Kashmir.Watch

Category: World

  • China defends blocking Azhar at UN, says it will help in finding lasting solution

    Beijing: China on Thursday sought to defend its fourth technical hold at the UN Security Council to block the designation of Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist”, saying it would help the parties concerned to engage in more talks to find a “lasting solution” acceptable to all.

    The proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was moved by France, the UK and the US on February 27, days after a suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, leading to a flare-up in tensions between India and Pakistan.

    The Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee members had 10 working days to raise any objections to the proposal. Just before the deadline ended, China put a “technical hold” on the proposal seeking “more time to examine” it.

    The proposal was the fourth such bid at the UN in the last 10 years to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

    Asked why China once again resorted to block the move, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing here that Beijing’s decision is in line with the rules of the committee.

    China “sincerely hopes that relevant action taken by this committee will help relevant countries to engage in dialogue and consultation and prevent adding more complicated factors into regional peace and stability,” he said.

    “As to the technical hold at the 1267 Committee our action is to make sure that the committee will have enough time to study the matter so that the relevant sides will have time for dialogue and consultation,” Lu said.

    “Only a solution that is acceptable to all sides could fundamentally provide a chance for a lasting solution to the issue. China is ready to communicate and coordinate with all sides including India to properly handle this issue,” he said.

    The Security Council 1267 Committee has clear standards on the procedures of designating terrorist organisations and individuals, Lu said.

    “China conducts thorough and in-depth assessment of these applications and we still need more time, so that is why we put forward the technical hold,” he said.

    India Wednesday expressed disappointment soon after China put a technical hold on designating Azhar.

    The External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi said India will continue to pursue all available avenues to ensure that leaders of terror groups involved in heinous attacks on Indian citizens are brought to justice.

    “This has prevented action by the international community to designate the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a proscribed and active terrorist organization which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14,” the MEA said.

    Without naming China, it said the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee was not able to come to a decision on the proposal for listing Azhar on account of a member placing the proposal on hold.

    To another question on the Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping last year to improve the bilateral relations, Lu said, “Xi and Modi met four times. Particularly Wuhan summit made great progress. China is full of sincerity and ready to work with India to build on the consensus of our leaders for greater progress in the bilateral relations.”

    On the Kashmir issue, Lu said China’s position on it is clear and consistent.

    “This is an issue that is left over between India and Pakistan. We hope that the two sides will engage in friendly dialogue consultation and solve this issue and other related issues,” he said.

  • Why are terrorists who attack other nations free? Bilawal Bhutto blasts Pak govt

    Pakistan, March 14: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has questioned Pakistan’s inaction against groups that attack other nations, delivering a stinging rebuke of his country’s government.

    He decried the contrast between the punishment given to his mother and his father — former Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari — and the lack of action against groups that killed children in Pakistan and carried out attacks on foreign soil.

    Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan recently said no militant group would be allowed to operate from Pakistani soil to carry out attacks abroad, days after his government announced a crackdown against Islamist militant organisations.

    Bilawal Bhutto has claimed there are at least three ministers from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party who have links to banned groups.

    Ties between India and Pakistan have plummeted since a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber killed dozens of Indian paramilitary soldiers in southern Kashmir on February 14.

    India carried out airstrikes on the terrorist group in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on February 26. A day later, New Delhi said it had thwarted an attempt by Pakistani warplanes to target its military installations.

    China has now — once again — prevented a UN Security Council committee from blacklisting Masood Azhar, the head of Jaish-e-Mohammed. (Agencies)

  • Willing to mediate on Kashmir if India are Pakistan ready: Norwegian PM Solberg

    New Delhi: Prime minister of Norway Erna Solberg on Monday said her country was willing to mediate between India and Pakistan to solve tangled Kashmir problem provided both sides wanted the same.
    In an interview with NDTV, Solberg said the Kashmir problem could not be solved only from a military standpoint, and that popular support was also important.

    When asked if her country saw any role for mediation between India and Pakistan, Solberg said, “If there is an interest from the partners, we will try to use the mechanisms that we know. We have been working quite a lot in different countries but we always have this one basic thinking. The partners need to want to sit down by the table and discuss. Then of course if there is a need for a mediator, a need for a facilitator to fix, even though these are two very big countries that should manage to sort out things between themselves.”
    On November 23, former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik had met two top Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who briefed him about the “fragile” political situation in Kashmir and the need for a resolution of the Kashmir issue.
    Bodevik had also visited the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir Muzaffarabad, and discussed the “latest situation” in Jammu and Kashmir with the PaK president Sardar Masood Khan.
    Bondevik had also said that international community is interested in Kashmir and that he was willing to mediate between India and Pakistan over the long-pending dispute.
    According to NDTV, when the Norwegian premier was asked on ex Noway PM Kjell Magne Bondevik view that there can be no military solution to Kashmir, Solberg reiterated, “I don’t think there is a military solution to any situation like this. I think you have to have a popular support. You have to have good trust between the partners in any region where still there is a conflict but we don’t have a special meaning about whether it is a military solution in Kashmir or not. What we have learnt is that you have to bring in popular support and by getting women and youth into a peace process and that’s when you build a solid peace in an area where there have been a conflict.”
    Solberg said the former PM’s visit to Kashmir was strictly a private one, which did not involve either government.
    “He was invited and he wanted to see if there were some possibilities of helping out but there was no official mission and he was not on a mission from the Norwegian government,” Solberg was quoted as having said by NDTV.
    She also said India and Pakistan should be talking more to each other and should decrease military expenditure “because we need more money for other areas to boost development – on health, education, but I think that means that you have to try to decrease tension between countries. After such a long time. It’s a long time since 1947.”

  • Thailand urged to stop deportation of Saudi woman

    The young woman was on her way to Australia when she was intercepted during a stopover at the Thai airport by personnel from the Saudi embassy, who confiscated her passport and plane ticket.

    The Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged Thai authorities to stop the deportation of an 18-year-old Saudi woman who fled her family and has been held at the Bangkok airport since the weekend.
    Rahaf Mohammed Al-Qunun has refused to board Kuwait Airlines Flight KU412, set to depart from Bangkok to Kuwait at 11.15 a.m., on Monday claiming her family has threatened to kill her after she ran away from them, reports Efe news.

    The young woman was on her way to Australia when she was intercepted during a stopover at the Thai airport by personnel from the Saudi embassy, who confiscated her passport and plane ticket.
    “Saudi women fleeing their families can face severe violence from relatives, deprivation of liberty, and other serious harm if returned against their will,” HRW Middle East Director Michael Page said in a statement.

    Rahaf Mohammed رهف محمد القنون
    @rahaf84427714
    · 2h
    Rahaf just send me this, she just want you to make sure she is on the hotel and she still needs help and protection.

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    Rahaf Mohammed رهف محمد القنون
    @rahaf84427714
    Rahaf just send me this, she just want you to make sure she is on the hotel and she still needs help and protection. pic.twitter.com/xxs61JIfhP

    1,267
    10:50 AM – Jan 7, 2019
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    “Thai authorities should immediately halt any deportation, and either allow her to continue her travel to Australia or permit her to remain in Thailand to seek protection as a refugee,” he added..
    Al-Qunun said her family subjected her to various abuses, including beatings and threats, and that she fled from them when visiting Kuwait, which does not require females to get the authorisation of a male relative to leave the country.
    Al-Qunun said in a Twitter account opened on Saturday that she is locked in a hotel room at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, where staff from the Saudi embassy are preventing her from leaving,
    “I’m the girl who run away from Kuwait to Thailand. I’m in real danger because the Saudi embassy trying to forcing me to go back to Saudi Arabia, while I’m at the airport waiting for my second flight,” the woman said when she created the account.
    Al-Qunun told HRW that Thai authorities told her on Sunday that she would not be allowed to enter Thailand since her visa had been rejected and that she would be deported to Kuwait on Monday.
    HRW demanded that the Thai authorities allow the young woman to contact UNHCR and abide by the decision taken by the UN refugee agency.

  • Vajpayee told me Kashmir issue would have been resolved had BJP not lost in 2004: Imran Khan

    Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said that former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee had told him that Kashmir issue would have been resolved had BJP not lost in 2004, Zee News reported.

    Khan claimed he was informed by late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former foreign minister Natwar Singh during a conference that Kashmir would have been resolved if the BJP had not lost the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

    “It shows that there is a solution of Kashmir and both countries were close to resolving it,” the Pakistani prime minister insisted.

    Khan also said that war is not a solution to the Kashmir issue, which can be resolved through talks.

    In an interview to a group of television journalists Khan said unless there was a dialogue, various options on resolution of Kashmir cannot be discussed.

    When asked about the formula to resolve the Kashmir issue, Khan said there were two or three solutions, which have been in discussions. He, however, refused to share more details, saying it was “too early to talk about them”.

    Ruling out the possibility of any war with India, he said two nuclear-armed countries would not fight because “there are always unintended consequences”.

    Asserting that Pakistan was serious to develop peaceful ties with all its neighbours, Khan claimed India was not ready to hold talks with the country due to the upcoming general elections.

    Replying to a query on his views on the military’s role in shaping of foreign policy in every country, including the US, he said, “Advice from the establishment is taken in those issues where security situation is involved.”

    Khan said the Pakistan Army and his government “are on the same page” and his decisions are “backed” by the military.

  • Ruet-e-Hilal Research Council says first of Ramazan likely on Thursday

    The holy month of Ramazan is expected to begin in Pakistan from Thursday this year, announced Secretary-General Ruet-e-Hilal Research Council (RHRC) Khalid Ejaz Mufti.

    The new moon will be sighted only if its age is more than 19 hours at sunset and the difference between sunset and moonset should also be more than 40 minutes, said Mufti.

    “The age of the new moon on the evening of Wednesday will be more than 26 hours in all cities of Pakistan,” said theRHRC secretary-general.

    The difference between sunset and moonset will also be 58-60 minutes in various important cities of the country.

    RHRC members are confident that the new moon would be visible in all cities of Pakistan on Wednesday, May 16 if there are no clouds in the sky, said Mufti.

  • Russian state TV tells people to prepare for Word War 3

    Srinagar: A Russian state TV station has told people what food they should take into bomb shelters as fears grow about the start of World War Three.
    The state run Russian TV broadcasted a report advising people on the best food to take into World War III bomb shelters.
    The report on Rossiya-24news suggested supplies for survival – and packing iodine to protect the body from radiation, according to media reports.
    People were told to pack rice and oatmeal.
    ‘Life in the underground world will be particularly hard for the sweet toothed. Chocolates, sweets, condensed milk, all this will have to be left behind,” TV anchor said.
    ‘Yes, glucose is a great source of energy but sweets cause thirst, and water will become the most precious source for residents of bomb shelters’ he said.

  • Musharraf’s Property Being Seized

    The 74-year-old former president was indicted in March, 2014 on treason charges for imposing emergency in the country which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges.

    Islamabad: A special Pakistani tribunal has ordered the government to arrest former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and confiscate all his properties as it heard the high treason case against the “proclaimed offender” for imposing emergency rule in the country in 2007.
    The 74-year-old former president was indicted in March, 2014 on treason charges for imposing emergency in the country which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges.
    A three-member bench headed by Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Yahya Afridi held its first hearing in the case in eight months.
    During the hearing, the interior ministry submitted in the court a report on Musharraf’s properties, stating four of the seven properties are owned by the former president, The Nation reported.
    Prosecutor Akram Sheikh asked the court to order Musharraf’s arrest and his production.
    Musharraf, who left the country for Dubai in March 2016, was declared a proclaimed absconder by the court in May 2016.
    A conviction for high treason carries the death penalty or life imprisonment.
    The court during Thursday’s trial asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials what the procedure is to bring back an absconder from abroad. The officials replied the interior ministry should send them a request after which action could be taken.
    Afridi then said the court is ordering the arrest of Musharraf and seizure of his properties.
    Musharraf’s counsel, Akhtar Shah, prayed to the court not to order confiscation of Musharraf’s properties until March 21, but Afridi remarked the court procedure cannot be violated.
    During the hearing, the court sought mutual legal assistance agreement with the UAE in the matter of his arrest from Dubai.
    The court also expressed anger over non-receipt of details of his foreign properties even after 10 months.
    The court questioned what problem lies with initiation of action in respect of his properties outside the country and why Interpol has not been contacted after issuance of warrants against him.
    The court summoned Foreign Office and FIA authorities on the next hearing, besides seeking mutual legal assistance agreement with the UAE.
    Musharraf ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008.
    He is wanted in Pakistan in several criminal cases including in the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

  • Saudi cleric endorses Valentine’s Day as ‘positive event’

    A prominent Saudi cleric endorsed Valentine’s Day, long forbidden in the ultra-conservative kingdom, calling it a “positive social event” that was not linked to religion.

    The comment from Ahmed Qassim al-Ghamdi, former chief of the religious police in the holy city of Makkah, comes as 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pursues a far-reaching liberalisation drive that has upended years of conservative tradition.

    “It is a positive social event and congratulating people for it is not against sharia (law),” Ghamdi told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television.

    “It is an act of kindness to share greetings on Western national and social holidays, including Valentine’s Day, exchange red roses with others, as long as it is towards peaceful people who do not share animosity or are being at war with Muslims.”

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    Such comments from the Saudi clerical establishment would be inconceivable around two years ago, when the religious police wielded unbridled powers and were notorious for enforcing sex segregation.

    In recent years, Saudi Arabia launched a series of reforms, including gradually diminishing powers of the religious police to arrest. Prince Mohammed, who has vowed to return the country to “moderate Islam”, has further cut back the political role of hardline clerics in a historic reordering of the Saudi state.

    Florists openly sold red roses and Valentine’s Day memorabilia in cities such as Jeddah on Wednesday without any trouble from the religious police, previously notorious for disrupting celebrations.

    The declining presence of the religious police has been met with relief from many of the country’s young, but it has also sparked concern over a possible backlash from arch-conservatives.

    But opposition to the prince’s reforms has been muted — at least publicly — after his crackdown on dissent, including arrests of prominent clerics with millions of followers on social media.

    Courtesy: Dawn

  • By 2040, Islam will be second largest religion in US: Study

    According to the Pew Research Center, the reason for the burgeoning Muslim population was twofold — a high rate of immigration and a high fertility rate.

    Muslims are on course to become the second largest religious group in the US by 2040, a study by Pew Research Center has suggested.

    Analysing studies they conducted in 2007, 2011 and 2017 with annual data from US Census, Pew concluded that the Muslim population is growing at an accelerated rate and will rise from an estimated 3.45 million in 2017 to an estimated 8.1 million in 2050, CNN reported.

    By 2040, the number of Muslims will surpass the Jewish population to become the second largest religious group, the study said.

    According to the Pew analysis, the reason for the burgeoning Muslim population was twofold — a high rate of immigration and a high fertility rate. It said that around three quarters of the Muslim population in the US are immigrants or the children of immigrants.

    NBC quoted Besheer Mohamed, senior researcher at Pew, as saying that Pakistan, Iran, India and Afghanistan were among countries that sent the largest number of Muslims to the United States over the past decade.

    However, the number of Christians — the largest religious group in the US — will still see a massive growth in numbers, though a declining percentage of population, the study said. And despite its exponential rise, Muslims will only account for 2.1% of the US population.