Better chance of peace with India if BJP wins again; Cong is scared of BJP’s propaganda: Imran Khan

Agencies
April 10, 2019

Islamabad, Apr 10: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said he thinks there may be a better chance of peace talks with India if Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins the general election due to begin there on Thursday.

Khan said that if the next Indian government were led by the opposition Congress party, it might be too scared to seek a settlement with Pakistan over disputed Indian-controlled Kashmir, fearing a backlash from the right.

"Perhaps if the BJP - a right-wing party - wins, some kind of settlement in Kashmir could be reached," Khan told a small group of foreign journalists in an interview.

This was despite the massive alienation that Muslims in Kashmir and Muslims in general were facing in Modi's India, said Khan, who took office last August.

"I never thought I would see what is happening in India right now," said the former international cricket star. "Muslim-ness is being attacked."

Khan said Indian Muslims he knew who many years ago had been happy about their situation in India were now very worried by extreme Hindu nationalism.

He said Modi, like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was electioneering based on "fear and nationalist feeling".

The BJP's pledge this week to propose stripping decades-old special rights from the people of Jammu and Kashmir, which prevent outsiders from buying property in the state, was a major concern, though it could also be electioneering, Khan said.

Khan did appear to offer India an olive branch, saying that Islamabad was determined to dismantle all Pakistan-based militias in the country, and that the government had full support from Pakistan's powerful army for the programme. Those to be dismantled include groups involved in Kashmir.

Nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India both claim Kashmir in full but rule in part.

Khan said Kashmir was a political struggle and there was no military solution, adding that Kashmiris suffered if armed militants from Pakistan came across the border, leading to Indian army crackdowns.

Relations between Pakistan and India, which have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, two over Kashmir, reached a crisis point in February after a suicide bombing killed 40 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir.

Islamabad denied responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack, which was claimed by Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, but the bombing prompted India to carry out a cross border air strike against what it said was a militant training camp in Pakistan.

Pakistan responded with air strikes of its own.

Pollsters say Modi and the BJP's re-election bid got a boost from a wave of patriotism after the suicide bomb attack and the Indian government's fast response.

Khan said there was still the possibility if the polls turn against Modi in the next few weeks that India could take some further military action against Pakistan.

The rolling election is held in phases and does not finish until May 19. The result is not due until May 23.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi warned on Sunday that Islamabad had "reliable intelligence" that India would attack again this month. India described the claim as irresponsible.

Khan said that it was vital for Pakistan to have peace with its neighbours, Afghanistan, India and Iran, if it was to have the kind of economy needed to pull 100 million people out of poverty.

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News Network
April 30,2024

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Bengaluru, Apr 30: In a horrific incident, a quarrel between a 60-year-old woman and her 19-year-old daughter ended in the murder of the latter, after they both stabbed each other. The incident took place in Shastri Nagar in Banashankari police station limits in Bengaluru, on Monday evening.

The deceased has been identified as Sahitya, who had completed PUC this year. Her mother, who has sustained stab injuries, has been hospitalised. Police said the incident occurred around 7.30 pm, when a fight broke out between the mother and daughter at their house.

They both allegedly picked up knives and started stabbing each other. While the mother stabbed the daughter thrice in the neck and stomach, the daughter stabbed her mother four times. Hearing the commotion, the neighbours rushed to their house and alerted the police on seeing both of them lying in a pool of blood.

The police, who rushed to the scene, shifted both women to hospital, where Sahitya was declared brought dead. The mother, whose name was not revealed, is undergoing treatment. 

“As per the initial probe, only the two were living in the house. The reasons for the incident will be known only after the mother recovers and we record her statement,” the police said. The Banashankari police have registered a murder case and are further investigating.

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April 25,2024

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The Election Commission of India on Thursday announced that it had taken cognisance of violations to the Model Code of Conduct by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

While Modi has indulged in a diatribe against Muslims, without naming them, using terms like 'infiltrators' and 'those with more children', Rahul has been accused of making a false claim about 'rise in poverty'.

Both the BJP and INC have raised allegations of causing hatred and divisions based on caste, religion, language, and community, ANI reported.

While the EC had initially refused to comment on Modi's speeches, sources had told PTI that the commission was 'looking into' the remarks made by the BJP leader.

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April 20,2024

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New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is being pushed towards a “slow death” inside Tihar jail by denying him insulin and consultations with his doctor.

Kejriwal, who has Type-2 diabetes, has been asking for insulin and a video conferencing with his family doctor but his requests are being denied by the jail administration, party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a press conference.

"I want to say with full responsibility that a conspiracy is underway for the slow death of Kejriwal," Bharadwaj claimed citing blood sugar readings of the Chief Minister in jail.

He also slammed the Tihar administration, BJP, Centre and Delhi LG for allegedly denying insulin to Kejriwal and said the Delhi Chief Minister had been suffering from diabetes for the last 20-22 years.

On Friday, the chief minister council Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi said Kejriwal has not been administered insulin to control his sugar levels since his arrest, terming it “shocking” and “alarming”.

The ED had on Thursday claimed before the court that Kejriwal was eating food high in sugar like mangoes and sweets every day, despite having Type-2 diabetes, to create grounds for medical bail.

Kejriwal, however, refuted the ED’s claims by asserting before a court that the food he consumed was in conformity with the diet chart prepared by his doctor.

“Out of 48 meals sent from home, only three times mangoes were there…,” Singhvi told the court.

Bharadwaj said Kejriwal was allowed by the court to use a machine in the jail to monitor his daily blood sugar levels.

"Overall, it was a conspiracy to finish Kejriwal so his multiple organ damage and when he comes out of jail after 2-4 months he goes for treatment of kidney, heart and other organs," said Bharadwaj, who holds the portfolio of health in Delhi government.

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