Arrest of Manjeshwar MLA Kamaruddin likely to have political repercussions

News Network
November 7, 2020

Kasaragod, Nov 7: The arrest of Manjeshwar MLA M C Kamaruddin by police in a cheating case on Saturday is likely to have political repercussions in Kerala.

Kamaruddin has been synonymous with Indian Union Muslum League in Kasaragod district for the past four decades.

A college drop out during his undergraduate days at Sir Syed college in Taliparamba, Kamaruddin climbed his political ladders slowly but steadily over these years and to become an MLA a year ago.

Son of A P Muhammed Kunhi, the 59-year old was a shrewd businessman by profession.

Resident of Karma Edachal near Udinpur near here, the league leader had total dedication in politics as well as business. Thanks to his commitments and loyalty to his green-flag party, he reached the position of the district chairman of the UDF in 2016.

But his entry into politics was unprecedented. Kamaruddin became MLA in a byelection in October last year which was necessitated due to the death of then sitting MLA P B Abdul Razak.

But even as Kamaruddin was climbing his political ladders, his business graph has been plummeting. Fashion Gold was a flagship business venture promoted by him with league leader and Muslim scholar P K Pookoya Thangal as its Managing Director.

The group amassed funds from league supporters and NRIs. They mobilised about 170 crore from over 300-odd people to expand the business under Fashion Gold Jewellery group.

The business group that launched in 2006 had good fortunes for a decade but its graph headed south post in 2016.

Smelling a rat, investors sought refunds from the group from early 2017. This made its position from bad to worse. Meanwhile, many promoters quit and some diverted funds at their whims and fancy.

The MLA and Thangal also opted to sell some properties and even the gold stock they had.

Meanwhile many investors came with police complaints. Attempts by the MLA and local leaders to settle the issue went futile.

And now the MLA has been arrested by the crime branch. In fact, the League leadership has been brainstorming these days whether to seek his resignation as a legislator. They had removed him from the post of UDF’s District chairman. But the police went ahead of the party and made the arrest today.

The timing of the arrest coincides with the local body election declaration made on Friday.

The MLA in the capacity of the Chairman of Fashion Gold Jewellery Group is behind the bars and this is good enough a stick in the hands of LDF to beat the UDF.

As per election records, the MLA has assets worth five crore and liabilities to the tune of 30 lakh.

The arrest of a league MLA is likely to have political repercussions in the backdrop of the Marxist party in the LDF facing serious political setbacks on account of many cases including gold scam, life mission housing project and import of Quran.

The fate of another IUML MLA K M Shaji, is hanging in balance in a bribery case related to a plus-two allocation registered by the state vigilance department.

The Marxists are anxiously worried over possible actions against Minister K T Jaleel and Pinarayi’s close aide Raveendran, who are likely to get trapped in the gold smuggling and quran import cases respectively.

Though it is politically harvesting season for the BJP, the internal conflicts within the party have been weakening its winning prospects.

The outcome of the local body election would probably be a strong indicator to the assembly election due in May next year.

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News Network
April 28,2024

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Students in Paris blocked access to a campus building at a French university on Friday, as pro-Palestine demonstrations reach Europe.

The students occupied the central campus building of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, and dozens of others blocked its entrance, echoing protest action at American universities.

Students inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at the prestigious French university on Friday.

They blocked the entrance with trash cans, wooden platforms and other items.

The occupation of the Paris university campus came after police broke up a separate protest at the university’s amphitheater outside one of its Paris campuses.

Scores of student protesters gathered at the building’s windows, chanting slogans and holding placards reading “We are all Palestinians,” in defiance of administrators who students say called the police on their peers two days earlier.

Pro-Palestinian student protesters had occupied the amphitheater outside one of the university’s Paris campuses on Wednesday evening.

The US-style student protests, which began over the months-long Israeli regime’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, kicked off in the United States and have now spread to European capitals as well as Australia.

In the German capital Berlin, several people were arrested as police violently cleared a camp of Gaza war protesters at the German parliament.

Pro-Palestinian activists are demanding a permanent ceasefire, an end to the Israeli atrocities, and an arms embargo of the Tel Aviv regime.

The Israeli regime launched the war on Gaza on October 7 last year. The genocidal war has killed more than 34,356 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

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News Network
April 23,2024

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The genocidal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has entered its 200th day, with occupation forces killing more Palestinians in defiance of widespread international outcry to end the carnage.

The aggression marked its 200th day on Tuesday with no end in sight to the Israeli war that has so far killed a shocking number of Palestinians and led to a humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory.

The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces have committed three "massacres" over the past 24 hours, killing at least 32 Palestinians and wounding 59 others.

The numbers, it added, bring the Palestinian death toll to more than 34,183, with at least 77,143 injured and an estimated 7,000 missing and presumed dead since early October.

More than 14,500 children and 9,500 women are among those killed, making up over 70 percent of the victims, according to health officials.

Israel waged its brutal US-backed war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Israel has been carrying out war crimes in Gaza by deliberately starving people and forcing their evacuation, as well as targeting hospitals and schools sheltering displaced Palestinians.

Despite all these atrocities, the regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives of “destroying Hamas” and finding Israeli captives held in Gaza.

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News Network
April 24,2024

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Pro-Gaza US protesters in New York's Columbia University say they will stay put despite the university's harassment and police crackdown.

The protesters said they refuse to concede to "cowardly threats and blatant intimidation" by university administration, asserting that they will continue to peacefully protest.

Columbia University threatened the students with the national guard after refusing to bargain in good faith.

The university announced a midnight deadline for talks regarding the removal of pro-Palestine encampments on the varsity campus, warning that their campsite will be forcefully cleared by police if no agreement is reached.

The university campus is being used as a campsite for hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters and other activists, who have gathered and set up numerous tents.

Pro-Palestinian protests at colleges have demanded that their universities divest from corporations doing business with Israel or profiting off the war in Gaza. At Columbia, protesters have also asked the university to end a dual-degree program with Tel Aviv University.

The deadline was announced by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik late Tuesday, as authorities across major American universities have launched their repression campaigns against the pro-Palestinian protests on campuses, amid rising anger over US's support for Israel. 

Shafik has issued a midnight deadline to protesters and organizers, warning that failure to comply will result in the forcible clearance of the camp by the New York Police Department (NYPD).

The university has engaged in discussions with student leaders behind the protests, which are part of a series of protests taking place at various colleges nationwide and resulting in multiple arrests.

The purpose of these talks is to address the encampment on the west lawn of Columbia's Morningside Heights campus.

American universities are grappling with the challenge of maintaining a delicate balance between the right to protest and freedom of speech, while also ensuring campus rules and safety, as tensions surrounding the ongoing war in Gaza continue to permeate across campuses.

Meanwhile, Shafik underscored the importance of free speech and the right to demonstrate, but highlighted significant safety issues, disruptions to campus activities, and a strained environment due to the encampment. She firmly stated that any form of intimidation, harassment, or discrimination would not be accepted.

The arrest of more than 100 protesters at Columbia University last week led to more campus demonstrations, at New York University, Yale, and the University of California, Berkeley.

Palestinian university professor Sami al-Arian said what is happening across US university campuses is unprecedented.

Al-Arian said, "I lived four decades in the US, 28 years of which were in academic settings. During my time, it was a very challenging struggle to present an anti-Zionist narrative."

"But the passion, courage, humanity, creativity, and determination displayed these days by students across US campuses make me proud. The Zionist grip on US society is weakening and waning."

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