Ensure justice for 26/11 victims: Israel tells Pakistan

Agencies
November 27, 2018

Tel Aviv, Nov 27: Israel has called upon Pakistan to "ensure full justice" to the 26/11 terror attack victims on the 10th anniversary of the carnage that had left 166 people, including six Israelis, dead in Mumbai.

At a memorial event organised on Monday evening by the Indian mission here to mark the anniversary, Michael Ronen, Director, South & South East Asia Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel emphasised that it was important for the international community, especially Pakistan, to ensure that the perpetrators and facilitators of the ghastly attacks do not go scott free.

"It is important to provide full justice to the victims and their families," Ronen said, urging "all governments, including the Government of Pakistan, to ensure that perpetrators and facilitators of the attack are brought to justice."

The Israeli diplomat also underlined that the objective of the attack was to cripple the Indian society, economy and culture, as well as the growing bilateral relationship between India and Israel.

In this regard, "the terrorist attack failed miserably as the Indian economy has continued to grow stronger, its culture remains invincible and bilateral ties continue to reach new heights," he noted.

Asserting that terrorism can only be defeated by international cooperation, Ronen "again called upon the Government of Pakistan to ensure full justice to the victims and their families."

The event was attended by members of the Indian community in Israel, some Indians visiting the country and also Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, who lost his daughter Rivka and son-in-law Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg in the attack on Nariman House, also known as the Chabad House.

The couple's two year old son, Moshe, survived the attack thanks to a daring move by his nanny, Sandra Samuels, who risked her own life and rescued the boy by grabbing him while he cried sitting next to the bullet ridden bodies of his dead parents and fleeing the building in a swift move.

Sandra's pictures of holding the little boy close to her chest after escaping from the place touched the hearts of millions of people all over the world.

She was later honoured with honourary citizenship by the Israeli government and now lives in Jerusalem.

The ceremony began with observance of one-minute silence in honour of the victims.

India's Ambassador to Israel, Pavan Kapoor, speaking at the event stressed that the worst terrorist attack on the Indian soil "should motivate the world to unite against terrorism and defeat the ideology of hatred".

Kapoor pointed out that the planners and facilitators of the attack in Pakistan have not yet been brought to justice and, in this context, welcomed the statement of the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

He expressed hope that other countries would follow the US lead and call upon Pakistan to uphold its obligations to implement sanctions against the terrorists responsible for this atrocity, including the members of Lashkar-e-Taeba and its affiliates.

Rabbi Rosenberg said that the attack was not "just against his family but against all of us" who are one as a family.

He further said that although 10 years have passed since the tragedy, his grandson who is a "strong and good boy" has painful memories of the event but still wants to go to Mumbai for his bar mitzvah, a ceremony performed for Jewish boys at the age of 13 that some Israeli scholars compare to the Hindu upnayana or the sacred thread ceremony.

Rosenberg was very appreciative of the support his family has received from the Indian government and people, which makes him believe that it is a "shared" pain.

"I appreciate the government and people of India for the way they have stood by us and made us feel that it is a shared pain. We thank them for the relationship they have built with us," he said, recalling the family's trip with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Mumbai early this year.

"People can say and complain about all sorts of things like security lapse, etc, but we believe in the God. The feeling of oneness demonstrated by Indians is heartwarming and we appreciate it a lot," Rosenberg told PTI.

Moshe celebrated his 12th birthday according to the Hebrew Calendar some three weeks ago and would turn 12 as per Gregorian calendar on November 28.

Two clips featuring Moshe's conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netanyahu in Jerusalem in July 2017 and his visit, along with the Israeli Premier, to the Chabad House in Mumbai in January 2018, were shown during the event.

In an emotional meeting with Modi on July 5, 2017 in Jerusalem, the young boy expressed his wish to visit Mumbai. "I hope I will be able to visit Mumbai, and when I get older, live there. I will be the director of our Chabad House...I love you and your people in India," Moshe told Modi.

Modi responded by saying, "Come and stay in India and Mumbai. You are most welcome. You and your all family members will get long-term visas. So you can come anytime and go anywhere".

Netanyahu had then promptly asked Moshe to join him when he travels to India, a promise he did not forget and the family accompanied him during his trip to India earlier this year.

India issued 10-year multiple entry visas to Moshe and his grandparents to ease their travel to the country in August 2017. Modi is said to have personally followed up on the matter as promised to Moshe.

Kapoor, along with Ronen and Rabbi Rosenberg also lit 25 candles in memory of the 25 foreign nationals who lost their lives in the attack.

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Arab News
February 9,2020

London, Feb 9: A US court has rejected a Turkish attempt to dismiss civil cases brought by protesters who were violently attacked in Washington by Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s security officers.

The incident took place in May 2017 during a visit to the US by the Turkish president. About a dozen bodyguards beat-up a group demonstrating outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington.

The attack, which was caught on video, left nine people injured and further strained US relations with Turkey.

While criminal charges against the security guards were dropped within a year, around the same time Turkey released a US pastor, the victims pressed ahead with a civil case.

On Thursday, a federal court denied Turkey’s request to have the two cases thrown out on the grounds that it should have sovereign immunity from legal proceedings.

US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the protesters had not posed a threat and were merely gathered on a sidewalk outside the residence at Sheridan Circle when Erdogan’s security burst through a police line and attacked them.

“The Turkish security forces did not have the discretion to violently physically attack the protesters, with the degree and nature of force which was used, when the protesters were standing, protesting on a public sidewalk,” she said. “And, Turkish security forces did not have the discretion to continue violently physically attacking the protesters after the protesters had fallen to the ground or otherwise attempted to flee.”

The judge said Turkey “has not met its burden of persuasion to show that it is immune from suit in these cases.”

The ruling was welcomed by the victims of the attack, which Erdogan stopped to watch as he made his way from his car to inside the residence.

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News Network
February 3,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 3: India's manufacturing activity expanded at its quickest pace in nearly eight years in January with robust growth in new orders and output, a private survey showed on Monday, suggesting the economy may be getting back on firmer footing.

In response to the jump in sales, factories hired new workers at the fastest rate in more than seven years.

If sustained, the improvement in business conditions could point to a gradual economic recovery in coming months, as forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll last month, after growth slowed to a more than six-year low in the July-September quarter.

The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index , compiled by IHS Markit, jumped to 55.3 last month from 52.7 in December. It was the highest reading since February 2012 and above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for the 30th straight month.

"The PMI results show that a notable rebound in demand boosted growth of sales, input buying, production and employment as firms focused on rebuilding their inventories and expanding their capacities in anticipation of further increases in new business," Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit, said in a news release.

A new orders sub-index that tracks overall demand hit its highest level since December 2014 and output grew at its fastest pace in over seven and a half years, pushing manufacturers to hire at the strongest rate since August 2012.

Meanwhile, both input costs and output prices rose at a slower pace, indicating overall inflation may have eased after hitting a more than five year high of 7.35% in December, although probably not below the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4%.

That might keep the central bank, which cut its key interest rate by a cumulative 135 basis points last year, on the sidelines over the coming months.

"To complete the good news, there was also an uptick in business confidence as survey participants expect buoyant demand, new client wins, advertising and product diversification to boost output in the year ahead," added De Lima.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Meerut, Jan 8: Hangman Pawan Jallad, who officials say is being considered to carry out the execution of the four Nirbhaya gangrape case convicts, on Tuesday said he is ready for the job which will send out a strong message in the society.

He said executing those who were involved in the horrific crime will bring "great relief" to him, Nirbhaya's parents and everybody else.

Earlier in the day, a Delhi court issued death warrants against all the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case and ordered that they are hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail.

The death warrant, also known as a black warrant, addressed to the office of the Tihar jail chief, was issued by Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora against Mukesh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31).

"I do not have any information regarding the execution, nobody has spoken to me yet. If anyone approaches me, I am ready to do the job. Earlier, I was asked to be ready for the execution on December 16," Pawan Jallad told reporters here.

"Those who were involved in this brutal incident must be hanged, which will send out a strong message in the society," he said.

"Hanging the Nirbhaya gangrape case convicts will certainly bring great relief to me, her parents and everybody else," he added.

Nirbhaya, a 23-year-old paramedic student, was gang-raped and brutalised on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, inside a moving bus in south Delhi by the four men, along with two others, before being dumped on the road.

She died on December 29, 2012, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

Of the six persons convicted, one allegedly committed suicide in jail and another, a juvenile, was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.

When contacted, Jail Superintendent of Meerut prison V P Pandey said he has not yet received any letter from Tihar authorities.

"Last month, we had received a letter asking us to keep Pawan Jallad ready but there is no fresh communication. The Delhi court warrants were issued this evening, maybe we will get the letter for sending him by tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said.

The gangrape of 23-year-old, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya', the fearless one, sparked outrage across the country. Repulsed, people took to the streets across the country, demanding justice for her and better safety measures for women.

The case led to toughening of India's rape laws.

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