr. Trumps record on the economy, increased military spending and the appointment of conservative judges.

The Times will offer real-time analysis and stream the address live when it begins around 9 p.m. Eastern. Heres what to expect.

Related: Mr. Trumps guests at the speech will include a Border Patrol agent and an Army veteran who struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and homelessness. Members of Congress are also allowed to bring a guest. We profiled some of them.

Quotable: Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, is the former boss of Mr. Trumps two speechwriters for tonight. They really have a deep feeling that the more anonymous they are, theyre probably better off, he said.

A 39-year-old man died today from the virus in Hong Kong. He had traveled to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, last month.

It was the second death from the virus outside mainland China; a man died in the Philippines over the weekend. Here are the latest updates.

Related: Macau, the gambling hub thats a semiautonomous region of China, announced today that it would shut its casinos for two weeks in an effort to limit the epidemic.

The details: The virus has sickened more than 20,000 in Asia, and at least 427 have died. Our maps track its spread.

Catch up: As other countries ramped up efforts on Monday to isolate China, the Chinese government called the epidemic a major test. The U.S. has imposed its first federally required quarantine since the smallpox era, half a century ago. Airline passengers from China are now subject to two weeks in isolation.

Go deeper: China is turning to familiar authoritarian techniques to contain the outbreak, including asking neighbors to inform on one another.

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft made a combined $55.2 billion in net profit in the most recent quarter, making clear that threats of regulatory and legal scrutiny have done little to hurt the bottom line.

As the companies get richer, theyre branching out, buying or muscling aside rivals in ways that could have far-reaching implications for the world economy.

Yesterday: Alphabet, Googles parent company, reported revenue last year exceeding $161 billion, while its profit in the last quarter of 2019 was 19 percent more than a year earlier.

Related: The head of the antitrust division at the Department of Justice has recused himself from investigating Google because of a potential conflict of interest related to past work for the company, two people with knowledge of the decision told The Times.

Another angle: Disney, IBM and Marriott are among the companies fighting a law, known as Section 230, that makes it nearly impossible to sue platforms like Facebook or Google over content their users post.

Beauty and color in Iraq were largely suppressed for decades by poverty and government oppression.

No longer: A 15-story shell of a structure in Baghdad is full of paintings, sculptures, photographs and shrines that criticize the countrys leadership and pay homage to protesters who have died in recent rallies.

Our correspondent Alissa Rubin sees the unusual gallery as a window into a broader flowering. It is as if an entire society is awakening to the sound of its own voice, and to the shape, size and sway of its creative force, she writes.

Coal in Japan: Plans for up to 22 new coal-burning power plants one of the dirtiest sources of electricity come after the Fukushima disaster almost a decade ago forced the country to all but abandon its nuclear power program.

Cancer diagnosis for Rush Limbaugh: The longtime conservative radio talk show host, 69, revealed that he had advanced lung cancer.

Snapshot: Above, Anguilla, a British territory in the Caribbean that has benefited from two trends in technology: artificial intelligence and vanity internet addresses. Every time an address ending in .ai is registered or renewed, Anguilla collects $50.

Late-night comedy: The hosts told a tale of two Kansas Cities.

What were listening to: This episode of Literary Friction, a monthly podcast about books, by Carrie Plitt, a literary agent, and Octavia Bright, a writer and academic. Im just catching up with its 2019-in-review episode, says Chris, your briefing writer. And based on their recommendations, Ive already added to my nightstands ever-growing pile.

Now, a break from the news

Cook: With homemade hamburger helper, you dont have to be a stickler about measurements or ingredients. (Our Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter has more recommendations.)

Watch: We ranked the movie trailers that aired during the Super Bowl, which included James Bond, Mulan and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Go: Beyond Babel, a West Coast urban dance riff on Romeo and Juliet, sets numbers to borrowed pop songs. Its at the Gym at Judson Church in Manhattan.

Smarter Living: These seven podcasts can help you nurture a healthier mind and body.

Sydney Ember, a reporter on our politics team, moved to Iowa to get to know the state ahead of the caucuses. She wrote about it for our Reader Center. This is a condensed version.

DES MOINES I was in a tree.

It was November and I had been in Iowa for less than a month, and set out to profile someone who could bring Iowa to life for our readers. Rob Sand, the state auditor, pitched himself as a subject and then took me bowhunting.

That turned out to involve climbing a tree and quietly waiting for a deer. As my fingers and toes lost feeling in the cold, I thought, not for the last time: What am I doing here?

My goal was to understand the people of Iowa and the issues they care about, in addition to the candidates campaigning in the state and their volunteers, staff members and strategists.

I learned that many Democrats here want above all to beat President Trump a desire that made it extraordinarily difficult for them to choose a candidate. Some Republicans and independents wanted that, too.

I learned that cars with all-wheel drive can still fishtail in the snow and that pizza from Caseys General Store is delicious. (But no, I did not try the breakfast pizza, a particularly polarizing Iowa delicacy.)

It might be more practical, and less expensive, for The Times and other news organizations not to move reporters to Iowa before the caucuses. But there is no substitute for spending a lot of time here, experiencing the all-consuming nature of the run-up to the states caucuses firsthand.

Thats it for this briefing. See you next time.

Chris

Thank youMark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S. Were listening to The Daily. Todays episode is about the Iowa caucuses. Heres todays Mini Crossword, and a clue: Ethnic group making up more than 90% of China (three letters). You can find all our puzzles here. Hanna Ingber, who started The Timess Reader Center in 2017, will be the editor of our new technology newsletter.

Read more from the original source:

Iowa Caucus, State of the Union, Rush Limbaugh: Your Tuesday Briefing - The New York Times

The British government is helping a controversial Israeli spyware company to market its surveillance technologies at a secretive trade fair visited by repressive regimes, the Guardian can reveal.

The government will host the NSO Group, which sells technology that has allegedly been used by autocratic regimes to spy on the private messages of journalists and human rights activists, at the closed Security and Policing trade fair in Hampshire next month.

The NSO Group is due to be an exhibitor at the three-day fair, where police and security officials from abroad can browse commercial stalls selling surveillance and crowd-control equipment.

Around 60 foreign delegations are typically hosted by the British government to the fair. In the last four years they have included countries whose human rights records have been criticised such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Hong Kong. The identities of this years delegations are not known as they are usually announced on the opening day of the fair.

NSO has faced allegations that its technology is used to target human rights activists and reporters around the world. At least three UK residents are among those who are alleged to have been targeted using spyware sold by NSO. Among them is a prominent London-based satirist who is suing Saudi Arabia in the UK courts alleging that the Riyadh regime targeted him using malware developed by the firm.

The company is being sued in the US by WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, which has alleged that 1,400 of its users were hacked over a two-week period last year. NSO has denied the allegation.

The companys signature spyware has also allegedly been used to target journalists, including a recently revealed case involving a reporter for the New York Times who is alleged to have been targeted by Saudi Arabia using NSO technology. NSO has denied the allegation.

Last week Reuters reported that the FBI was examining whether NSO technology was used against Americans. The firm said it was not aware of any inquiry.

The annual trade fair is organised by the Home Office and the Department for International Trade. The NSO Group has attended previously.

The general public have been barred from the fairs. Whitehall memos show that the government has a strict criteria for selecting who attends and exhibits. Last year Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a Labour MP who was sitting on the parliamentary committee examining arms exports, was denied entry.

The Home Office bills the fair as THE official government global security event, offering a world-class opportunity to network with government officials and buy technology from commercial firms.

More than 300 firms, mainly from the UK, are due to exhibit their products at this years fair, which will open on 3 March at the Farnborough airport exhibition centre.

Brochures from previous years show how firms were seeking to sell equipment for many kinds of surveillance, from software that intercepts national phone and internet systems to traditional bugs that can be attached to cars or hidden in walls. Some exhibitors are promising immersive experiences to help sell their products.

Ministers are due to give keynote addresses at the fair, which is also attended by senior government officials.

In its promotional material for the fair, the NSO Group calls itself a global leader in the world of cyber-intelligence, data acquisition and analysis. It says it sells its technology to selected intelligence agencies, militaries and law enforcement organisations around the world to fight crime and terrorism.

It says it is committed to the proper use of its technology to help governments strengthen public safety and protect against major security threats.

There are three cases of NSO technology allegedly being used to target British residents. They include Ghanem Almasarir, a satirist known for mocking the Saudi royal family, Faustin Rukundo, a British citizen who is a member of a Rwandan opposition group and lives in exile, and a lawyer who is involved in a civil case against the Israeli surveillance company. NSO has said its technology is only intended to be used to fight crime and terrorism.

Martyn Day, a lawyer representing Almasarir, said: Unless the government is prepared to take a stand and make it clear that it is inappropriate for such software to be sold to oppressive regimes then we are nothing short of colluding with those very regimes in their oppression of dissidents.

A Home Office spokesperson said in a statement: The government will do all it can to help keep British people and British interests safe in the UK and overseas.

Have you got new information about the NSO Group or the UKs Security and Policing trade fair? You can email stephanie.kirchgaessner@theguardian.com or confidentially message Guardian investigations using Signal or WhatsApp: +447584640566. For the most secure communications, use SecureDrop.

Original post:

UK to host spyware firm accused of aiding human rights abuses - The Guardian

Chinese travelers wear masks as a precaution against infection. Photo: David Woo via Flickr.

JNS.org Chinas acting ambassador to Israel came under well-deserved fire this week for invoking the Nazi genocide of the Jews to criticize Jerusalems preventive measures against the spread of the coronavirus.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv on Sunday, Dai Yuming said that he felt bad and sad over the errors to limit or even ban entries of Chinese citizens into Israel because it actually recalled me the old days, the old stories that happened in World War II, the Holocaust. Many Jewish were refused when they tried to seek assistance. Only very, very few countries opened their doors. One of them is China. I hope Israel will never close their door to the Chinese. In the darkest days of the Jewish people, we didnt close the door on them. I hope Israel will not close the door on the Chinese.

Dais comments could not have been more outrageous.

The outcry that they unleashed in the press and on social media spurred the Chinese embassy in Israel to express regret. In a statement issued to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Beijings diplomatic mission basically claimed that its representatives words had been misconstrued.

February 6, 2020 8:28 am

We would like to clarify that there was no intention whatsoever to compare the dark days of the Holocaust with the current situation and the efforts taken by the Israeli government to protect its citizens, the statement read. We would like to apologize if someone understood our message the wrong way.

Really? As though it would have been possible to interpret it as anything but what it was: an accusation that Israel was turning its back on victimized men, women, and children under threat of annihilation in their country of origin, and a plea for the Jewish state and its citizens to remember how that particular type of rejection felt during World War II.

The chutzpah is startling, though not surprising, given the regime that Dai serves. You know, the one that commits Nazi-like atrocities against members of its society with impunity and without batting an eyelash.

These barbaric acts include the holding of more than a million Muslims in concentration camps, where they are subjected to torture, forced organ removal, and abortions, among other medical experiments.

Indeed, on the one hand, Dai was engaging in the all-too-common practice of singling out Israel for condemnation while the rest of the worlds countries, particularly his own, not only have been scrambling to contain the deadly virus, but are adopting policies to keep it from continuing to cross borders. On the other, he was being a loyal Communist diplomat, spewing strategic propaganda with a purpose, part of which is to deflect from some inconvenient truths.

Among these is Beijings desperate attempt to downplay the number of its citizens who have contracted the virus and lie about the death toll. This is clear from the way in which huge swaths of the population are forbidden from leaving their homes without face masks which have all but run out due to the demand that outweighs the supply and arrested violently by police if they fail to do so.

In stark contrast, Israel is trying to be both proactive and productive. Where the former is concerned, Chinese citizens landing at Ben-Gurion International Airport are sent back home (or elsewhere), and Israelis returning from China are required to remain under self-imposed house quarantine for two weeks.

As for the latter: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tasked Israels Institute for Biological Research and Health Ministry with developing a vaccine for the coronavirus. Of course.

Meanwhile, at the request of Chabad in China, Magen David Adom Israels national emergency and ambulance service sent 2,000 face masks and 200 full-body protection kits to the Peoples Republic. Natch.

Dai, his embassy staff, and the regime in Beijing should be thankingIsrael, not pretending to rue outlandish remarks about the Holocaust.

Ruthie Blum is an Israel-based journalist and author of To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the Arab Spring.

See more here:

Corona, Chinese Oppression, and the Chinese Ambassador's Holocaust Chutzpah - Algemeiner

Back in 1987, recently divorced and about to turn 30, I was looking for a change of scenery and that's how I found Burlington, Vermont. Along with radio veterans Louie Manno and the late Jim Condon, I found myself working at a hole-in-the-wall AM station, WKDR.

As a side note, Manno and Condon, arguably the most talented duo I would ever know in more than 40 years in the business, eventually went on to buy the station and had tremendous success as independent owners of a local AM radio station. Both are Hall of Fame broadcasters.

Big changes were going on in radio back then. Government deregulation meant single and corporate owners could swallow up multiple stations in radio markets all over the country. Many of the rules that governed the broadcast industry were being relaxed. Syndication was coming of age. Ah, technology.

All of this wonderful technology meant the beginning of the end for broadcasting as we knew it. MTV had hatched and videoindeed did kill the radio star.

Satellite meant that corporate could eliminate local programming and all the costs associated with employing local people. AM radio appeared to be doomed as the new radio station owners thought the only profits in radio were to be had on FM with its larger sound and wider reach.

Then we got a call one day from the West Coast. This guy named Rush Limbaugh was putting together a nationally syndicated talk program and was looking for affiliates. He had nothing to offer and was willing to barter. In other words, we could run the show for free and sell local commercial sponsorships as long as we played his ads as well.

Rush called me and the others at home several times back then to consult about our market's needs and whether we could be counted on to commit to his program. After all, Stan Lipp had been doing his Open Line program on WBSM in New Bedford and there were other shows like his, but nothing currently on the air was quite like what Rush Limbaugh was proposing to do: a hardcore, in-your-face conservative broadcast. Talk radio as we now know it was born and AM radio was saved from obscurity.

Rush Limbaugh had a vision and a purpose for what AM radio could be and he used it to draw many millions of new listeners to a medium that most had left for dead. Without Rush Limbaugh, there would be no talk radio as we know it.

Rush also brought conservatism and traditional American values back into vogue and taught many of us that it is okay to view America and Americans as exceptional. That honoring God, country, and freedom from government oppression never goes out of style. His contributions to our nation have been immeasurable.

Rush Limbaugh informed us on Monday that he has advanced lung cancer. Beating this will not be easy but if ever there was someone who could, it would be Rush.

Thank you for all you have done for America, Rush. We are praying for you and your family.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

Read more from the original source:

Rush Saved AM Radio with Conservative Talk [OPINION] - wbsm.com

To The Editor:

Scientists know that First Nations people have lived in what is now Canada for at least 12,000 years.

Europeans arrived about 500 years ago and colonized the land. At first, Indigenous people were treated as allies. As more and more settlers arrived from Europe and the demand for land increased, administrators began to regard First Nations populations as dependents and an impediment to growth and prosperity. This began decades of legislated assimilation.

The laws of Indigenous peoples, including the Wetsuweten, predate those of Canada, are equally authoritative, and are entitled to respect. The Crown has a moral duty to engage in good faith negotiations with the Wetsuweten to resolve the issue of ownership and jurisdiction over their ancestral lands. These negotiations must be recognized as being between two systems of legal and political authority.

Denial of Indigenous rights cannot continue just because it inconveniences so-called economic development by self-interested governments. If Indigenous people do not have the right to veto pipeline projects impacting their lands and waters, who does?

I want Canadian provinces and the Federal government to stop basing their economies on the oppression of Indigenous peoples rights.

Aboriginal land title issues must be resolved.

Michael Jessen, Nelson, BC

Read more here:

Letter: We must resolve aboriginal land title issues - The Nelson Daily

Donald Trump's "Middle East plan" has fully adopted the Israeli agenda and ignores the fundamental problem that has continued for more than 70 years.

Palestinians are not striving to improve the conditions of their imprisonment, we want the return of our refugees and the end of the occupation.

As it is, Palestinians are trapped, with very little freedom of movement and no voice to tell our side of the story. That is not going to change with this "deal", especially when the international community turns a blind eye to the reality on the ground for ordinary people.

I feel the isolation that Palestinians are subjected to most painfully when I travel. What I love most about travelling is the freedom of movement; being able to get in a car, listen to music and just set off.

But, more than 70 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulated the right to freedom of movement, this is not something most Palestinians can contemplate.

People around the world, who may not even know they have this defined right, exercise it on a daily basis. But for those living in the Palestinian territoriesessentially a detention camp surrounded by fences, walls and military towersto try is to risk your life.

In Gaza and the West Bank, a person's ability to travel is conditional upon obtaining a permit from the Israeli government and then going on a waiting list administered by Gaza'sMinistry of the Interior. As a result, the vast majority of Gazans have not left the Strip since the Israeli blockade began in 2007. The decision to travel is usually made only in cases of extreme need, such as for urgent medical treatment.

A few months ago, I received an invitation from NOVACT, the International Institute for Nonviolent Action, which is based in Spain, to take part in a speaking tour, in conjunction with a number of other civil organisations, about the situation in Gaza. I was asked to give talks in Belgium, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, France and Slovenia. This invitation was the reason I was granted a Schengen visa and as soon as I got it, I registered my name on the travel waiting list in Gaza.

I waited for two months.

The conversations I had with my European colleagues during this time perfectly summed up the differences in our experiences and expectations.

They needed to schedule my activities.

"On what day?" they would ask.

"I cannot say," I would reply. "It is not in my control."

"Ok, so in which week?" they would respond.

"I don't know that, either," I would tell them. "Plans can only be made when I have actually left Gaza."

"So in which month will that be?"

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"Maybe in December, maybe January. When I am able to travel, I will let you know."

When I eventually got permission to travel, the experience was one of joy tinged with sorrow that others from my country could not enjoy this simple right.

On the road from Germany to the Czech Republic, and later from the Czech Republic to Austria, I saw no borders to tell me that I was entering a new country. The only thing that informed me was the welcome message I received from my telecom provider on my mobile phone.

I could pass through European airports without registration, waiting lists or lengthy interrogations; I could disembark from a plane and head to the exit gate without being stopped by a security officer. It was a shock.

Dozens of activists I met in Europe told me they had visited Palestine. The thought that they had roamed our cities, learned about our culture, tasted our food and felt the warmth of our sun, always made me feel good. "Did you visit Gaza?" I would ask them. "No, only the West Bank," they would invariably reply, "Israel would not give us permission to visit Gaza."

Not only are Gazans locked in, but others are locked out. And this isolation is killing us and our story. When people do not know us, when they do not see our reality, the chances of them standing in solidarity with us are diminished.

During my tour of Europe, I saw first-hand what it means when Palestinians in Gaza cannot tell their story. I was repeatedly asked by people who knew nothing of the long history of Jews being an important part of the fabric of Arab society, why Arabs were so hostile to Jews.

I was probed about the role of Hamas inthe Great March of Return -peaceful Friday protests by Palestiniansand whether this was the reason the Israeli army had used excessive force against the demonstrators. I replied that, according to the OCHA, 213 Palestinians had been killed since the demonstrations began in March 2018 and more than 36,000 injured, many of whom have been left with permanent disabilities. In contrast, no Israelis had died.

I was asked why we did not just make peace with the Israelis. But peace is not something the victims of occupation, displacement and oppression can initiate, I replied.

Now, as Trump's new Middle East plan silences the voices of Palestinians, our stories, our realities, more than ever, Europe has a decision to make.

The EU has for years expressed its "deep concerns" over Israel's targeted killings and illegal settlements.But pro-Palestinian activists increasingly face censure and restrictions in European countries.

Last May, Germany passed a symbolic resolution designating the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as anti-Semiticeven though the movement's demands are based on international law and the methods it uses are peaceful.

In December, the French parliament passed a resolution that labelled anti-Zionism a form of anti-Semitism.

Europe today faces a real test: Will it value the principles of freedom of opinion, expression and movement and the international law that underpins theseor will it help in the continued silencing and stifling of Palestinians?

If Europe and the international community get behind Trump's Middle East plana plan in which the Palestinians have no saythe answer will be clear.

Continue reading here:

Trapped and Voiceless: The Palestinians Depicted in Trump's Plan - Common Dreams

The phrase the Emerald Isle to describe Ireland is well known but what may not be as well known is that the man who is credited with first using the phrase was a doctor, poet and founder member of the Society of United Irishmen. His name was William Drennan and he died 200 years ago on February 5th.

He was born in May 1754 in Rosemary Street in Belfast where his father, Rev Thomas Drennan, was minister of the First Presbyterian Church there. The father had been educated at the University of Glasgow and his religious convictions had a strong influence on his sons radical ideas. Of his father, he later wrote: I am the son of an honest man, a minister of that gospel which breathes peace and goodwill among men, a Protestant Dissenting minister, in the town of Belfast, whose spirit I am accustomed to look up to, in every trying situation, as my mediator and intercessor in heaven.

William Drennan followed his fathers example by enrolling in the University of Glasgow in 1769, where his main interest was philosophy. Having graduated in arts, he went on to study medicine at Edinburgh. Following graduation, he practised in Belfast, specialising in obstetrics. He is said to have been among the first advocates of inoculation against smallpox and of handwashing to stop infection spreading.

Like many of his fellow Ulster Presbyterians, Drennan supported the American colonists in their battle for independence from Britain and while practising in Belfast and then Newry, he joined the Volunteer movement that had been set up to defend against a possible French invasion of Ireland.

The Volunteers grew into a strong representative force which came to reflect a form of Protestant nationalism, campaigning for political reform in Ireland.

This resulted in Henry Grattan and others achieving a measure of legislative independence for the Irish parliament in Dublin in 1782.

However, Drennan soon lost hope in that parliaments willingness to go far enough along the road to reform and he came to national attention in the mid-1780s with the publication of his Letter of Orellana, an Irish Helot, which advocated radical political reform, Catholic Emancipation and other civil rights. He went on to plan, with others, for the establishment of an organisation that would bring these changes about.

He had moved to Dublin in 1789 and two years later he and his brother-in-law, Sam McTier, wrote the manifesto of what became known as the Society of United Irishmen, which Drennan co-founded with Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, Samuel Neilson, Henry Joy McCracken and others. It was inspired by the ideas of the French Revolution and Thomas Paines Rights of Man.

With Britain at war with France from 1793, the Dublin Castle authorities feared the United Irishman would foment revolution in Ireland and Drennan was arrested on a charge of seditious libel in 1794 over an address he had written for the Dublin Society of United Irishmen.

His lawyer secured his acquittal but government oppression was turning the United Irishmen into an underground, secret movement and driving it towards violent rebellion.

Although Drennan wrote The Wake of William Orr after the hanging in 1797 of a Co Antrim farmer for allegedly administering the United Irishman oath, he gradually withdrew from the movement and took no part in the 1798 Rebellion. However, he strongly opposed the Act of Union.

In 1800, he married Sarah Swanick, a wealthy Englishwoman from Shropshire. They had a daughter and four sons. He returned to Belfast in 1806, retired from medicine but remained active on many fronts, among which was founding and editing the radical Belfast Monthly Magazine. Believing in non-sectarian education, he co-founded the Belfast Academical Institution in 1810. It was a pioneering attempt to bring secondary and higher-level education to the city to students from across the religious divide but, unfortunately, did not achieve that ultimate goal.

Although not prolific, he wrote some memorable and moving poems, among them When Erin First Rose, with that first reference in print to this island which has endured: Nor one feeling of vengeance presume to defile/ The cause, or the men, of the Emerald Isle.

Before his death in 1820, and in keeping with the principles by which he lived his life, he directed that his coffin be carried by an equal number of Catholics and Protestants, with clergy from different denominations officiating.

Among his illustrious descendants were Thomas Andrews, who drew up the plans for the Titanic and perished on its maiden voyage, and JM Andrews, second prime minister of Northern Ireland.

Read more here:

Star of the Emerald Isle An Irishmans Diary on William Drennan - The Irish Times

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has the childhood story that many politicians dream of. Shegrew up in a middle-class neighborhood with Puerto Rican parents. She lived in the Bronx, a poor borough, and worked hard growing up. She won secondplace at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in high schooland gotan asteroid named after her for her accomplishment. She was quite the overachiever, andbecame involved in the National Hispanic Institutes Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session. She ended up serving as the Lorenzo de Zavala Secretary of State in college, became a John F. Lopez internand interned for Sen. Ted Kennedy before graduating Cum Laudefrom Boston University.

On top of that, her father died when she was 17. While the scope of financial disarray is unclear, her family struggled financially. After college, she took a few low-wage jobsbartendingand waitressingto help her family throughthe strugglebut remained activetrying to serve her community. She helped establish a publishing firm that aimed to paint the Bronx in a positive light. After that, she helped organize aspects of Bernie Sanders 2016campaign. She saw injustice at Standing Rock, and her stand with indigenous communities inspired her to attain a type of position of authority. She ran in her district against an incumbent who hadnt been primaried since 2004, and was heavily outspent, but won,eventually becoming the youngest person ever elected to Congress. Theres no doubt in my mind that she is a bright and eloquent lady.

But Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez representsa duality ofboth our bright mindsand our arrogance our lack of contextual knowledgeand our unwillingnessto accept harsh criticism. Living in New York City and being insulated from foreign affairs leaves her woefully underprepared to engage with critical listeners. She stated that Israel is occupying Palestine, and that massacres are happening there, yet whenpressed about it admits shes not an expert. She does not differentiate between Gaza and the Palestinian Authority, showing ignorance about the complexity of the geopolitical situation. Instead, the issue is simplified to massacres, powerand oppression. Her rhetoric is especially harmful to Jewish Americans when ICE facilities are compared to concentration camps. I do not believe Alexandra is anti-Semitic, but her ignorance about Jewish issues and the importance of Never Again is deeply troubling.

While ignorance can be challenged by facts and a willingness to learn, Ocasio-Cortez seems unwilling to do so. Lacy Clay, a Democratic representative said:,Youre [Ocasio-Cortez]getting push back so you resort to using the race card? Unbelievable, in response to accusations of racism when Nancy Pelosi challenged the squad because of their lack of cooperation. Another issue Ocasio-Cortez seems not to have a sophisticated view on is rent control, considering that she wants to expand a failed policy nation-wide. This is especially disturbing considering she majored in economicsbut disagrees with the economic consensus. Her lack of economic knowledge is more pronounced when one understands heraffinity for Modern Monetary Theory, a belief that the Federal government cannot go broke because it prints its own money, a policy that plays fast and loose with facts, and is shunned by nearly all academic economists.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a symbol of both ire and inspiration because we can see ourselves as her. Wetry to overachieve, life is hard, and working unpleasant jobssucks. The job market is not ideal after college, and life seems unfair. However, Alexandria leads us down a path of fanciful ignorance where what we want can be accomplished if we elect someone who understands us where stories are simple withone groupoppressed, where signing a bill can solve a social problem.

When onewakes up from la-la land and seesthe human cost of poorly thought-out economic policy, the wax around socialism will have melted and well have sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual writers in the opinion section do not reflect the views and opinions of The Daily Campus or other staff members. Only articles labeled Editorial are the official opinions of The Daily Campus.

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Ocasio, Don't Fly Too Close to the Sun: How Alexandria both inspires and draws ire. - UConn Daily Campus

What happened on Tuesday: Opposition hits out at Centre, says CAA used to divert attention from economic issues

The Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday tore into the government, accusing it of hiding the real picture of economy and creating "destructive" issues like the CAA and the NRC to polarise the society and divert attention from key challenges like economic slowdown, farm distress and unemployment.

As the House took up the debate on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, the BJP launched a frontal attack on opposition parties specially the Congress for their stance against the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying they were trying to divide the nation.

Initiating the debate, senior BJP leader Bhupender Yadav accused the Congress and the Aam Adami Party of giving "moral support" to Shaheen Bagh stir and said young minds were "poisoned through hate-filled speeches" in the name of freedom of expression during the anti-CAA protests. He said none of these leaders or parties supporting the protests have raised issues of atrocities against minorities in Islamic nations and were busy politicising the issue for petty self interest.

Hitting back, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Triple Talaq, CAA, NPR issues are being talked about by you to divert attention on key issues of unemployment, black money, slow GDP growth. "Your ideas or proposals are not constructive but destructive."

Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray alleged that the government is using the name of Mahatma Gandhi to hide its "camouflaged agenda of religious persecution and division" through CAA and NRC.

Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena, a former ally of the BJP, alleged that an atmosphere of hate is being created to break the country and there is a "civil-war like situation". On the agitation against the CAA, Raut said the protesters are citizens of this country and the government should sit with them and allay their fears.

More:

Parliament: Opposition trying to block refugee to minority under oppression in Pakistan, says BJP - India Today

In the past year, Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman is part of the left. A few years ago, this leftist proposed a plan that was far-reaching even by the racist standards of the day. Liebermans 2015 slogan, Ariel to Israel, Umm al-Fahm to Palestine, threatened 20 percent of Israeli citizens with transfer and created symmetry between the oppressed minority and the illegal settlement enterprise.

Incitement and delegitimization have since become the sole language spoken by Netanyahu governments. But the idea of transferring hundreds of thousands of residents from the Little Triangle and revoking their citizenship is a new height. At bottom, the transfers goal is racist: reducing the number of Arab citizens, weakening their position and their struggle for equality. The Mideast peace plan the love child of U.S. President Donald Trump and Netanyahu contemplates the possibility, subject to agreement of the parties ... that the Triangle Communities [will] become part of the State of Palestine.

Trumps Unreal Deal: No Peace, No Plan, No Palestinians, No Point. Listen to Haaretz's podcast

A euphemism such as land swaps can be used, but imagine how residents of Kafr Qara, Taibeh or Baqa al-Garbiyeh feel when they hear the prime minister toying with the idea of placing their homes outside the borders of the state. Will a doctor living in Taibeh and working at Kfar Savas Meir Hospital have to quit? Perhaps the medical establishment will provide transportation to and from the new border crossings. This is what oppression of the demographic majority looks like.

Arab citizens are not pawns in the hands of Netanyahu and Trump. We are citizens by dint of having lived here from time immemorial. In a state that respects its citizens, even changes to municipal boundaries require the approval of residents. And remember: Many residents of the Triangle own land at a distance from their homes, as well as land from which they were dispossessed.

Many residents of Umm al-Fahm, where I was born, are refugees from the abandoned village of Lajjun, to which they still demand, rightfully, to return. The total area owned by Umm al-Fahm residents today is less than 20 percent of what it was in 1948. Its the same in all the Triangle communities. Trumps peace plan would deny these people their historical rights.

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin claimed, in the arrogance reserved for overlords, that Israels Arab community will need to decide between its Palestinian identity and citizenship, as if these are contradictory. We are citizens fighting for full equality, civil and national, and we are proud of our Palestinian identity. Haifa and Jaffa are part of our homeland, no less than Nablus. This is the legacy the Nakba generation left us, and which we will leave for our children. When I was born, Lieberman was still in Moldova.

There is great irony in the claim that we enjoy complaining while also enjoying the delights of the government in Israel. As if citizenship is a favor the right granted us either transfer, like replacing a passport, or shoved into living under Israeli military rule in Palestinian Bantustans. Our fight for equality is long and stubborn, and I am proud of our community, which has stood firm despite systematic persecution, discrimination and exclusion.

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Those who want to transfer us see all Arab citizens of Israel as a fifth column, demographic threat or security risk. They view their plans for the Triangle as only the beginning. They seek to do the exact same thing to the entire Arab population of Israel, thus placing our citizenship in doubt. Hundreds of thousands of Arab citizens live in the Triangle, and in all of Israel there are over 1.5 million Arab citizens, in what remained of their homeland. Netanyahu and Trumps annexation plans include a section that prepares the ground for their transfer and the revocation of their citizenship.

Netanyahu is more dangerous now than ever before, and he will do anything to stay in power. The right-wing government is going crazy. Every Israeli citizen, Jewish or Arab, who is guided by the principles of democracy and equality, must fight alongside us. In the Israel of 2020, the right thing to do is to stand in solidarity with the Arab community on behalf of democratic and human values. There is enough room for all of us.

Yousef Jabareen, a Knesset member from the Joint List, lives in Umm al-Fahm.

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Israel's Arab citizens aren't pawns in the hands of Netanyahu and Trump - Haaretz

Voice raised in Kashmir rally against Modi govt

LAHORE:A rally was held under the leadership of Provincial Industries and Trade Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal to show complete solidarity with the Kashmiri people at Faisal Chowk on The Mall.

The rally participants earlier gathered in Samnabad and then marched to Faisal Chowk. A large number of people from different walks of life participated in the rally. The enthusiastic participants expressed their complete solidarity with the Kashmiris. They raised flags of Pakistan and Kashmir and chanting slogans in support of Kashmiri people.

Addressing the participants, Mian Aslam Iqbal said that Modi government had exceeded all limits of inflicting atrocities on innocent and unarmed Kashmiri people. The Kashmiris endured every tyranny and cruelty of India with great courage and fortitude, he added.

Prime Minister Imran Khan by becoming the voice of Kashmiri people has raised Kashmir issue at every national and international forum. The sacrifices of brave Kashmiris for attaining independence will definitely bear fruit and undue forceful occupation by India on Kashmir will end soon, he maintained. The sun of Kashmir liberation will rise soon. With the independence of Kashmir, India will also face dismemberment, the minister said. The minorities living in India have started raising their voice against Narendra Modi due the inhuman treatment Modi government meted out to them.

Pakistan is incomplete without Kashmir as Kashmir is its jugular vein. Pakistani people by coming out have shown their complete support to the Kashmiris and also voiced a strong message that they were standing with their Kashmiri brethren in their time of trial and sufferings. We will stand with our Kashmiri brothers and sisters till our last breath, concluded Aslam Iqbal.

India has become example of false democracy: Provincial Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid in her message on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day has said that Narendra Modi by exceeding all limits of inflicting cruelty and oppression on innocent Kashmiris has brought forward his obnoxious and ugly face before the world. India has become an example of false democracy and barbarity.

Modi by getting his inner beast out of him has stained his hands with the blood of thousands of Kashmiris, she lamented. The oppression inflicted by the Indian government on the unarmed Kashmiri people is being widely condemned across the world. Kashmir will become Pakistan is the common slogan being chanted by everyone, she emphasised, the minister said.

Narendra Modi by seizing the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris is making a futile attempt to forcefully impose his oppressive government. The excellent strategy being adopted by Pakistan Army has saved the region of great calamity.

Yasmin Rashid said, Kashmir Solidarity Day is the day to express our complete determination to liberate Indian-Occupied Kashmir. Auqaf Department: A rally was taken out by Auqaf Department to express solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir and against Indian atrocities, on Wednesday. DG Auqaf, MS Data Darbar Hospital, religious scholars and a large number of the employees of the department participated in the rally which started from Aiwan-e-Auqaf to Punjab Assembly led by Secretary Auqaf Gulzar Hussain Shah.

The participants were carrying banners and placards inscribed different slogans in support of Kashmiris and against Indian government. They were also carrying flags of AJK and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a religious group took out a rally to express solidarity with people of occupied Kashmir. People from different walks of life and workers participated in the rally which started from Lahore Press Club Chowk and ended at the Punjab Assembly. The participants were carrying banners and placards inscribed with different slogans against Modi government. Addressing on the occasion, divisional president Sardar Muhammad Tahir Dogar strongly condemned the brutalities committed on innocent Kashmiris by the Indian government. He said that Pakistan was incomplete without Kashmir.

See the rest here:

Voice raised in Kashmir rally against Modi govt - The News International

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For the first time in 72 years after independence there are protests taking place in more than 130 cities of the country enormous no of public protests against CAA, NPR, & NRC have been going on for the past 50 days. The worlds largest 620-km-long human chain in Kolkata, 11km of human chain, in Delhi Lucknow, Allahabad, Prayag, Mumbai, Kochi, Patna, Guwahati are among those dozens of cities where women came out with their infants in their laps & children around them in the coldest season of the year to participate in the sitting protests. The peaceful protest of women in Delhis Shaheen-Bagh has earned it a unique place of respect, honor & fame it has become symbolic with the democratic approach & March in the world like the Hyde Park.

The BJP is trying to thwart and shut down the protests in various states and areas under its rule & influence, that is not proving to be very useful. BJP in Karnataka, Assam and other states is making use of the Black Law of UAPA against peaceful protesters. In fact, all the BJP ruled states have been converted into a police state. Protests are also underway in the eastern states. All 10 universities in these states have been closed by students.

Read more:Large scale embezzlement in the Central Financial Budget

The government has Engaged its complete the administration and the judiciary and there has been a series of cases of abuses of power by the public servants and atrocities have been recorded against the peacefully protesting citizens & of India and in some cases even against those who are not at involved in the protest just because of belonging to Muslim community:

In a speech, Sharjeel Imam, a student at Jawaharlal Nehru University, highlighted the nature of the protests in the northeastern states how it should be only, saying that if the 22-kilometer road connecting Guwahati was closed, the wheel would be jammed. Serious accusations were made of treason against the country and there was a controversy in the media. On mere statement, the court handed Sharjeel into police remand for five days.

Famous comedian Kunal Kamra asked Arnab Goswamy of Republic TV on Indigo Flight some harsh questions, the move infuriated the Sangh Parivar that resulted in banning of Kunal Kamras air travel through DGCA for 6 months. Dr. Kafil, who is a Child Specialist at Government Hospital, Gorakhpur. Who helped the sick children by arranging the payment privately to the supplier some times ago, when 60 children were killed due to lack of oxygen cylinder in supply due to non- payment of previous bills to the supplier by the UP Government of Aditya Nath Yogi, He was arrested on false charges and imprisoned for several months. As soon as he arrived in Mumbai to participate in the Mumbai protests against the NPR / CAA, he was arrested by UP police with the help of Maharashtra Police. I am afraid the police will kill me in an encounter, Dr. Kafil said at the time of his arrest.

The foremost problem is not including Muslims in CAA!!! You have passed a law giving citizenship passports to all Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Christians, and Sikhs who came from neighboring countries. What about the Muslim refugees coming from these three countries or other neighboring countries?

On the one hand they are giving citizenship to the believers of these 6 religions and on the other hand Muslims are being handcuffed & are being pushed into the detention centers and are being tortured.

According to international law, illegal resident citizen cannot be held in any prison for more than 3-6 months. Muslims have been rotting in jails here for 6 and 8 years. In more than 200 foreigners Tribunal in Assam that are transferring 90% of Muslims to Bangladeshi refugee camps. In the name of F/T a week & vague systems of justice is being run which is mocks are the system of Justice. To smear the eyes of the world the RSS is pretending to run court but in fact it is nothing but a drama to display to the world that they have fulfilled the required standards of delivering justice. The torture of more than 6 million Muslim families will destroy in the next few months. This is the result of a conspiratorial plot of the political party, the administration & the judiciary, based on the worst sectarian hatred in the Indian history.

(4) In the year 2002 Anti- Muslim riots in Gujarat, claimed more than 3,000 Muslim lives several hundred women & under aged girls were raped. It was through these riots that Narender Modi and Amit Shah became political heroes of Hindutva Ideology and took the politics of the country into their own hands. For those killers who were sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court, the Supreme Court acted as a messiah and on January 28 ordered to release all 22 criminals like Pragya Thakur, Colonel Prohit, Swami Asima Nand, Vanjiyar and Amin. In 2013, there were Anti-Muslim riots in Muzaffarnagar in which 67 people were killed and more than 100 women were raped. More than 300 people were charged. On July 20, 2019, the court acquitted all the accused. In addition to that, 200 other people who were accused of instigating riots all the cases against them have been withdrawn by the UPs BJP government through a special decree. When there are no criminals and no accused where the victims are coming from and why the riots are taking place & who repeatedly massacres Muslims in this country? These are invisible forces which are not visible to the police administration and political masters.

RSS has succeeded in the last 40 years to a great extent in spreading the message that every Hindu in the country is innocent. And every Muslim is a habitual criminal and extremist. Hundreds of examples are before us today which support this theory:

Apart from protest against NRC, NPR, CAA, in our country, protest are going on as well in the United States, Europe, and other countries where the Indians are holding strong protests and the international community has openly criticized the Indian government for its Black Laws which have been introduced recently.

The richest man in the world, George Soros, who owns more than 36% of the worlds banks, openly criticized Indias BJP government, stating that Kashmir was a Muslim-majority state which was stripped of its special status. And by imposing citizenship laws against Muslims, the Hindutva force is making Muslims suffer according to their agenda.

Of the 752 European Union parliamentarians, 650 were set to approve the resolution against the NPR / CAA. The government of India using its international Israeli lobby to stop the resolution of the European Parliament on the very last day from taking place the European parliament has postponed it for next three months. The Indian people were delighted that the pressure against CAA would increase globally and that the government would revise these black laws and bring about change. Amit Shahs assertion can be gauged by saying we are not moving even an inch backward on the CAA and NPR.

Analysts say that after the results of the Delhi elections, the government will curb its steel fist torture and end the protests in the country. Under serious charges like Assam, UP, Karnataka (UAPA) will file cases for Damage Control. The government still has 4 years at its disposal, Police, army, lawmakers have been using their powers extensively for four years on a large scale at national level It has the power to suppress the protests with full force.

It is not the style of the BJP government to talk to the opposition, or protesters to revive democratic values. The RSS believes in weakening and destroying minorities through the oppression of every kind. For 6 months, ordinary Kashmiri citizens have been detained in thousands of prisons. Political leaders, who have no charges, are kept in lockdown. More than 12,000 innocent children have been locked in concentration camps, saying it is going to be a childrens rehabilitation camp. The way the central government is dealing with innocent people, it will have to suffer its consequences in the future.

Those who continue to fight for the protection of their constitutional rights are doing a tremendous work; peace remains in protests for the survival of democracy, Minorities will remain protected as long as their basic rights remain protected. There has been a series of amendments to the Constitution, secular intellectuals, social activists, lawyers, politicians, but also people from all walks of life have raised their voice to save Indias secular role. It is a consciousness that if we are not successful today in abolishing these black laws today, we will surely succeed tomorrow.

By Mr. Nazimuddin Farooqi

(Scholar, Senior Analyst, Columnist, Opinion Leader, and Social worker)

Summary

Article Name

Democracy at the cusp of hatred and sectarianism

Description

The peaceful protest of women in Delhis Shaheen-Bagh has earned it a unique place of respect, honor & fame it has become symbolic with the democratic approach & March in the world like the Hyde Park.

Author

Mr. Nazimuddin Farooqui

Publisher Name

TPT News Agencies

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Democracy at the cusp of hatred and sectarianism - thepolicytimes.com

The Adara in the state of Kaduna have attributed the longstanding crises in the region to their continued opposition and resistance to promote the interests of Muslims, Fulani, Hausa and the North at the expense of other ethnicities.

They believed that the pursuit of enforcement, maintenance, strengthening, consolidation, legitimation, institutionalization and maintenance of the dominance of Muslims, Fulani and Hausa was responsible for most of the crisis in the north and also in Nigeria as a whole.

A memorandum from the Adara Development Association [ADA] to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the government of the state of Kaduna on the crisis in Kachia, Kajuru, Chikun and the surrounding communities stated: It started in the pre-colonial period when the Muslims of the Fulani Against smaller or weaker settlements and communities on the Jihad, this has continued until today. When the British colonized northern Nigeria, they forced the ruling class of the Muslim Fulani for their own political reasons to conquer conquered and unconquered communities.

This allowed the ruling class of the Muslim Fulani to gain formal authority and total dominance over northern Nigeria under the indirect system of rule. The Alliance of Muslims of Fulani and Hausa has used their privileged positions to promote the interests of Muslims, Fulani, Hausa and the North at the expense of other ethnic groups.

Therefore, the pursuit of enforcement, maintenance, strengthening, consolidation, legitimation, institutionalization and maintenance of this rule is responsible for most of the crisis in the north and also for Nigeria as a whole.

The situation has led to continued resistance and resistance from the victims of the agreement. The Muslim alliance Hausa / Fulani and its collaborators, however, respond with more domination, discrimination, persecution, oppression, oppression and oppression, using religious, social, administrative, political, economic, educational and even violent strategies.

The crisis, unrest, violence and instability that has plagued South Kaduna and the Middle Belt region in general is a direct result of the struggle for domination that leads to resistance.

As part of this opposition and resistance, the Adara people said, We are here to insist that this vicious cycle is unacceptable, inhuman, unbearable, unjustifiable, immoral, unconstitutional and no longer sustainable.

The Adara pointed out that the immediate causes of the identified crisis were the failure of the governors of the north, resistance to the burden of decades of rule, the effects of previous crises in other communities, the political and physical destruction of the Adara nation, and maltreatment of the governors in the north are the first serious attack on the actions and actions of the Adara community and the government in general.

The Adara people said: This commission was set up by a government under whose watchful eyes the Adara nation has suffered its greatest setbacks and humiliations in Nigeria after independence, presumably from non-state actors.

The government also took the most insensitive and draconian political and administrative measures against the Adara community immediately after very tragic incidents hit people. The arrest and detention of Adara community leaders therefore appears to be a repeat of what happened after the 1992 Zangon Kataf market riots. Just as a judicial commission has been set up to condemn the leaders of the Atyap community, it also looks rather grim that the government wants to use this commission to do the same to Adara Nation.

Given the history of this government in relation to the Adara community, we would therefore like to urge the Commission and the general public to be vigilant so that the negative story cannot be repeated.

We doubt the governments sincerity and ultimate goal, as several commissions and committees have been set up and white papers have been issued in recent years, all of which have not been used to adequately address the growing social problems.

In what the population described as utter disregard for their will, the government of the state of Kaduna undermined the electoral process.

They complained: In 2015 and 2018, Governor El-Rufai appointed sole administrative officials to replace the elected councilors. Elected local leaders were violently prevented from taking office in Kajuru, and unelected individuals imposed by the governor against the will of the people.

The government officials have mobilized money to overthrow an Adara son in the heartland of Adara in the Bishini district in favor of half a Fulani man who did not even win the constituency in the 2019 House of Representatives elections in Kachia / Kagarko Federal. These leaders are absolutely not accountable to the people and owe and do fidelity to those who have appointed them.

The state and local government institutions are not accountable to the people of Chikun, Kachia and Kajuru because they were not elected by them. They are used to trample the right of law-abiding citizens.

Security services have enabled people in the Chikun, Kaujuru and Kachia communities to be killed, their villages destroyed, and the people displaced from their settlements. Complaints or reports of attacks or upcoming attacks have not been noted.

Unregulated Adara country, like most other ethnic minorities in southern Kaduna, cried long before it was underdeveloped. Complaints include the one-sided and unjust distribution of socio-economic projects, infrastructures, facilities, services and opportunities.

The Adara people further complained: Another complaint is the creation of very unfavorable administrative and political structures with which already disadvantaged and marginalized social groups are to be further weakened politically and economically and at the same time to protect special interests. This happens when creating or adjusting the boundaries of states, local government districts, federal, state, and local government districts, polling stations, and even chiefdoms, districts, and village areas.

Adara-Land was deliberately divided into two states, three senate districts, three federal constituencies, at least three state constituencies, about four local government districts, and most recently three chiefdoms / emirates, in which they have no control over the political process. This agreement balkanized the Adara people so that they had little or no political and economic influence in almost all of them.

The political and physical destruction of the Adara nation in the state of Kaduna is the immediate cause of the suffering of the Adara.

They added: The one-sided change in the name of Adara Chiefdom to Kachia Chiefdom and the title of Agom Adara to Agom Kachia, the drastic reduction in districts and district heads in Adara Chiefdom from twenty-six to three, and a similar reduction in village areas and village heads. All of this was done against the will and consent of the Adara people and against the written protests and objections of the Adara Traditional Council and the Adara people.

The dissolution of the Adara chief, the division of Adara land in the state of Kaduna, the alleged creation of the Kachia chief, and the subordination of Adara land and the people in the local government of Kajuru to the Kajuru emirate. These are unprecedented injustices committed against the Adara nation that the Adara nation and all people with conscience have rejected as unfair, vengeful and dictatorial, and still reject.

The kidnapping and eventual murder of Agom Adara, Maiwada Galadima. This is extremely painful as the Adara community has been deceived by the governors personal assurance to Agom Adaras wife that he will be released immediately. In addition, there was a deception by the security authorities that a rescue operation was imminent and a warning to the young people in Adara to stay away from the bushes to which Agom Adara was taken by the kidnappers. With the benefit of the rear view, it is now clear that the nation of Adara has been tempted not to save its traditional ruler, because of its humiliation and eventual murder, which the government immediately after the murder of Agom Adara III. Has shown to facilitate.

The Adara people were of the opinion that an essential factor for the current unhealthy political environment in the country is the perceived core position of the federal government in the north.

The evidence that is often cited is the sluggish occupation of public offices, particularly sensitive ones, and other sensitive issues that have led to uncertainty in most parts of the country, the people claimed.

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Kaduna crisis: The Adara community reveals the reasons for the ongoing unrest in Kachia, Kajuru, Chikun and others - The Media Hq

King believed humanity could achieve a "higher synthesis" that rose above the social relations of capitalism and communism.

"Black self-determination was seen by the ruling class as a great communist conspiracy."

The annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is politically meaningless because it is defined by the very power structure that assassinated both his physical life and his radical legacy. To this day, King is remembered by most Americans as the "I Have a Dream" figure who sought peaceful coexistence with a racist power structure also known as the United States government. This narrative has not only benefited the ruling class and the privileges of white Americans but also the Black misleadership class which utilizes King's sanitized legacy as a cover of legitimacy for their political service to the bourgeoisie. It should come as no surprise, then, that the historical moment from which King's work arose has also been distorted by the U.S. ruling class. While publications such as Teen Vogueand public intellectuals likeCornel Westhave brought attention to King's anti-war and anti-capitalist history, fewer have analyzed the importance of socialism in shaping the trajectory of King's politics.

King did not identify as a socialist in Marxian terms. By the end of his life, King was criticizing the triple evils of militarism, racism, and materialism. However, he didn't see the communist movement led by the Soviet Union as the answer to Black America's ills. Instead, King retained a moral and spiritual commitment to equality. He believed humanity could achieve a"higher synthesis"that rose above the social relations of capitalism and communism. The police occupation of poor Black communities at home and the U.S. military occupation of Vietnam abroad compelled King to demand an end to U.S. militarism and to organize the Poor People's Campaign for economic justice.

"The Black misleadership class utilizes King's sanitized legacy as a cover of legitimacy for their political service to the bourgeoisie."

While King didn't embrace communism, his politics were profoundly influenced by the struggle for socialism, domestically and abroad. Most bourgeois historians of the so-called "Civil Rights" era leave out the pesky fact that a war between socialism and capitalism was occurring simultaneously with the Black struggle against Jim Crow white supremacy in the U.S. mainland. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Ghana to celebrate the African nation's independence from Britain in 1957 and met with itsopenly socialist leader, Kwame Nkrumah.National liberation movements throughout Africa and the Third World were receiving aid from the Soviet Union and China to win independence. On the opposite side, the U.S. was engaged in an all-out war on the socialists wherever they resided. This war began with the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1918 and included the use of a two nuclear bombs during World War II, themurder of millions in a military invasion of Korea, and the open threat to drop another nuclear bomb on China for its assistance to socialist resistance on the Korean Peninsula.

The U.S. ruling class was extremely concerned that the Black struggle to overturn Jim Crow in the U.S. mainland would seek alliances with the socialist, largely non-white movement abroad. This led King and the rest of the Black movement to become targets in the U.S. government's anti-communist crusade. Black self-determination was seen by the ruling class as a great communist conspiracy that threatened to bring the socialist politics of the Soviet Union to the U.S.' doorstep. Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Claudia Jones, and several other Black intellectuals and organizers wereblacklisted as agents of Moscowand terrorized by the state for their refusal to align with the predations of American capitalism. The ruling class was so concerned about the influence of anti-colonial and socialist movements abroad that theState Department hired Jazz artists such as Louis Armstrongto travel to newly independent nations on the African continent to promote the U.S.' so-called commitment to racial equality.

"King and the rest of the Black movement became targets in the U.S. government's anti-communist crusade."

COINTELPRO's counterinsurgency warfare against communists and revolutionaries of all kinds really intensified at height of the Cold War in the 1950s, not in the 1960s and 1970s as commonly assumed. U.S. imperialism had every right to fear the influence of socialism. The Soviet Union, China, and Cuba all espoused internationalism as a critical aspect of their socialist projects. Paul Robeson famously remarked that he felt no racial prejudice duringhis trip to the Soviet Union.China provided asylum to Black activistRobert Williams in 1966.A real possibility existed for socialist countries and the Black liberation movement to develop internationalist relationships, much to the chagrin of the American Empire.

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Contrary to the assumptions of former FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, Black revolutionaries were not attracted to socialism because they were dupes of Moscow orculturally programmed to seek a "Black messiah."The world socialist movement not only demonstrated to Black Americans and all oppressed peoples that white capitalist rule could be successfully overthrown but also that a new and more favorable system could replace it. Conditions for workers and peasants in the socialist bloc greatly improved under the direction of a planned economy. In China, for example, a peasant class which was largely landless, illiterate, and prone to premature death prior to 1949saw immense gainsin public health, land ownership, and gender equality after the revolution overthrew the rule of the landlord class and its foreign sponsors. As scholarsRobin Kelly and Betty Eschexplain, the world socialist movement resided in the non-white world and provided Black revolutionaries a successful model for asserting self-determination in the belly of the imperial beast.

"A real possibility existed for socialist countries and the Black liberation movement to develop internationalist relationships."

We don't hear much about socialism when the period of Martin Luther King's political life is discussed in the United States. Yet it is clear that the world socialist movement made a deep impact on King's political trajectory. The genocidal U.S. war in Vietnam, which was largely a war to suppress a socialist revolution, led King to make the following remarks in his speech,Beyond Vietnam:

"These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression, and out of the wombs of a frail world new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. 'The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.' We in the West must support these revolutions."

Martin Luther King's anti-war stance is an example of how socialism was a radicalizing force in the Black political movement and vice versa. Vietnamese revolutionary and first elected president Ho Chi Minh wrotean essay about the lynching of Black Americansin 1924 during his travels to the United States. Chairman Mao Tse-Tung of China wrote a statement of support to Black Americaafter King's assassination.The Black struggle for self-determination was as inspirational to the world socialist movement as the world socialist movement was to the Black left.

Many believe that the U.S. government assassinated King because of his decision to oppose the U.S. war on socialist Vietnam abroad. King spent over a decade under close surveillance by the FBI and other intelligence agenciesbeginning in 1955.A civil court in 1998 ruled that various U.S. government agencies were involved in King's murder. The role of the U.S. government in King's murder has been suppressed with the same ferocity that the role socialism in the political life of Dr. King has been erased from the U.S. ruling class' version of "Black History."

"The Black struggle for self-determination was as inspirational to the world socialist movement as the world socialist movement was to the Black left."

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the weakening of the socialist bloc beginning in the 1990s left Black Americans and other oppressed peoples with few allies around the world. Even worse, two generations of neoliberal decay and the development of a Black misleadership class in the United States moved politics in the U.S. markedly to the right over the same period. The decline of socialism around the world coincided with the expansion of endless war, mass incarceration, and austerity. These policies disproportionately targeted Black lives and in many ways were designed to destroy them. The sanitization of King's legacy has always been meant to reinforce the policy of annihilation that U.S. imperialism has set forth for Black America and the world's oppressed peoples at large.

Still, the so-called "liberal left" imagination is more concerned with anti-communism in the form of Russiagate than with the concerns of Black life. The United States' capitalist empire has no room for King's real legacy, as its treatment of Bernie Sanders makes clear. Sanders' economic agenda most closely resembles King's class politics by the end of his life. The Lords of Capital are fully committed to suppressing Sanders with the understanding that if the word "socialism" continues to gain popularity, then more people, especially Black people, may be inclined to explore and emulate King's radical legacy. To combat the opportunism of the lords of capital and their minions in the political class, we must popularize King's radical legacy and revive the politics of socialism and internationalism which animated it. As Fred Hampton famously said, "Socialism is the people. If you are afraid of socialism, then you are afraid of yourself."

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Remember the Influence of Socialism on Martin Luther King Jr's Legacy - Common Dreams

The Islamic world experienced a short respite during World War II and the Cold War; however, today's chaotic global scene has once again reverted the region's conditions to the pre-World War I environment.

Currently, the struggle for independence and freedom for Muslim countries around the world has once again emerged, leading to region-wide regression. Iranian hostility topped with general anxiety worldwide have led countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to partner with Israel. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have requested U.S. support due to the regional problems.

Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the so-called Middle East peace plan, which he coined the "Deal of the Century," alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Statements by Trump regarding the current state and future of Palestine reflected a typical Trump style. In other words, they were unstable and far from reality.

The plan projects Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. In addition, Palestine is given four years to meet certain conditions to become a conditional independent state. In other words, Trump's plan is to make Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel. This one-sided, unrealistic so-called Middle East peace plan has delighted the Israeli government and outraged Palestinians.

This attitude of the U.S. also risked the possibility of peace between Israel and Palestine and thus became the determinant of the deadlock in Palestine. Trump has threatened the people of the region directly and the people of the world indirectly by saying this plan is the last opportunity for Palestinians and that if it is not accepted, it will have consequences, without mentioning the political framework that has no benefits for Palestinians.

Palestine is located in a geographical region open to all scenarios, and Israel's claim on Jerusalem is not new. Divided by the U.N. in 1947, followed by Israel declaring its independence as a state a year later, Palestine has since tried to work with Washington to protect its future. As the Israeli territory on the map grew over the years, the Palestinian region on the map became smaller and smaller.

Since the 1950s, Palestine's cause has been on the minds of Arab rulers, who motivated their people with the image of Palestine. However, Arab rulers have betrayed the Palestinians' plight, though Arabs still hold Palestine close to their hearts.

Israel and the U.S., portraying themselves as the protectors of democracy and human rights, are trying to occupy the region in line with their own interests on the grounds that they will protect Palestine and the Palestinian people, and they constantly apply tyranny to the people of the region.

On the other hand, the Palestinian people continue to struggle against the pressure and sanctions. Palestine's struggle is an example to the world.

Turkey, which has supported Palestinians strong stand against the statements of the U.S. and has staunchly stood behind the Palestinian people during their struggle for independence, has also been a target of Israel's attacks and reactions.

In this regard, Palestine and Turkey are similar and understand each other very well. Turkey has refused to remain silent regarding Israel's aggression and has declared it will never allow the legitimization of Israel's persecution and occupation. Turkey continues to proudly support the Palestinian people today and has not hesitated to announce its support to the world. In the end, Ankara knows peace will only be achieved by ending the invasive policies in the Middle East. Therefore, Turkey's support is very important for Palestinians.

The world has continuously faced war and oppression, and these pressures continue to increase. The world has now become a place of persecution and injustice, a trend that needs to be reversed immediately.

In this sense, Palestine is the world's womb and Trump's Palestine declaration is not acceptable because it simply promotes occupation.

In the end, as long as Palestine remains oppressed, there is no justice in the world.

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As long as Palestine remains oppressed, the world is devoid of justice - Daily Sabah

After the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A of India's constitution, the Indian administered region of Jammu and Kashmir is in its seventh month of a controlled siege while the right-wing government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imposed strict control over the flow of information out of the region. It is a frightening reality on the ground and its unimaginable representation emerges every day through various international media platforms.

On Aug. 5, the ruling party Bharatiya Janta Party unilaterally violated the fundamental conditions of the Instrument of Accession, by which the former princely State of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India in 1947, quashing the lingering Kashmiri hopes for self-determination. This devastating decision brought the valley fully under the control of New Delhi.

The action strips the state of Jammu and Kashmir of its special status which includes its right to have its own constitution and its own flag. It also strips it of statehood and partition into two union territories Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh. In preparation for this, it put Kashmir into a complete lockdown at midnight on Aug. 4. Seven million Kashmiris were barricaded in their homes. In an effort to impose a complete communication blockade, internet connections were cut and phone connections were terminated.

Everything seems to have come to a halt, and the past experiences have started to conjure the images of unprecedented violence. Since the revocation or illegal annexation of Kashmir on Aug. 5, the betrayed and besieged population, including me, treated like a prisoner in a forsaken paradise on earth, continue to mourn India's deceptively organized virulent manifestation of democracy.

The problem of Kashmir

It is imperative to understand the brief context of the conflict to understand the contemporary politics of this place. "The world is reaping the chaos the British Empire sowed," Amy Hawkins wrote in Foreign Policy, and "locals are still paying for the mess the British left behind in Hong Kong and Kashmir."

The anti-colonial uprisings in the Indian subcontinent, China, the Arab world and elsewhere did not result in freedom or democracy for the nations ruled by the British Empire. In Kashmir, the British left a bleeding wound amid the partition of colonial India. Kashmir in post-partition and to be more succinct, post-1947 emerged as a boiling pot from the cultivation uterus of the two-nation theory.

Though the problem of Kashmir traces its genesis to before the emergence of India and Pakistan as independent countries, the question of Kashmir continues to remain a perennial bone of contention between two nuclear-armed countries India and Pakistan. Both the states have fought three wars against each other since 1947, the first two of which were over Kashmir and the confrontation on the borders [LOC] continue to escalate tensions between India and Pakistan.

The continuous repression of the common population culminated into armed rebellion in the last decade of the 20th century (1989), which afterward was neutralized through massive counterinsurgency operations. What transpired afterward, while democracy was thriving in the world, the Indian government offered to lend an ear to Kashmiris only if they shift from "armed resistance" to "non-violent peaceful mass movement," the manifestation of which was visible in uprisings in 2008 and 2010, and even before that, when the world was yet to experience the phenomenon of the Arab Spring.

The mass non-violent peaceful democratic movement again resulted in the same authoritarian brutalization leaving more than 200 people dead. Their families were left shattered until the memories of their loved ones either faded from their memory or the families experienced more brutal manifestations of violence.

After the large-scale Kashmir uprising in 2016 following the death of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant Commander Burhan Wani and the Indian state's brutal violence through over 100 killings and over a thousand partial and complete blindings including those of teenagers and children, Partha Chatterjee, a famous historian wrote for the newspaper The Telegraph that the uprising was a consequence of a recipe for treating Kashmir as a colonial possession.

Today Kashmir is one of the most heavily militarized zones in the world. More than 7 million soldiers have been deployed, as per the reports, to counter what the Indian army itself admits is now just a handful of "Islamist terrorists." This myth has been busted time and again because of the actions of the Indian government in the last three decades and the past three months. If there were any doubts earlier, they should have cleared by now. Their real enemy is the Kashmiri people, especially "Kashmiri Muslims" as was also reiterated by Pakistan's President Imran Khan in a U.N. general assembly speech.

What India has done in Kashmir over the last 70 years is unimaginable for the world and unforgivable. An estimated 70,000 killed, thousands disappeared, dozens of women raped, hundreds lost their sight due to pellet guns, tens of thousands have passed through torture centers like Abu Gharib. Most militants operating in the valley today, who have personally experienced the brute manifestations of violence, are young Kashmiris, armed and trained locally. They do what they do knowing that the minute they pick up a gun, their "expected lifespan" is likely to be less than six months; some last only 48 hours, as is the case with an assistant professor in sociology, Mohammad Rafi, of Kashmir University. Each time a gun-holding boy is killed, Kashmiris turn up in tens of thousands to bury the dead body whom they venerate as a "shaheed," a martyr.

Bharatiya Janta and Article 370

This is exactly what transpired as soon as the BJP government led by Modi entered the parliament with a full majority for their second term in power. One of the primary trump cards, pre and post elections revolved around the Pulwama attack and their promise of scrapping Article 370/35-A to formally assimilate Kashmir by diluting the demography and scrap it of its distinct identity.

Though it took many by surprise, the decision to abrogate Article 370 was not unheard of. Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had long harbored the desire to revoke Kashmir's nominal autonomy and normalize its status within India. For Indian nationalists, Article 370 and its associated provisions had become a symbol of Kashmir's "incomplete" integration into the rest of the country.

This abrogation of Article 370 can be seen as part of Modi's larger Hindu nationalist project: centralizing power and suppressing the claims of national minorities. India has long failed to make the promise of democracy alluring to Kashmiris. India thinks it has won Kashmir, but it might be losing the soul of its democracy in the process.

To understand the political theology working in the background, BJP's policies and actions in the past five years have clearly demonstrated that it considers the Kashmir dispute as one revolving around religion, one between Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, discarding any charade about the need to consult the people of the state. It unapologetically argues a territorially irredentist claim to Kashmir and, indeed, the state of J&K in its entirety.

Silent vote and veto

Going on for the last seven decades, Kashmiris have survived the most brutal and violent counterinsurgency operations, enduring the perennial never-ending physical, economic, sociopsychological trauma. The signs of which continue to be evident in the infliction of state violence that Huma Dar, an anthropologist based in U.S. hyperlinks to, in terms of unmarked mass graves, routine sexual violence and torture, massacres and enforced disappearances and "fake encounters."

More than 80,000 troops entered the valley before Article 370 and 35A were scrapped. Kashmiris continue to suffer in agony as they resist the so-called democracy. The residents continue to suffer under a despotic regime suppressing dissent with draconian laws like AFSPA, a communication blackout and an internet shutdown. Consider, for example, mass arrests of pro-resistance political activists, a ban on religiopolitical movement (Jamaat Islami), pre and post scrapping of Article 370 and 35A. Even mainstream pro-Indian politicians (including three former chief ministers) who served and safeguarded the Indian government's interests in the state were arrested . They ensured the imposition of indefinite curfews across Kashmir during the day for weeks on end which made it impossible for ordinary citizens to buy daily supplies and prevented those needing medical attention from reaching a hospital among other debilitating consequences.

Every action of suppression hinged upon a common thread to break the political will of the Kashmiri population and their legitimate democratic demand for the right to self-determination. Followed by this continuous onslaught to break the political will manifested in the form of e-war, virtually silencing more than 7 million voices to reach the outside world, the term neo-modern jail aptly defines the current situation in Kashmir.

What abrogation of the already diluted article has done for Kashmiris is an erosion of that middle ground used as a cover by the Indian government to rule Kashmir through the local collaboration with Kashmiri mainstream political parties. Talking to dozens of Kashmiris, the revocation of this article is mainly seen as an irreversible hegemonic assault on Kashmiri Muslim identity and to completely annihilate and crush the political dissent in the valley.

The censorship has reached its new low, not like the time of Indira Gandhi's emergency days. Now with considerable media houses following the line of the government, with few exceptions, they are totally serving the narrative of Hindutva an ideology seeking to establish the hegemony of Hindus and the Hindu way of life.

The media coverage in the local newspapers and editorials sings of unprecedented fear and submission to the diktats of the current dictatorial fascist regime. The local media coverage, as confirmed by many local journalists, who don't want to be named due to the crackdown on any dissenting voice, unanimously agreed to this unfortunate reality, of writing a false history vis-a-vis the reportage and editorials published in international media.

The truth of defiance

This season's siege is more crushing than ever, possibly the worst since the first one nearly 30 years ago, a stratagem designed carefully to humiliate an entire people. There is also an unwavering manifestation of defiance, as by now the Kashmir street is sufficiently educated politically to not pin its hopes on an infusion of benevolence in the government's Kashmir policy or any practical outcome from the concern of the international community. The mass arrests, in thousands, including minors and pellet victims (including a cancer patient), holding 7 million populations under 800,000 jackboots have unrivaled the farcical facade of Indian democracy. No government in the world has blocked internet access as frequently as India an incredible 159 times in just three years, which is far more than Syria, Iran, Turkey and Egypt.

Amid such fear, even whispers have been silenced, Abid Khan, 28, and Idrees, 29 from Shopian district were raided in the middle of the night, tortured for hours by dozens of army men. Khan says he was dragged out and blindfolded along with his brother, who has learning difficulties, on Aug. 14. "They gave electric shocks to my brother right on the road outside. I heard him scream painfully," he quoted in Agence France-Presse (AFP), as saying, showing marks on his arms, legs and buttocks. Khan said: "Then they gave me electric shocks again on my genitals and wounds. One of them said 'I will make you impotent.'" On Sept. 13, Irshad Ahmed, a 12-year-old boy from neighboring Buchpora, Srinagar, suffered a serious head injury. His hospital registration card noted that it was a "fire-arm injury," adding the word "alleged." Despite such violence against innocent civilians, their defiance to oppression lives on.

What's coming?

One uncontested fact that successive union governments since India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru have deliberately ignored is the people of Kashmir. This recent political expedition of the Indian government has further pushed the local population toward forced alienation and inevitable political radicalization.

My interviews and interactions with Kashmiri people reveal two major responses deep anguish and contempt against the Indian state with perennial angst for war as the only solution. This is worrying but quite understandably plausible, after looking at the history of betrayals perpetrated by the Indian state against the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The pro-India political parties in Kashmir, who unwaveringly and willingly, estimating the benefits of co-option, executed the political agenda of Delhi in Kashmir now face a trial as never before. They must go beyond the Aug. 4 Gupkar Declaration, as suggested by A. G. Noorani, a lawyer of international repute in his Frontline magazine article Murder of Insaniyat. He further argues that Kashmiris should prepare a manifesto of the united movement of Kashmir and take to the streets, after renouncing all forms of violence. Today people in places like Palestine and Kashmir see themselves as stateless nations ruled with brutish military occupation. In the postcolonial game of state formation, they have been denied their national sovereignty.

Neither India in Kashmir nor Israel in Palestine can have a day of peaceful domination until and unless the defiant nations they rule and abuse achieve and sustain their rightful place in the world. While the abrogation of Article 370 has worrying consequences beyond Kashmir, this is what has become apparent: Kashmiris and those who know what continues to happen in Kashmir are aware of the fact that the postcolonial nationalist elites maintained the structures of power they had inherited from the colonial experience. After gaining independence for their countries, they often aggressively pursued the very same colonial policies they had fiercely fought against during the colonial period.

Everyone irrespective of class, color or religious distinction believes that the response of Kashmiri youth to the atrocities being committed by the Indian government has been ferocious. The response, to what has now happened, that has literally threatened their identity and future through illegal annexation, can be disastrous.

* Assistant professor of Islam and Muslim Studies based in Indian administered Kashmir

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Changing manifestations of Indian nationalism and emerging fault lines in Kashmir - Daily Sabah

When charged with sedition by the British colonial government in 1922 for his articles published in a local magazine, Gandhi famously said: Section 124A, under which I am happily charged, is perhaps the prince among the political sections of the Indian Penal Code designed to suppress the liberty of a citizen...Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by the law. If one has no affection for a particular person or system, one should be free to give the fullest expression to his disaffection, so long as he does not contemplate, promote or incite to violence.

Section 124A relates to the offence of sedition or exciting disaffection against the government. It was first included in the Indian Penal Code in 1870 10 years after it was first enacted ostensibly in response to the Wahabi movement in the 1860s. The provision covers almost any form of expression: words, either spoken or written, signs, as well as visible representation.

In 1898, the provision was made even more stringent and was amended to include contempt, hatred, and disloyalty within the ambit of disaffection, as the colonial authorities were finding it difficult to secure convictions on the basis of proving disaffection alone.

The offence was non-bailable, carried a sentence of up to life imprisonment, and was used against a number of prominent anti-colonial and nationalist figures in India in response to their written and verbal speech.

Ironically, this colonial relic, which has at its foundation the belief that people are obligated to feel affection towards the government or else be punished, continues to thrive in a number of post-colonial states, including Pakistan.

The sedition law itself impedes on multiple human rights such as freedom of expression, the freedoms of association and assembly, and the right to a fair trial. International law is crystal clear: Criticism of the government and its institutions, even harsh criticism, is a protected form of expression.

Unsurprisingly, the vagueness in its text has also allowed sedition to be misused against political activists, human rights defenders and other individuals exercising or demanding their constitutional rights.

A key precondition to a fair trial recognised universally is that criminal offences must be prescribed by law and must conform to the principle of legality. This means that they must be formulated clearly and precisely to ensure individuals can regulate their conduct accordingly. Vague laws undermine the rule of law because they leave the door open to selective prosecution and interpretation, based on discriminatory policies of government officials and the personal predilections of judges.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has held, in the context of deciding on the lawfulness of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, that every citizen has an inalienable right under the Constitution to know what is prohibited by law and what the law does not require him to do. The court interpreted this to mean that the language of the statute, and, in particular, a statute creating an offence, must be precise, definite and sufficiently objective so as to guard against an arbitrary and capricious action on part of the state functionaries...

Section 124A criminalises words/expression which brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government.

As is evident from a plain reading of the provision, elements of the offence are vague and over-broad, are open to subjective interpretations, and give virtually no instruction to the people or to law-enforcement officials and the judiciary regarding what behaviour is prohibited.

The implementation of section 124A a bad law to begin with has further made it a tool of oppression.

As early as 1954, Pakistani courts warned against the misuse of the sedition law, and clarified that the offence applies only to that degree of disaffection, hatred or contempt which induces people to refuse to recognise the government at all and leads them to unconstitutional methods

Courts also laid down a number of mandatory guidelines on how Section 124A should be applied, including reinforcing that complaints could only be initiated by the federal or provincial government, which must give reasons explaining their decision to institute such proceedings.

In practice, however, the police, prosecutors, the government, as well as courts routinely flout such directions. In recent years, other activists, human rights defenders, and journalists have also been charged with and arrested for sedition for simply speaking against or criticising certain government actions or policies.

In the last few weeks alone, organisers and participants of students solidarity march in Lahore as well as activists peacefully protesting against the arbitrary arrest of Manzoor Pashteen in Islamabad have been charged with sedition and other similar offences in clear violation of these rulings by the superior courts.

While it is rare for such charges to result in convictions, the charges and arrests alone are enough to harass, intimidate and attempt to silence dissenters, as well as chill the exercise of freedom of expression.

Like a number of other such laws imposed by the British in the colonies, Britain repealed the offence of sedition in 2009 after the law commission recommended abolition in 1977. The then Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, Claire Ward, said at the time of the repeal: Sedition and seditious and defamatory libel are arcane offences from a bygone era when freedom of expression wasnt seen as the right it is today...The existence of these obsolete offences in this country had been used by other countries as justification for the retention of similar laws which have been actively used to suppress political dissent and restrict press freedom.

Sedition is an archaic, oppressive colonial law that exalts the government to a position of sanctity and seeks to make us obedient, unquestioning vassals of the state. It has no place in a democracy and must be abolished.

This article first appeared on Dawn.

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Indias sedition law is just another colonial hangover and has no place in a democracy - Scroll.in

The history of the interface of Europeans and the common law with Aboriginal Peoples is a long one. As might be expected of such a long history, the principles by which the interface has been governed have not always been consistently applied. Yet running through this history, from its earliest beginnings to the present time is a golden thread the recognition by the common law of the ancestral laws and customs of the Aboriginal Peoples who occupied the land prior to European settlement.

Justice Beverley McLaughlin, 1996

BC Premier John Horgan spent much of January trying to distance himself from the unfolding controversy surrounding government and RCMP response to the Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs opposition to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project. On January 13, Horgan told a news conference that This project is proceeding and the rule of law needs to prevail in BC.

The Law on this issue is complex and not widely understood. Governments, corporations, and others with a colonial perspective often interpret the complex legal situation in a way that favours their particular interest.

There have been quite a few clear explanations of the ins and outs of the current legal/political conflict. I wont try to explain in detail. But here a few fundamental points:

1. The Hereditary (or Traditional) Chiefs speak for their Clans (extended families) and are entrusted with the care, management, and protection of the territories owned by their families. This is traditional Law.

2. Band Councils, which include elected Chiefs, were created by the Federal government under the Indian Act, which provides them with some authority to manage reserves. These bodies have no jurisdiction on the traditional territories of the people of their Band. They have no legal authority to enter into agreements with industry or governments regarding projects on traditional lands off-reserve.

3. Provincial and Federal statute Law sets out the rules according to our dominant culture (aka Settler or Colonial Law). These laws have always been used as part of the dispossession and oppression of Indigenous Peoples.

4. International Law includes declarations of the United Nations and other representative international institutions regarding Human Rights and Indigenous Rights (for example, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Governments of Canada and BC have both endorsed UNDRIP, and the BC Legislature last month passed Bill 41 directing Cabinet to incorporate the UNDRIP principles into provincial Law.

5. The Unistoten and the family of Smogelgem (of the Gitumden Clan) hold the authority over their territories, which are threatened by the Coastal GasLink pipeline proposals. They are supported by the Canadian Constitution, and in principle by BC Bill 41.The UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has instructed the Canadian government to immediately cease the forced eviction of Wetsuweten peoples who oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and to prohibit the use of lethal weapons notably by the RCMP against Indigenous peoples and to guarantee no force will be used against them. It also urged the federal government to withdraw the RCMP, along with associated security and policing services, from traditional lands.

Horgans statement that the rule of law applies is a gross oversimplification of the situation. Horgan has plenty of expert legal advice, so he must know better. I think his statement is cynical and intentionally misleading.

For more detailed legal analyses see:

Mike Morrell is a fisheries biologist with special interest in Indigenous fisheries, rights, and title. He lives on Denman Island.

On Luutkudziiwus land, BC and Canada still operate as extractive resource robber-barons

Leanne Simpson's latest book illuminates an economics based on "meaningful, deep, fluid, intimate collective and

Any account of Albertas bitumen must reflect the toxic reality on the land and water,

See the article here:

Wet'suwet'en and the "Rule of Law" - Watershed Sentinel

By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Christian Post Reporter | Thursday, January 30, 2020 Iranian flag waving with cityscape on background in Tehran, Iran | Getty images/stock photo

A 21-year-old Christian convert in Iran known for highlighting the plight of persecuted believers and criticizing the countrys repressive government remains missing nearly three weeks after her arrest.

The website Article 18 reports that Fatemeh Mohammadi, also known as Mary, was among those arrested on Jan. 12 near Azadi Square. At the time of her arrest, protests were taking place in response to the Iranian governments admission of guilt in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane hit by two missiles.

Mohammadi was apprehended by police and transported to an unknown location. Nearly three weeks after her arrest no one has heard from the young woman.

On the day of her arrest, she published a series of tweets in which she said the Iranian people were facing soft repression, exposed only to news that the regime wanted them to read.

In her tweets, she used hashtags that, when translated, mean hard-pressed and suppression is the norm."

She added that tackling soft repression is even harder than tackling the hard repression," accusing the government of institutionalizing false beliefs through selective coverage of the news," and lies that are bigger and more repetitive make them more believable.

The Christian activist was previously arrested three other times and spent six months in prison on charges of "membership in proselytizing groups," "Christian activity," and "acting against national security through propaganda against the regime."

Just before her arrest, she was kicked out of the university she was attending for no given reason. A week later, she was arrested again.

It appears that my religious beliefs and having a prior conviction [because of Christian activities] on security-related charges, as well as my human rights activism, are the reasons for banning me from further education, she told Article 18 at the time.

The denial of basic and fundamental rights, such as the right to education, certainly can act as a pressure mechanism and is used as a lever to apply pressure on religious minorities and human rights activists in the hope that individuals will halt their activities and abandon their beliefs. Depriving me of my education is certainly intended to exert pressure upon me, and silence me.

Persecution watchdog groupOpen Doors notes that Mohammadi also boldly spoke about believers rights, including the cruel treatment she received in prison, and ran a campaign petitioning for all Christians, including converts, to be given the right to worship in a church.

When asked whether she feared for her safety, she responded that she was ready to return to prison to fight for the rights of Christians in Iran.

Earlier this year, she wrote an open letter to Irans Minister of Intelligence, accusing him of violating the Iranian Constitution by targeting Christians. In it, she questioned why Christians are prevented from talking about their beliefs with their peers, while Muslims can freely engage in propaganda at schools, universities, mosques and shrines.

Iran is ranked No. 9 on Open Doors'2020 World Watch Listof worst countries to live as a Christian.

Iranian society is governed by Islamic law, which means the rights of and professional possibilities for Christians are heavily restricted, Open Doors notes. Christians are forbidden from sharing their faith with non-Christians in Iran, and it is illegal to produce Christian literature.

According to the charity, over the 2020 World Watch List reporting period, there were at least 169 arrests of Christians, 114 of them made in one single week at the end of 2018.

Many Iranian believers (especially converts) have been prosecuted and sentenced to long terms in jail. Others are still awaiting trial. Their families face public humiliation during this time, Open Doors reports.

Last week, acourt in Iran sentenced a 65-year-old convert to Christianity to three years in prison for insulting Islamic sacred beliefs even as he is yet to be tried in the court for two other charges.

In December, Irans Revolutionary Courtsentencednine Christians to a combined total of 45 years in prison for converting to Christianity. The converts were arrested in January and February 2019.

Read more here:

Iran: 21-year-old Christian convert who criticized regime's oppression of believers arrested, missing - The Christian Post