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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News Network
April 26,2024

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An Indian-origin woman studying at the prestigious Princeton University in the US is among two students arrested over pro-Palestine protests on the campus, reports student and alumni newspapers.

Tamil Nadu-born Achinthya Sivalingan and Hassan Sayed were arrested after the protesters set up tents for an encampment in a university courtyard early Thursday morning, according to the Princeton Alumni Weekly (PAW).

The two graduate students were arrested on charge of trespassing and have been "immediately barred from the campus", said Jennifer Morrill, a university spokesperson, adding that setting up tents on the campus violated university policy.

However, they have not been evicted and will be allowed into their housing, another varsity spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss confirmed to the Daily Princetonian.

Ms Sivalingam is a student of Masters in Public Affairs in International Development at Princeton while Mr Sayed is a PhD candidate there.

In a statement, Morill said the students were given "repeated warnings from the Department of Public Safety to cease the activity and leave the area" and they now face disciplinary action. After their arrest, the other protesters "voluntarily" packed away their camping gear, she added.

Hotchkiss said the university did not evict anyone on Thursday and that the university allows students barred from campus to stay in their university-owned housing.

The undergraduate students were warned against occupation and encampment exercises in an email Wednesday, according to the Daily Princetonian.

Princeton students, faculty and community members, and even outsiders were part of the demonstration, the PAW cited organizers of the protest as saying. Large, white tents were set up nearby for upcoming reunions and other events.

A student who chose to be identified only as Urvi termed the arrests as "violent", which included the students being zip-tied around their wrists. The university, however, contested this and said the officers did not use any force and the arrests were made without any resistance.

Pro-Palestine protests have rocked the top US universities as thousands of students have hit their campuses to demonstrate against the Gaza deaths due to Israel’s inhuman military operation. 

The protests, which began at Columbia University in New York, have to colleges across the country and saw hundreds of students confronting cops and raising pro-Palestine slogans. The protesters have been calling on their universities to divest from companies that profit from the Gaza war and advocate an immediate ceasefire.

Who is Achinthya Sivalingan?

1. Achinthya Sivalingan was born in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and was raised in Columbus, Ohio.

2. She is pursuing a Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degree in International Development at Princeton University. Before that, Ms Sivalingan studied world politics and economics at Ohio State University and was also an Intern at Harvard Law School. 

3. Ms Sivalingan has significant experience in policy issues, having worked with civil society organisations, the legal system, politics, movement building, and private philanthropy. Her previous roles include supporting policy and advocacy work for climate adaptation, agricultural development, and nutrition portfolios at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

4. Ms Sivalingan has worked on a congressional campaign in Ohio's third district and also contributed to land rights and policy initiatives in India at the Centre for Policy Research. 

5. She has been banned from Princeton over pro-Palestine protests and is now facing disciplinary action. 

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News Network
May 3,2024

Mangaluru, May 3: The Mangaluru City Corporation will resort to water rationing from May 5 as the Thumbe vented dam, which supplies drinking water to the city, is facing a shortage in water storage.

Instead of daily supply, water will be supplied on alternate days, the Executive Engineer (Water Supply) at the corporation said in a release.

The release said that water will be supplied to Mangaluru City North on May 5. There will be no water supply to Mangaluru City North on May 6. Instead water will be supplied to Mangaluru City South on May 6. Likewise the supply on alternate days will continue.

The inflow in the Netravathi has stopped, the release said, requesting people to cooperate with the corporation and not waste water for washing vehicles and other purposes.

An engineer at the corporation said that water level at the dam stood at 4.27 m on Wednesday against the full storage level of 6 m. If water is supplied daily to the entire city (Mangaluru City North and Mangaluru City South) the existing storage will last only for 16 days, the engineer said. Hence the decision to supply water on alternate days has been taken to supply water till May-end.

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