Intolerance on the rise in Modi, Trump regimes, says Martin Luther King III

News Network
July 22, 2017

Bengaluru, Jul 22: A day after the BJP sent a strong political message by ensuring an emphatic victory for Ram Nath Kovind in presidential elections, a three-day conference in Congress-ruled Karnataka on Dalit icon BR Ambedkar triggered a parallel narrative on the state of Dalits in the country.

In his inaugural address at the symposium on Friday, human rights activist and social reformer Martin Luther King III drew a parallel between India and the US, saying both countries are now ruled by people who have “little regard” for the poor, and where there is no respect for the rule of law.

King III said both India and the US are seeing a rise in hate crimes — a sweeping indictment of the Modi and Trump governments.

"A California State University research says there have been over 1,000 hate crimes in the US since the 2016 election. And here (in India), cow vigilantes kill Muslims and Dalits as the police stand by," King III, the son of acclaimed civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr, said.

He was addressing 2,000 delegates at the conference, including Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, Dr BR Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar and Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi.

“If my father were here, he would have stood by the Dalit demonstrations that the country is seeing in different places,” King III added, drawing parallels between the values espoused by Ambedkar and King Jr.

The conference is being hosted by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at a time when the Congress is trying to retain power in a state that has a majority population of Dalits and OBCs.

The state is headed to polls in April 2018.

The conference is also symbolic of the nation-wide turf war for a larger contest in the offing for Dalit votes which has traditionally been with the Congress since Independence. The BJP, in the last three years, has made a concerted attempt to impinge on this constituency.

Siddaramaiah, who will be seeking a fresh mandate in the coming months, hit out at the central government.

"Today we are told that being a good Indian means we have to ignore the inequality and exploitation in our midst. I reject such majoritarianism. It is opposed to the spirit of the Constitution,” he said.

The three-day conference would conclude with a 'Bangalore Declaration' that outlines specific constitutional and institutional ways to respond to attacks on social justice.

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Pulimunchi
 - 
Monday, 24 Jul 2017

Thank God! He did not bite something else!

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News Network
February 19,2020

Malappuram (Kerala), Feb 19:  children of a couple in a span of nine years has raised suspicion among police personnel here who have registered a case following a complaint after a three-month-old child of the family died on Tuesday and was buried.

Police exhumed the body, which was buried in the morning, and took it to the district hospital at Tirur for post-mortem.

The infant was the sixth child of the couple, police said.

"A case has been registered (for unnatural death) in the matter to verify the death beyond any suspicion raised by locals since five other children of the couple had died in the past nine years," a senior police official said.

The couple had three boys and three girls of which the third girl child lived till the age of four and the rest died before turning one.

"The post-mortem will take place today itself.We are collecting the medical records of the children who had passed away earlier.

We will identify the cause of death after analysing the records and discuss the matter with forensic doctors," Tirur Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) said.

However, relatives claimed that there was nothing suspicious in the death of the children and that doctors have said it was due to some genetic disease.

"The post-mortem of the third child was conducted and the doctors said the death was due to some genetic problems. They said they were helpless," a relative said, adding that the family was ready to face any probe.

According to the locals, the couple had claimed that the children have died due to epilepsy.

Sources said the baby was taken to a hospital but was dead prior to reaching the hospital early this morning.

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News Network
April 21,2020

Kasaragod, Apr 21: Kerala reported a spike in COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with 19 people testing positive, after a decline in the numbers in the past few days, as the total infections touched 426 in the southern state.

Kannur recorded 10 cases, Palakkad four, Kasaragod three and Malappuram and Kollam one each, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here.

The number of those getting infected were in single digits over the past few days.

Of the 10 positive cases from Kannur, nine of them had come from abroad and one had been infected through contact, he said.

Pointing out that the positive cases in Palakkad,Malappuram and Kollam had come from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Vijayan said there is need to enforce strict vigilance in places bordering neighbouring states.

Sixteen people tested negative on Tuesday, while the total active cases 117, he added.

At least 32,000 people are under observation,

Of the around 20,000 samples sent, 19,440 had returned negative, Vijayan said.

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News Network
July 17,2020

Mysuru, Jul 17: Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sankar has ordered a partial lockdown in the City of Palaces Mysuru due to the increase in number of Covid-19 cases day by day.

As per the order, the lockdown will be in force from 0600 hours today till 0600 hours on July 24 at N R, Udayagiri, Lashkar and Mandi Mohalla Police limits in the city. In addition, it has decided to lockdown 400 meters from the house where Covid-19 patients have died.

The order further states that all the religious gatherings are prohibited and only parcel service is available to hotels.  Movement of vehicles is also prohibited but in emergency cases, it may be allowed.  Employees and people on essential services can go to work after producing their ID cards.

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