IFF Karnataka hosts NRI family get-together in Riyadh

New Delhi, Jan 30: A terrorist opened fire at people peacefully protesting against the contentious citizenship amendment act (CAA) near the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi this afternoon, causing chaos and panic in the area.

One person has been injured. In a video, the terrorist, wearing a black jacket and a pair of white trousers, can be seen walking on a road, waving a gun as he shouts "who wants Azadi, come I'll shoot you. Then he says, "Yeh lo aazadi (here's your freedom)" and opens fire injuring a student in front of police.

A video of the attack that is being shared widely on social media also showed the assailant also shouting the 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan and warning protesters to chant 'Vande Mataram' if they want to stay in India. The injured student, Shadab, was hit by the bullet in his arm and has been admitted to the Holy Family hospital in Jamia Nagar.

His condition is stated to be stable. The incident took place near the hospital when a protest march was being taken out by students. Students said that the attacker tried to hijack the peaceful protest and threatened the anti-CAA agitators.

The shooting comes in the aftermath of communally charged, hateful and violence provoking rhetoric by several BJP leaders in the run-up to the assembly elections in Delhi.

Junior finance minister Anurag Thakur had on Monday led chants of ‘shoot the traitors’ at a poll rally in north Delhi’s Rithala. The minister prompted "desh ke gaddaron ko..." to which the crowd responded "...goli maaro sa***n ko". The chant translates to "shoot down the traitors who betray the country". Protesters against the CAA and the NRC have often been dubbed anti-national by members of the ruling BJP.

After Thakur’s hate speech, a man carrying a gun was also caught at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, the venue of mega protests. The man had walked into the protest ground and allegedly brandished the weapon till he was overpowered by the surrounding protesters, eyewitnesses said.

Riyadh, Jan 28: The celebration of the 71st Republic Day was held on January 26th by the Central Committee of the Indian Social Forum Riyadh at the Ramada Hotel Auditorium in Riyadh. People from different Indian states and different religious backgrounds were present during the event.

The program was inaugurated with the unity song, Saleem Moulavi– Regional committee member India Fraternity Forum/Riyadh inaugurated the program.

Social Forum Central Committee president Janab Harris Mangaluru chaired the program and welcomed the guests. In his presidential speech he described and uncovered stories of freedom struggle and participants of Indian Muslims for the freedom fight. He urged everyone to fight against unconstitutional Citizenship Amendment Bill which passed by Centre government. He said that the We will continue its agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the NRC and would not relent unless the Union government withdrew the Act.

Indian Social Forum Karnataka State Committee member Janab Mohammed Naveed delivered the Republic Day message. He said India was formed based on concept of ‘unity in diversity’ and it becomes every Indians’ responsibility to safeguard it. He expressed concern over CAA, NRC and NPR. Across India, students at other universities are against the Citizenship Amendment Act passed by Centre government.  The law offers amnesty to undocumented migrants from three neighboring Muslim-majority countries but only if they are non-Muslim. Critics say that by excluding Muslims, the law establishes a religious test for Indian citizenship, in violation of the secularism enshrined in India's constitution. The Indians, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and region have firmly resolved to oppose the draconian laws and fascist moves to debar the poor. Constitution granted to every person and citizen of India who are not ready to put them on a test of ideology of RSS and programs of BJP to implement the Brahmanist mind-set. He said that the police atrocities against CAA/NRC/NPR protesters had increased only in BJP-ruled States and  there were several loose ends in the police story about the incidents leading to the firing.

Eng Shahul Hameed – Coordinator of Tamil Nadu Islamic Federation, Dr. Jahangeer Ahmed - Assistant professor/King Saud university, Mohammed Rafi – Gen Secretary of India Fraternity Forum Regional Committee, Mr. Abdul jaleel– Vice President of Indian Islahi Center, Mr. Basha –Member of IFT Executive Council , Mr. Ajmal Hussain – Member of Pravasi Forum central Committee, Younus Wallan – President Humanity Forum Riyadh. All delivered the message on the eve.

Basheer Karandur, General Secretary of Social Forum Central Committee, welcomed the gathering and Social Forum Riyadh Tamilnadu State Committee President Jabir presented the vote of thanks. Abdul Basheer was master of ceremony.

Bengaluru, June 10: The Department of Primary and Secondary Education of Government of Karnataka today ordered a ban on online classes for children from KG to class 5.

The decision was taken following a report based on the report submitted by director NIMHANS, recommending online classes only above the age of 6 years and also following the complaints from several parents about online classes conducted by private schools even for kindergarten kids.

Briefing the media soon after the meeting with department officials, S Suresh Kumar, primary and secondary education minister said, "We have taken two major decisions today. The online classes for LKG, UKG and primary classes should be stopped immediately."

Even collecting fees in the name of online classes should be stopped, said the minister. "We have already issued a circular about it insisting that schools not collect fees in the name of online classes and also requesting schools not to increase fees for the 2020-21 academic year considering financial constraints of several people due to the COVID-19 pandemic," said the minister.

The department, however, also discussed how to engage children during this period as there was no clarity over the reopening of schools for the 2020-21 academic year. "We have constituted a committee to prepare guidelines on how to engage students and increase their knowledge. The committee is headed by Prof. MK Sridhar," he said.

Before taking this decision, the department had three rounds of discussions with various experts, including Prof. MK Sridhar, Prof. VP Niranjanaradhya, Dr John Vijay Sagar and other departments, including the home and health departments.