Modi trying to make India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’: Deve Gowda

Agencies
April 2, 2019

Bengaluru, Apr 2: JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of wanting to make India a "Hindu Rashtra".

The former prime minister also sought to know as to why article 370 of the Constitution that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir should be abolished.

"Why it should be abolished? The question is- why it should be abolished? I did not give article 370 there. When Kashmir joined India after an agreement with the then Maharaja there, article 370 (was agreed upon)," Gowda said.

He said, "There are Buddhists there (in J&K), Muslims, Hindus, Brahmins, Pandits, and there are many communities there. After looking into the atmosphere that existed there, a decision was arrived at."

Gowda was speaking to reporters in Hassan from where his grandson Prajwal Revanna is JD(S) candidate for Lok Sabha polls. "Modi has the idea, to make this entire country a Hindu Rashtra. Am I not a Hindu? Am I a Muslim or Christian or Buddhist? We take all religions into confidence," he said.

Advocating a system where all communities coexist together, Gowda reminding about Mahatma Gandhi's efforts to bring in peace in communal violence-hit Noakhali in Bengal said, "...Gandhi got us freedom... Did these people (BJP) get us freedom? Ambedkar gave us the constitution." "... you (BJP) may have your ideas, if 130 crore people of Hindustan agree with the idea, let that test also happen during this election," he added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had recently advocated repeal of Jammu and Kashmir's special status and said Article 35A, which restricts non-permanent residents to buy property in Jammu and Kashmir, was "constitutionally vulnerable" and also hampering economic development of the state.

Following this, several leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, including PDP President and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had said that the relationship between the Union and the state would be over if Article 370 of the Constitution is revoked.

Another former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had hit out at Jaitley, saying any such talk will raise questions on the accession of the state to India as well.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Bosnia, Jul 12: Bosnians commemorated on Saturday the massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, marking the 25th anniversary of killings that shocked the world and have stood out as Europe's only atrocity since World War Two constituting genocide.

Nine newly identified victims were buried at a flower-shaped cemetery near the town, where tall white tombstones mark the graves of 6,643 other victims.

"After 25 years we succeeded in finding his mortal remains, so they can be laid to their final rest," said Fikret Pezic, who buried his father Hasan.

The remains of some 1,000 victims of the massacre in the eastern town during Bosnia's 1992-1995 war are still missing.

Ifeta Hasanovic decided to bury incomplete remains of her husband, saying: "We were aware they cannot be complete after 25 years, at least there are some, I did not want to make any new delays."

World leaders addressed the ceremony by video link, unable to attend because of coronavirus epidemic. Instead of the tens of thousands visitors who typically attend the commemoration each year, only a few thousand came after organisers banned organised visits.

During the Bosnian war, Bosnian Serb forces pushed non-Serbs out of territories they sought for their Serb statelet. Fleeing Muslims took shelter in several eastern towns, including Srebrenica, that were designated as United Nations "safe zones".

On July 11, 1995, the Serb forces commanded by General Ratko Mladic overran Srebrenica, which was protected by lightly armed Dutch peacekeepers.

They sent women and children away and captured and executed the men and boys they found. The bodies were dumped into mass graves and later exhumed by U.N. investigators and used as evidence in war crimes trials of Bosnian Serb leaders.

"We grieve with the families that tirelessly seek justice for the 8,000 innocent lives lost, all these years later," said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Washington brokered Bosnia's peace deal months after the massacre.

Most people at the commemoration were Muslim Bosniaks, reflecting conflicting narratives about the bloodshed - which hinders reconciliation nearly 25 years after the end of war in which about 100,000 people were killed.

The U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted Mladic and his political chief Radovan Karadzic over Srebrenica genocide but they remained heroes for Serbs, many of whom deny that genocide happened.

On Saturday, the Serbs in the nearby town of Bratunac organised an event marking July 11 as the "Srebrenica Liberation Day".

Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak chairman of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, called for legislation that would ban denial of genocide.

"There can be no trust as long as we witness attacks on the truth, denial of genocide and glorification and celebration of executors," Dzaferovic told the commemoration gathering.

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News Network
March 16,2020

Kalaburagi, Mar 16: A family member of the 76-year-old man from Kalaburgai who died of COVID-19 on March 10 has been tested positive for the virus.

Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner B Sharat said, "One member of the family of the 76-year-old man from Kalaburgai, who died due to coronavirus has tested positive for the virus."

The disease which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

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News Network
March 9,2020

Hubli, Mar 9: A Hubli court on Monday rejected the bail application of three Kashmiri students, who were booked for sedition, after their video allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans went viral.

The plea was filed under Section 439 of CrPC.

This comes after the Hubli Bar Association earlier withdrew its resolution against representing the three Kashmiri students and said that advocates who wish to appear for them can approach Dharwad Principal District Court to file bail plea.

The three students are Basit Ashik Sophi (19), Talib Majid (19) and Amir Mohiuddin (23). They were booked under sedition charges for raising pro-Pakistan slogan in a video shared on social media.

They were earlier transferred to Belgaum Hindalga jail from Hubli sub-jail and the case, registered in Gokul Road police station, was also transferred to the rural police station because the video was recorded in the college hostel room, which is in its jurisdiction.

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