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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by KASHMIR TODAY staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

State Department report says senior BJP officials made ‘inflammatory speeches’ against religious minorities last year.

Source: ALJAZEERA

India has hit out at a report by the United States saying religious intolerance was growing under its right-wing government, setting off a new spat ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

An annual report on international religious freedom released by Pompeo on Friday said Hindu groups had used “violence, intimidation, and harassment” against Muslims and low-caste Dalits in 2017 to force a religion-based national identity.

But Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government insisted that no foreign country had the right to criticise its record.

Pompeo is set to arrive in New Delhi on Tuesday for a trip intended to strengthen ties, but already complicated by spats over trade tariffs, data protection rules, US visas for Indians and buying arms from Russia.

‘Inflammatory speeches’

“Despite Indian government statistics indicating that communal violence has increased sharply over the past two years, the Modi administration has not addressed the problem,” the report said.

The US religious freedom report said groups claiming to protect cows – considered sacred by Hindus – have attacked Muslims and Dalits. Christians have also been targeted for proselytising since Modi came to power in 2014.

The report, which examined attacks on religious minorities during 2018, said some senior officials from Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made “inflammatory speeches” mainly against Muslims, who make up 14 percent of India’s 1.3 billion people.

“Mob attacks by violent extremist Hindu groups against minority communities, especially Muslims, continued throughout the year amid rumours that victims had traded or killed cows for beef,” the report said.

It also noted reports by non-governmental organisations that the government sometimes failed to act on mob attacks on religious minorities, marginalised communities, and critics of the government.

The Indian foreign ministry rejected the report, saying there was no right “for a foreign entity/government to pronounce on the state of our citizens’ constitutionally protected rights”.

“India is proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and a pluralistic society with a long-standing commitment to tolerance and inclusion,” spokesman Raveesh Kumar said in a statement.

“The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens, including its minority communities.”

The United States has sought to boost ties with India as a counterweight to China, and both US President Donald Trump and Modi have highlighted their good relationship.

However, India last week imposed higher import tariffs on 28 US items in retaliation to Washington’s recent withdrawal of trade privileges for New Delhi.

Pompeo wants to use his New Delhi trip to lay the ground for a Trump-Modi meeting at the G20 Summit in Osaka this month. It will be their first since Modi’s new landslide election win last month.

(This story has not been edited by KASHMIR TODAY staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar, Aug 03: Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) (Law and Order) Muneer Khan Saturday dismissed the rumours that J&K policemen were being asked to deposit their weapons asserting that strict action will be taken against such rumour mongers.

Talking to Kashmir News Service (KNS) he said, “The tweet on social media in which it has been mentioned that J&K policemen are being asked to deposit their weapons and CRPF and army were taking control of police stations is a criminal rumour. Strict action will be taken against these criminal elements who have spread these malicious rumours with intent to vitiate the atmosphere. We are trying to find out who has initiated this malicious rumour.”

“J&K police has always made sacrifices in the service of state and nation and will continue to do so,” Khan added. (KNS)

Non-local’s body not retrieved by forces, still lying in open near encounter site; Thousands attend funeral of Zeenat-ul-Islam Naikoo at his native village; Clashes reported

Srinagar, Aug 03: More than 50-hour long gunfight between militants and goverment forces ended in Shopian district of south Kashmir on Saturday.

In all, two militants, a soldier and a non-local labourer were killed during the course of gunfight which ensued on the intervening night of August 1 and 2 at Ittoo Mohalla Pandushan village.

On Saturday, one more militant was killed and his body was retrieved by the joint team of forces to conclude the “operation”.

Yesterday a militant identified as Zeenat-ul-Islam Naikoo of Memmander Shopian, a soldier and the non-local Labourer namely Mujeeb of Bihar were killed.

Two weapons including one AK 47 and one SLR rifle were also recovered by the forces from the slain duo militants.

A police officer told GNS that investigations are underway to ascertain the circumstances under which Mujeeb was killed.

However, eyewitness said that the non-local’s body was lying in the area and was not retrieved by the government forces as they withdrew from the area.

Despite repeated attempts no senior officer could be contacted for comments as regards why the body of non-local was not retrieved by the joint team of forces.

The encounter broke out on Thursday evening at Ittoo Mohalla Pandoshan village after a joint team of army’s 34 RR, SOG and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation.

According to eyewitness youth took to streets and pelted stones on forces near the encounter site. The police and paramilitary CRPF deployed in the area used tear smoke shells and pellets to disperse them.

Meanwhile, thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers of Zeenat-ul-Islam Naikoo at his native village at Memmander village.

Zeenat was later buried amid pro-freedom slogans. (GNS)

Srinagar, Aug 03: The deputy commissioner Srinagar on Saturday stated that no instruction were passed by the district administration to suspend the routine classwork at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar.

Talking to KNO, DC Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary said the NIT authorities approached the district administration to seek directions about keeping the institute functional or not.

“We simply told them that government has announced summer vacation for colleges but divisional administration has not ordered for closure of schools.

They (NIT) were assured of every possible support in every possible situation.
Chaudhary said the NIT authorities however misinterpreted the conversation and ordered suspension of classwork at the institute. “I had not issued any such directions,” he told KNO.

He further said the NIT director later approached the administration that they will require some fleet of SRTC buses to ferry students out of the institute.

“The SRTC buses were provided on request of the NIT administration because they had decided to evacuate the students given the panic created among the parents of the non-local students,” he told KNO.

On Friday evening, the NIT administration issued a notification and announced suspension of classwork for all courses till further orders. Later on Saturday morning the SRTC buses reached NIT premises and students were being evacuated from the hostels and taken to Jammu.

The move created panic among students who said they were not being asked anything about their shifting from hostels. “Nobody is telling us anything about why we are being evacuated from hostels and sent home,” a group of students told KNO. (KNO)

Pakistan: The Zilhaj moon has been sighted in Pakistan, announced Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman on Friday evening.

Eidul Azha will be celebrated in Pakistan on August 12, 2019. The chairman made the announcement in Karachi before the media after receiving moon sighting testimonies.

The chairman said that the committee had received 72 testimonies from across the country.

In June, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had already announced that this year, Eidul Azha will fall on Monday, Aug 12.

The minister had made the announcement on the basis of a ‘scientific’ lunar calendar launched by the ministry in June in order to end controversies over the sighting of the moon for Islamic months.

The calendar, which can be accessed through Pakistan’s “first official” moonsighting website as well as a mobile application, indicates scientifically determined dates for all major Islamic festivals/days for the ongoing and next years.

The launch of the website had attracted much opposition from religious factions, which insisted that the sighting of the moon should be done in person and regardless of scientific evidence.

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee chaired by Mufti Muni-Ur-Rehman will be held in Karachi in Friday (August 2) for the sighting of the Eid ul Azha moon, said an official of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony.

Talking to APP, he said other members of the committee would attend Zonal and District Ruet-e-Hilal Committees at their respective places.

The meeting of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) committee would be held at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, near the General Post Office (GPO) Islamabad.

All information about the positioning of the crescent could be conveyed to Chairman, Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee on Cell No.

Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Munib-ur-Rehman would announce the decision of crescent sighting or otherwise subsequently on the basis of information received.