UK councillor seeks ban on holding of Burhan Wani death anniversary rally in Birmingham

Agencies
April 3, 2018

London, Apr 3: A British Councillor, Peter Douglas Osborn, has written a letter to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, asking the government to ban a possible rally that could be held in Birmingham in memory of slain Kashmiri terrorist Burhan Wani on his death anniversary on July 8.

"I spent ¾ hour on Channel X, a major Indian TV media channel, with spokesmen from the BJP, Congress party, and other minor parties explaining our weak response as a city to such a provocation. The city allowed, banned, then allowed again under pressure from a small section of the community. I did promise that I would try to get it banned this year which is why I am writing to you. Intelligence suggests that another protest is being planned," says Osborn from Bournville, Birmingham, in his letter dated March 15, 2018.

On July 6, 2017, the Birmingham City Council, on the basis of a strong protest from India, withdrew permission for a rally titled "Burhan Wani Day" that was proposed to be held to mark the first death anniversary of the terrorist who was killed by Indian security forces in the Tral region of Jammu and Kashmir on July, 8, 2016.

Media reports suggest that Indian authorities resorted to sending a "Note Verbale" to the United Kingdom to register the protest. The note highlighted details of crimes committed by Burhan Wani and propagation of violence by him in the Kashmir Valley.

It is believed that permission for the rally was sought by some United Kingdom based organisations that lobby for the cause of Kashmiri separatism. Tehreek-e-Kashmir Europe was believed to be in the forefront for holding the rally.

Promotional material for the event carried images of Burhan Wani and read, "We will take back what is ours forcefully. We will not rest until Kashmir is free from Kuffers and hoist the flag of Islamic Ummah."

Reports of the aforementioned preparations of the rally were carried by section of the Indian media.

In his letter to the Home Secretary, Osborn also highlighted the sensitivity of the Indian media to extremists being lauded in the United Kingdom.

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News Network
June 24,2020

Washington, Jun 24: An Indian restaurant in the Sante Fe City of New Mexico, owned by a Sikh, was broken into and vandalised with hate messages scrawled on its walls, a media report said Tuesday.

The damage caused to India Palace restaurant is estimated to be worth USD 100,000, local Santa Fe Reporter said adding that the vandalisation is being investigated by local police and the FBI.

Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) has condemned the incident.

"This kind of hate and violence is unacceptable and swift action must be taken to ensure the safety and security of all Americans," said Kiran Kaur Gill SALDEF executive director.

According to the local daily, tables were overturned, glassware was smashed into piles on the floor, wine racks were emptied, a statue of a goddess was beheaded and computers were stolen.

The vandals also turned over and destroyed food warmers while the front desk area was devastated, plates smashed and the kitchen rendered completely unusable, it said.

"I walked into the kitchen, I saw everything and I was like, hold on, what? What is going on here?" owner Baljit Singh told Santa Fe Reporter. "White power," "Trump 2020," "go home," and far worse were spray-painted on walls, doors, counters and any other available surface.

"Some phrases contained threats of violence and derogatory racial slurs," the daily said.

"Santa Fe is a peaceful town, and the Sikh community has lived here, beautifully integrated, since the 60s," said SALDEF board member Simran Singh, who lives minutes away from the restaurant.

"Tensions have flared recently with the reinvigoration of the Black Lives Matter movement and the removal of statues associated with Spanish colonisers of this area, who committed a number of atrocities," he said.

"Nevertheless, we are seeing an outpouring of love and support around the city and in my experience, our neighbors love and appreciate us, as we love and appreciate them," he added.

SALDEF said that it has seen an unprecedented rise in hate crimes including the April 29 incident wherein a Sikh American Lakhwant Singh was brutally attacked by a man identified as Eric Breeman in Lakewood, Colorado.

Lakhwant Singh was told to "go back to your country," while being attacked. No formal hate crime charges have been brought against the attacker.

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Agencies
June 28,2020

Paris, Jun 28: More than 10 million cases of the new coronavirus have been officially declared around the world, half of them in Europe and the United States, according to an AFP tally on Sunday based on official sources.

At least 10,003,942 infections, including 498,779 deaths, have been registered globally.

Europe remains the hardest hit continent with 2,637,546 cases including 195,975 fatalities, while the United States has 2,510,323 infections including 125,539 deaths.

The rate of infections worldwide continues to rise, with one million new cases recorded in just six days.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases and some do not have the capacity to carry out widescale testing.

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Agencies
May 19,2020

Moscow, May 19: Russia confirmed 9,263 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the country’s official number of cases to 299,941.

On Sunday, the head of Russia's public health watchdog, Anna Popova, said the growth of new coronavirus cases in Russia is stabilizing.

Russia is the second most-affected country in terms of infections.

A record 115 people have died over the past 24 hours, bringing the total toll to 2,837 — a rate considerably lower than in many other countries hit hard by the pandemic.

Russia began easing nation-wide lockdown restrictions last week and announced the national football league would restart in late June.

Critics have cast doubt on Russia's low official mortality rate, accusing authorities of under-reporting in order to play down the scale of the crisis.

Russian health officials say one of the reasons the count is lower is that only deaths directly caused by the virus are being included.

Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova over the weekend denied manipulation of numbers, saying hospitals had a financial interest in identifying infections because they are allocated more money to treat coronavirus patients.

Authorities also say that since the virus came later to Russia, there was more time to prepare hospital beds and launch wide-scale testing to slow the spread.

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