US names Kashmir's Hizbul Mujahideen as terrorist group

Mangaluru, May 23: BJP leader and Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja who appeared before the police station for an enquiry last night in connection with a case a case of threatening police, was released on station bail.

According to the police, the MLA was served notices in connection with a case registered for staging a protest without seeking permission and for allegedly declaring that he was ready to hold the collar of the police for the sake of 'karyakartas'.

On completion of the enquiry, he was released on station bail. He was booked under Sections 143, 147, 341, 504, 506 and 149 of IPC.

Drama at residence 

There was high drama at the home of Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja when police reached on Wednesday, requesting the former to come to the police station for an inquiry, but with the MLA staying put at his residence without yielding to police request, and with members of the BJP legal cell at his house mulling options to avoid his imminent arrest, the situation was fluid with a large number of party workers gathering near the MLA’s residence.

Belthangady police had booked MLA Poonja after he attempted to pressurise the station officer to release a BJP worker, who was arrested in an illegal quarrying case and stocking of explosives at the site, at Moodala in Melanthabettu village of Belthangady last week.

The death toll from the Israeli regime’s airstrikes against a designated safe zone for displaced people in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip has risen to at least 50 people.

ActionAid UK, the British chapter of an international relief organization, reported the fatalities on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Israeli warplanes fired eight missiles toward makeshift shelters housing internally-displaced persons in the city’s northwest.

“These shelters were supposed to be safe havens for innocent civilians, yet they became targets of brutal violence,” the organization said.

“Children, women, and men are being burned alive under their tents and shelters,” it noted, warning that the number of fatalities could rise.

Reacting to the massacre, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas called it an “egregious affront” to a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice, which ordered the Israeli regime to “immediately” halt its offensive against Rafah.

The movement called on all parties, especially Egypt, to pressure the regime into ending its occupation of the city’s Rafah crossing, which borders the country and serves as the main point of entry for vital supplies into Gaza.

Hamas also urged the international community, the United Nations, and all concerned parties to scramble to support the Palestinian nation in the face of the Israeli massacre, which has been seeking to bring about the mass exodus of the Palestinian people and destroy their national cause for the past seven months.

It was referring to an October-present genocidal war that the regime has been waging against Gaza in response to a retaliatory operation by the territory’s resistance movements.

The war has so far claimed the lives of around 36,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.

Hamas called on the world’s Muslim and Arab peoples to step up their anti-Israeli activism in the face of the genocide.

Israel must face sanctions: UN

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, meanwhile, reacted to the “horror” created by the Israeli regime in Rafah, calling for pressure on Tel Aviv.

“The Gaza genocide will not easily end without external pressure: Israel must face sanctions, justice, suspension of agreements, trade, partnership and investments, as well as participation in international forums.”

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the world body’s special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, also denounced the bloodletting, saying, “Attacking women and children while they cower in their shelters in Rafah is a monstrous atrocity.” 

“We need concerted global action to stop Israel’s actions now,” he added.

The Israeli massacre in Rafah was also followed by mass protest rallies across the West Bank, including in the city of Ramallah and the town of Anabta, which is located to the east of the city of Tulkarm in the northern part of the occupied territory.

The Emirati Hospital in Rafah also condemned the Israeli attacks on Rafah as “a heinous massacre.”

Similar demonstrations also erupted elsewhere throughout the region, including at the Baqa’a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan and in front of the Israeli consulate in Istanbul.

In Iraq, enraged people stormed the KFC’s branch in the capital Baghdad, inflicting damage on the restaurant in protest at the United States’ ongoing support for the Israeli regime’s war on Gaza.

As Punjab votes in the last phase of 18th Lok Sabha polls on June 1, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a letter addressed to the voters of the state said that PM Narendra Modi has indulged in most vicious form of hate speeches, which are purely divisive in nature.

"Modi has indulged in most vicious form of hate speeches, which are purely divisive in nature," said Singh in the letter shared by Congress on social media platform X.

Singh in the letter added that 'no PM in past has uttered such hateful, unparliamentary terms to target either a specific section of society or opposition.'

"No PM in past has uttered such hateful, unparliamentary terms to target either a specific section of society or opposition," remarked Manmohan Singh in the letter.

“In the past ten years, the BJP government has left no stone unturned in castigating Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiyat. 750 farmers, mostly belonging to Punjab, were martyred while incessantly waiting at Delhi borders, for months together. As if the lathis and the rubber bullets were not enough, none less than the Prime Minister verbally assaulted our farmers by calling them "Andolanjeevis" and "Parjeevi" (Parasites) on the floor of the Parliament. Their only demand was the withdrawal of the three farm laws imposed on them without consulting them," said the former Prime Minister.

On economic front:

Manmohan Singh further continuing his attack on Modi-led government said that in the past 10 years, 'the nation's economy has witnessed unimaginable turmoil.'

"The imposition of the demonetisation disaster, a flawed GST, and the painful mismanagement during the COVID pandemic has resulted in a miserable situation, where an expectation of a subpar 6-7 per cent GDP growth has become the new normal. Average GDP Growth under BJP Government has plunged to under 6 per cent, while during Congress-UPA tenure, it was about 8 per cent (New Series)," commented Singh.

"While the Congress-UPA, despite challenges, increased the purchasing power of our people, the misrule of the BJP Government has resulted in depletion of household savings to a historic 47-year low. Rural wages have witnessed a systematic fall, and wage disparity has led to widespread distress," noted Singh in the letter.

On Agniveer scheme:

On Agniveer scheme, Singh said "BJP govt imposed Agniveer scheme; it thinks value of patriotism, service is only 4 years, shows their fake nationalism."

"Those who trained for regular recruitment were woefully betrayed by the outgoing regime. The youth of Punjab, the son of the farmer, who dreams of serving the motherland through the Armed Forces, is now thinking twice about getting recruited only for a 4-year stint. Agniveer Scheme endangers National Security. Congress party has therefore promised to abolish the Agniveer Scheme," added Singh.

Earlier. during campaigning in various parts of the country, PM Modi had accused Singh of saying that Muslims have the first right on the country's resources.Singh said people of India are seeing through all of this. "This narrative of dehumanisation has now reached its peak. It is now our duty to save our beloved nation from these forces of discord," Singh said in the letter.