Omar slams execution of Guru, sense of alienation in youth in Valley

February 10, 2013

Srinagar, Feb 10: An angry Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today slammed the execution of Afzal Guru and said this would reinforce a sense of alienation and injustice among generations of youth in the Valley. omar

Omar also said it was a "tragedy" that Guru was not allowed to meet his family before he was hanged and not allowed a "final farewell". The 43-year-old Parliament attack convict was hanged and buried in Tihar jail premises in Delhi in a secret operation yesterday.

Clearly unhappy with the hanging of Guru, the Chief Minister said there were many questions that needed to be answered.

Omar observed that the long-term implications of the hanging of Guru's hanging were "far more worrying" as they were related to the new generation of youth in Kashmir "who may not have identified with Maqbool Bhatt but will identify with Afzal Guru." Bhat was hanged in 1984 for murder of Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre in the UK.

"Please understand that there is more than one generation of Kashmiris that has come to see themselves as victims, that has come to see themselves as category of people who will not receive justice," Omar said in TV interviews.

"Whether you like it or not, the execution of Afzal Guru has reinforced that point that there is no justice for them and that to my mind is far more disturbing and worrying than the short-term implications for security front.

How we would be able to correct or address that sense of injustice and alienation is a question I do not have answers," he added.

Asked about the official position of the ruling National Conference on the hanging, Omar said," Obviously we would have it rather had not happened."

kashmiris

Kashmiri students protest the execution of Mohammed Afzal Guru, in New Delhi on Saturday

Expressing himself against death penalty because “I have no bloodlust". Omar said as long as the capital punishment exists on the statute there should be no "pick and choose".

Asked whether the UPA government went for selective execution of death row convicts by hanging Guru, Omar said it will have to be proved to Kashmiris and to the world that the execution of Afzal Guru is not a "selective" one.

"I had a sense that Afzal Guru would be executed sooner rather than later. Generations of Kashmiris will identify with Afzal Guru. You will have to prove to the world that the death penalty is not used selectively. The onus rests on the judiciary and the political leadership to show that this wasn't a selective execution," he said.

The Chief Minister while agreeing that there were people who believe that Afzal's trial was flawed said there were enough voices in the rest of the country also who feel the same.

Omar said if the Centre wanted to protect itself from allegation that Afzal's hanging was political than legal, it will have to answer questions on other death row convicts.

"There are others on death who are also implicated in attacks on democracy. If Chief Minister of a state not a symbol of democracy? Is a former Prime Minister not a symbol of democracy? Of course, he is," he said referring to the death row convicts in the cases of assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.

Omar also said that many questions needed to be answered.

"The words used in the Supreme Court judgement are difficult to explain ... the judgement talks about satisfying collective conscience. You don't hang someone to satisfy collective conscience but to satisfy the legal requirements," the Chief Minister said.

On Guru's family not allowed to meet him, Omar said, "I cannot reconcile myself to the fact that his (Afzal) family was not allowed to see him before he was killed or executed. That to my mind, on a human level, is the biggest tragedy of this execution."

The Chief Minister also questioned the rationale of informing Afzal's family through post saying the reliability of the medium itself was questionable.

"If we are going to inform someone by post that his family member is going to be hanged, there is something seriously wrong with the system," he said.

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I and B Minister Prakash Javadekar condemns alleged attack on Arnab Goswami

News Network

April 23,2020

New Delhi, Apr 23: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar, on Thursday condemned the attack on Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami saying that this is "against democracy".

"We condemn the attempt to attack renowned journalist Arnab Goswami. Essentially, we condemn every attack on any journalist. Because this is against democracy," the Union Minister said.

"It is really ironical that those who preach tolerance have become so intolerant. Therefore, we condemn this attempt. We appeal to the collective wisdom that this is undemocratic. As per present law, definitely, police takes action, if there is a complaint," said Javadekar.

Two persons were arrested on Thursday morning for allegedly attacking Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and his wife Samyabrata Ray in Mumbai.

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Javedkar is blind not to accept Arnab's venomous statement in deciding the nation. He is another shameless

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Dawood Ibrahim, wife test positive for coronavirus, claim media reports

News Network

June 5,2020

Jun 5: Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his wife Mahzabeen have tested positive for COVID-19, a top government source told CNN News 18. They were admitted to the Army Hospital in Karachi.

Some of Dawood's personal staff and guards have also been quarantined, the report said on Friday.

Dawood was the mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai blasts and is one of the most-wanted gangsters by India. He has allegedly been living in Pakistan but the neighbouring country has always refusing to accept it.

Earlier in the day, a senior diplomat of the American embassy in Pakistan has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a media report said.

In a statement, the embassy's spokesman said that while maintaining the privacy, the name of the citizen would not be disclosed.

The US State Department is responsible to protect its citizens, wherever they are, the spokesman added. In coordination with the Pakistani authorities, the consulate is working to enforce the coronavirus protocol in order to stem its spread. The spokesman added that isolation wards, contact tracing and quarantine facility are part of such protocols.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has 89,249 COVID-19 cases and the death toll is 1,838.

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Sacked for reporting suspected coronavirus case, claims Kerala woman doctor

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March 11,2020

New Delhi, Mar 11: A doctor in Kerala on Tuesday alleged that she was sacked by the management of the private clinic she was working with for informing authorities about a non-resident Indian (NRI) patient who reportedly declined to undergo the mandatory check for coronavirus.

Dr Shinu Syamalan said the patient had come to the clinic recently with suspected symptoms of the virus.

"When he was asked whether he had visited any foreign countries, he said he was coming from Qatar. But he had not reported to the Health department about his foreign trip," she said.

When he was directed to inform about his foreign travel to the state Health Department, which has been monitoring people coming from abroad for the virus, he refused and said he was going back to Qatar, she told reporters.

Concerned over the health of the person who had high fever, Ms Syamalan informed health and police authorities.

"Officials who let the patient go abroad do not have any problem, but I have become jobless," she posted on social media.

She alleged she was sacked by the management of the clinic for reporting the matter to police and informing the public about the incident through social media and through television.

"The argument of the management is that no one would turn up for treatment in the clinic if they come to know that it was visited by patients with suspected symptoms of Coronavirus," she said.

There was no immediate reaction from the management of the private health clinic.

Official sources said the District Medical Officer (DMO) at Thrissur has complained to the collector against Shinu Syamalan accusing her of defaming health officials.

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