INDIA

Muslim Personal Law Board of India national general secretary Moin Ahmed, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has alleged that mismanagement has affected Haj pilgrims from across the country and that the Union Minority Affairs Ministry was responsible for the mess. He has demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter. Ahmed said right from issuing application forms to the return of pilgrims to the country, the entire responsibility was of the Haj Committee of India. “The only reason for poor arrangement is unnecessary interference of Union minority affairs ministry in the work of the Haj Committee of India. Appropriate action should be taken after conducting a high-level inquiry into the matter,” he said in the letter. “It is surprising such issues have come up with Mu...

The Congress government in Karnataka on Monday paid a compensation of Rs 25 lakhs each to six families who lost their kin to communal violence in the state. After distributing cheques to the family members, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah declared that his government had erased the anti-Constitutional policy of the previous BJP regime. Speaking to reporters after the event, Siddaramaiah said: “The government belongs to all. It would be anti-Constitutional if favouritism is shown to one caste or religion. The then BJP government had adopted a policy of discrimination in terms of wiping out tears of the families of the deceased persons. “I had raised my voice against the discrimination and hatred politics by the BJP government during my tenure as an opposition leader. The BJP carried ou...

As per a report by NDTV News, two men have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr, after they allegedly tied a Muslim labourer to a tree on the suspicion of theft, beat him up, partially shaved his head and forced him to raise Jai Shri Ram slogans. The report states that Shakeel, the father of the labourer Sahil, had alleged that his son was sent to jail after the incident. He also told the media that the police was allegedly asking him to strike a compromise with the accused and threatening him. A video of the incident, shot by one of the three accused in the case, has gone viral and sparked a political storm. Asaduddin Owaisi, Hyderabad MP and chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), shared the video. "Look at the sympathy of police, instead of actin...

Former spymaster A S Dulat has said the separatism in Kashmir was 'dead' but felt there was a need to start a dialogue with mainstream political parties in the Valley. Dulat, who was advisor on Jammu and Kashmir to the central government during the tenure of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, also advocated the need for starting a dialogue with Pakistan. "Separatism I believe is dead now. It has become redundant. Like Article 370, separatism also is gone," Dulat told PTI in an interview in Srinagar on Saturday. He said Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who has been under house arrest since August 4, 2019, has a role in Kashmir politics. "There is a leader who I feel has a role and that is Mirwaiz but he has been kept in his house. So, we will only know ...

Telengana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday directed state Police's Director General Anjani Kumar to withdraw Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 152 persons including former Professors of University of Hyderabad and human rights activists. Following the Chief Minister's directions, the DGP asked the Mulugu Superintendent of Police (SP) Gaush Alam to consider withdrawing the FIR registered against Haragopal and others under UAPA. In 52 pages of FIR copy, the Tadvai police named 152 persons including Prof Haragopal registered cases under several sections including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. In the FIR copy, the Tadvai police said that on August 19, 2022, the complainant V. Shankar was performing his duties at Pasra Circle, he received information, as pe...

Khalid Parvez, an employee of Apple in India, has resigned from his position at the company’s Bengaluru outlet. Parvez stated that he decided to leave due to incidents of mental harassment, the use of abusive language, managerial mistakes, and Islamophobic comments. His resignation followed the dismissal of his complaints, which he had filed against these issues. In a LinkedIn post, Parvez expressed his appreciation for the growth opportunities he had at Apple. However, he also voiced his criticism of the lack of compassion displayed by the company’s human resources department. Parvez mentioned that during their investigation, he was repeatedly asked to trust the system, which he found to be inadequate in addressing his concerns. “But after 2 months of supposedly ‘thorough’ inv...

As ethnic violence continues in Manipur for a month and a half now, 15 organisations of various communities have submitted a memorandum to the United Nations and various international agencies seeking their help to end the ongoing crisis in the northeastern state. The Manipur-based 15 organisations, in their joint memorandum, called for urgent attention on the issue of hunger, poverty, militarisation, partisan role of the central security forces, and violation of the ground rules of tripartite Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement by the Kuki militants. They submitted the memorandum to the Secretary General, United Nations, International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva, Under Secretary-General, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN Civil Soc...

At least six cow-vigilantes have been arrested by the Igatpuri Police for allegedly lynching a Thane man to death and injuring another, the police said here on Wednesday. The lynching that took place last week came to light after the police recovered the body of the victim, identified as Lukman Sulaiman Ansari (25) of Padgha in Thane district, on Saturday (June 10). Ansari’s body was found dumped in a 150-metre deep gorge in the Ghatandevi area. The police launched a probe immediately, Nashik (Rural) Superintendent of Police, Shahaji Umap, told mediapersons. It was on Thursday (June 8) when Ansari along with his friends Atiq Paddi and Aqueel Gavandi purchased a bullock, two cows and a calf for around Rs 18,000 from a farmer-woman in Shahapur and were transporting the same in an LM...

Government in Karnataka has decided to scrap the anti-conversion law introduced by previous BJP government and also decided to remove school textbook lessons on RSS founder K B Hedgewar, among others. The Bill was adopted by the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in December 2021. It was aimed at preventing conversion by means of 'mass conversion'. The state also saw its first arrest under the law, of Syed Moyin, a Muslim man who had married a young woman, in violation of the newly introduced law — the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Act, 2022. (This is a developing story. More details are awaited.)