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  • Mistook You For Muslim As You Had Beard: MP Cops on Beating Lawyer

    The Quint

    “You had a long beard, that is why police officials beat you up. They thought you were a Muslim. The man who thrashed you is a kattar (staunch) Hindu.”

    This is how two policemen in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul apologised to lawyer Deepak Bandele and asked him to take back his case against police officials who thrashed him ruthlessly on 23 March, while he was going to a hospital.

    What Had Happened?

    On 23 March, two days before nationwide lockdown came into force, Bandele was going to a hospital for treatment when he was stopped by some policemen who were on patrolling duty.

    Bandele tried to explain that he has a history of high blood pressure and sugar and needed to go to the hospital for regular treatment, but one police official slapped him without listening to what he had to say.

    “I told them to act within constitutional limits but the police officer started abusing not just me, but also the Indian Constitution. Within minutes, other police officers also started beating me up brutally.” – Deepak Bundele, Lawyer

    The thrashing stopped only after Bandele told them he is a lawyer and will complain against them to the senior in-charges. He called his friend and brother after the incident who took them to the hospital and got a medicolegal (MLC) report done.

    ‘Police Is Pressurising Me to Take Back Complaint; Threatening of Persecution in False Cases’

    The next morning, Bandele complained to the district Superintendent of Police, D.S. Bhadoria, and the state Director General of Police, Vivek Johri. He subsequently also wrote to the chief minister, state’s human rights commission, the bar council and other top government officials. He also filed an RTI to retrieve the CCTV footage of the day. Two months after the incident, neither was he given access to the CCTV footage nor has his FIR been lodged. Instead, Bandele says he is being constantly pressurised to take back the complaint.

    ““One police official told me that since I am a lawyer, it will bode me well to cooperate with police officials instead of messing with them. He said, if I irk the policemen, they can entrap me in a false case as well.”” – Deepak Bundele‘Police Said Man Who Beat Me up Was a Kattar Hindu and Mistook Me for a Muslim’

    In his complaint to the SP on 24 March, Bandele had asked for an FIR to be registered. In connection with that, two police officials reached his residence on 17 May, almost two months after the incident. The officials had come to record his version, instead they revealed the “real reason” behind beating him up.

    This is when the police officials, in their defence, told Bandele that he was beaten up because he was wrongly identified as a Muslim. Bandele had recorded the audio of the conversation which he shared with The Quint.

    According to the recording, voices allegedly belonging to the police officials, initially try to convince Bandele to not lodge an FIR.

    One of the officers can be heard saying, “You are like my son, I am making a heartfelt request to you to write, “the police officials did not behave indecently with me.” You must adhere to our request….We are all living in Gandhi’s country, we are Gandhi’s children.”

    When Bandele refuses to budge, the officer further says, “I have at least 50 friends from your caste.”

    Bandele still refuses to go back on his word. That is when one of the officers say, “Whenever there a Hindu-Muslim riot, police always take the side of Hindus. Even Muslims know that.”

    Bandele retorts, “That day there were no Hindu-Muslim riots.”

    The officer explains, “There were some incidents before you that day, that is why the police was a little hassled. And they mistook you for a Muslim because of your long beard.”

    The second officer adds, “The man who beat you up is a kattar (staunch) Hindu. Whenever there is a Hindu-Muslim riots and the Muslims are arrested, he always beats them up brutally. I am not boasting. You can test him yourself someday.”

    Bandele still refused to withdraw his complaint and said he has been a professional journalist before becoming a lawyer. He told them he has decided to pursue the complaint since he has already notified top government officials.

    What is Police Saying About the Matter?

    The Quint spoke to Additional SP Shraddha Joshi who said there are two aspects being explored in relation to the case.

    1. Deepak Bandele had himself misbehaved with the police on 23 March. However, there is no CCTV footage of the incident since the recordings are stored only for 30 days. Additional SP Joshi said, “Had we been able to recover the footage, the truth from both the sides would have come to light.”
    2. The second aspect being investigated is that the sub-inspector had not given information of the incident to the top officials and instead had just mentioned it in the diary, according to Additional SP Joshi.

    SP Joshi further said that Bandele could not identify the faces of the policemen who thrashed him. But, what stops them from finding out which police officer was deployed at the location as mentioned by Bundele?

    When further asked about the FIR not being registered and the police officials presenting a defence on the lines of communal bias, Additional SP Joshi said, “Because of COVID-19, all police officials are on ground duty. Our first priority is to enforce the lockdown properly. We are occupied with too many COVID-19 cases.”

    On the communal remarks, Additional SP Joshi further said:

    “I have been informed about the incident where two policemen have talked about religious divisions. The officials who submitted the report to us have not informed us anything, I got to know from journalists. If something like this has indeed been said, an investigation will be launched.”

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

  • Permanent Resident Certificates, which defined ‘State subjects’, is scrapped

    J&K makes domicile certificate mandatory for admissions to educational institutions, professional exams

    The J&K administration on Wednesday scrapped Permanent Resident Certificates (PRCs), which defined “State subjects”, and made the domicile status certificate a basic eligibility condition for admission to educational institutions and professional examinations in Jammu and Kashmir.

    “It has been decided that the requirement of ‘Permanent Resident Certificate’ wherever prescribed for admission into educational institutions shall be replaced with ‘Domicile Certificate’,” an order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) said.

    The government spokesperson said it has been ordered that any candidate appearing for any entrance test conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examination (J&KBOPEE) must possess a domicile certificate.

    “General Eligibility for Admission: Any candidate interested in appearing in any entrance test, conducted by the Board, must possess Domicile Certificate issued under the Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020 and such age and qualification, including of category certificate and experience, as prescribed by the Government for such course from time to time,” the notification stated.

    Earlier, the J&K government notified the Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020 on May 18, 2020 and allowed non-locals under different categories to register for domicile certificates in J&K, which was barred prior to the August 5, 2019 decision to end the region’s special status. These non-locals, according to the government, are allowed to apply for the government jobs in the UT.

    The spokesperson said that with the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 a series of Constitutional changes have been affected.

    “In terms of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2019 any reference by whatever form to ‘permanent residents of the State or hereditary State subject’, wherever they occurred in any Act or notification issued or rules, orders made thereunder, stands omitted with necessary grammatical variation,” said the order.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Body of mentally unsound person found In Tangdhar

    Kupwara: Semi-decomposed body of a mentally unsound person was recovered in Tanghdar area of this north Kashmir district here on Wednesday.

    A police official identified the deceased as Qaisar Din Wanna (35) son of Siraj Din Wanna, a resident of Jabda Tanghdar.

    The body, the official told GNS, was recovered by a police team in the semi-decomposed state from a nearby forest at Nard Jabda area today.
    “It seems the death is natural”, the official said.

    “The body as of now lies with the Sub-district hospital Tangdhar”, the official said, adding “Once we are done with medico-legal formalities it will be handed over to family for last rites.” (GNS)

  • Taliban ‘won’t allow Islamic State to operate in Afghanistan’

    “Calling the current Afghan Islamic national liberation movement terrorists or a proxy is an untrue and provocative statement,” Suhail Shaheen, spokesman of the Taliban’s Doha-based Political Office, tells The Hindu

    The Taliban is not a proxy of any country and it does not want to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations, the group’s political spokesperson said on Tuesday.

    “Calling the current Afghan Islamic national liberation movement terrorists or a proxy is an untrue and provocative statement,” Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman of the Taliban’s Doha-based Political Office, told The Hindu.

    He spoke about India’s policy on Afghanistan soon after the deputy leader of Taliban’s Political Office in Qatar, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, was reported to have accused India of playing a “negative role” inside Afghanistan. Part of India’s concern over the Taliban’s opinions, especially on Kashmir, stems from the fact that South Block still considers it a terror group and has refused to engage it in a dialogue.

    Mr. Shaheen also indirectly dismissed social media reports about the outfit’s opinion on the Kashmir issue, vowing to stay away from the domestic affairs of other countries. “The Islamic Emirate has a clear policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.”

    He also addressed the issues raised by National Security Advisory Board member Amar Sinha, who in an interview to The Hindu had questioned why the Taliban was unwilling to fight ISIS-KP jointly with the Afghan government.

    The U.S. had blamed the ISIS-KP for the recent attack on a hospital in Kabul and the Taliban had blamed “malicious elements” for the killings. In response to the Indian official’s doubts, Mr. Shaheen said the Taliban is an independent entity and will not join hands with others to fight ISIS. “Based on Doha Accord with the U.S., we will not allow any one to use the soil of Afghanistan against any one. It is our commitment. We don’t join hands with any one. We are independent people,” he said, adding that those Indian policymakers who oppose exchanges with the Taliban are not realistic.

    “Why should India give legitimacy to this kind of force in its own neighbourhood?” Mr. Sinha had asked in the interview where he had criticised the group for not declaring a ceasefire in the month of Ramzan. Mr. Sinha’s remarks had followed the Delhi visit of U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who had urged India to engage the Taliban. Sources familiar with the exchanges with the envoy had said India was yet to decide on whether to engage the Taliban. Mr. Shaheen maintained that the Indian officials who oppose engagement with the Taliban are “following a failed policy”.

    “As such they are not speaking for the interests of the people of India while they should, and are in fact, speaking for the interests of a few at the saddle of power in Kabul. Consequently, India could not find a proper place among the masses of Afghanistan despite spending a lot in the country,” said Mr. Shaheen.

    With inputs from The Hindu

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

  • Is India undercounting its COVID-19 deaths?

    In 2020, deaths due to COVID-19 increased exponentially from the 12th week due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 24 countries in Europe

    India’s COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR, deaths/cases) has always remained low. But data from some European and Asian countries show that since the 10th week of 2020, “excess deaths” have surged. In countries with relatively poorer income levels such as Indonesia and Ecuador, a very small % of those excess deaths have been attributed to COVID-19. With historically poor registration of deaths and medically-certified death rate, is India too undercounting its dead?

    Fatality rate

    India’s CFR of 3.1% (in red) as of May 18 is among the lowest in countries with more than 1 lakh cases and much below the world average of 6.6%. The chart plots cumulative cases against the CFR as of May 18.

    Case fatality rate of India and other countries

    Among nations with over 1 lakh cases, only Turkey and Russia have a lower case fatality rate than India.

    Excess deaths

    The chart shows the weekly excess deaths (deviation in mortality from the expected level) in 24 countries in Europe from January 1, 2016 to May 15, 2020. In 2020, deaths increased exponentially from the 12th week due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The spike recorded in the first 10-12 weeks of 2017, 2018 and 2019 can be attributed to the flu season which was unusually lethal. In 2020 the flu season was relatively less deadly.

    COVID-19 deaths among excess

    The graph plots the % share of COVID-19-related deaths among the excess deaths for nations which had such data. In high-income countries (represented in blue), the share of COVID-19 deaths are higher among the excess deaths. In upper middle income countries (represented in red) such as Russia, Turkey and Ecuador and lower middle income countries such as Indonesia (represented in orange) the share of COVID-19 deaths among the excess deaths was much lower. This suggests that the relatively poorer countries may not be testing the dead for COVID-19 or they maybe undercounting them due to comorbidities.

    As it can be seen from the chart most countries which have shared data on excess deaths are from the high income groups while many countries in the lower income group don’t maintain this data.

    India is one among such countries which do not maintain real time data on all deaths.

    Last word

    On April 30, West Bengal announced that 105 COVID-19 positive patients had died, but did not count 72 of them as they died due to comorbidities. On May 18, the Delhi government asked its hospitals not to take samples of dead people to test for COVID-19. Also, while the Delhi government’s official COVID-19 death toll was 68 until May 8, the number of such deaths in just two hospitals in the city that The Hindu accessed was 107. These COVID-19-specific stories along with the fact that India medically certifies only 22% of deaths (as of 2017) suggest that India may be undercounting its dead.

    Source: The Economist, EuroMOMO, Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Indian Embassy in Tehran waits for the nod of Kashmir Administration

    Kashmiri pilgrims stuck in Iran face hardships

    Srinagar: Families of stranded Kashmiri pilgrims in Iran hold yet another protest in Srinagar to demand evacuation of their loved ones.

    22 pilgrims including a child and 12 females are stranded in Qom city of Iran since February 17. The pilgrims from Kargil stranded in the same city were evacuated due to the efforts put in by Kargil Deputy Commissioner and other officials, but the Kashmiri pilgrims are still stranded there.

    “We are 22 Kashmiri pilgrims stranded in Qom Iran from last three months, have left on the mercy of Allah. We have kids and old aged people with us. We are depressed, having other ailments. Embassy people are saying they don’t have any requisition from Indian Home Ministry and Civil aviation,” reads a text of a stranded pilgrim sent on WhatsApp to news agency KNT.

    The family members of these stranded pilgrims staged a protest and med Divisional Commissioner, who assured action and evacuation. The protesters allege that State Administration is not doing enough.

    “Wasn’t it the responsibility of State Administration to take up the matter seriously and got them evacuated. We can’t even send them money. They are facing severe hardships,” the protesters said.

    They said that Indian Embassy in Tehran is ready to evacuate them but they are waiting the nod from Jammu and Kashmir Government. “We were told that Indian Embassy in Tehran is ready and they have even arranged flights for them on May 22 and 24, but they are not getting nod from the Jammu and Kashmir.”

    The protesters said that they met Divisional Commissioner Kashmir who assured us of evacuation. “We request Government of India and State Administration to take the matter seriously and evacuate them without any delay,” the protesters told KNT.

  • Covid-19 | 74 persons including two pregnant women tested positive

    2 pregnant women among 74 more positive, tally nears 1400 mark

    Srinagar: 74 persons including two pregnant women on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus, pushing the overall tally of the covid-19 patients in Jammu and Kashmir inch closer to 1400 mark.

    Professor Farooq Jan, medical superintendent SKIMS Soura, told GNS that 1992 samples were processed at the viral diagnostic lab of the hospital and among them 44 returned positive and include, 17 from Jammu, 14 from Srinagar, 8 from Baramulla, 4 from Kupwara and one from Pulwama.

    Dr. Salim Khan, nodal officer for COVID-19 at the Government Medical College, Srinagar told GNS 706 samples were processed at CD Hospital Srinagar’s Microbiology Lab and 17 of them returned positive. Eight of these cases are from Jammu while seven are from Anantnag and two pregnant women from Kulgam—28-year-old from Khudwani and 35-year-old from Chatawan area of the southern Kashmir district. The other 13 cases were report from GMC Jammu, the sources said. (GNS)

  • Militants gun down two BSF men in Srinagar outskirts, Snatch weapons

    Srinagar: Suspected militants Wednesday attacked a party of Border Security Force post in Srinagar outskirts resulting in the death of two BSF personnel.

    The incident occurred at Bignibal area which lies between Srinagar outskirts and Ganderbal. Sources said that bike borne militants fired indiscriminately upon BSF personnel and after the assault fled from the spot.

    Sources told KNT that both these personnel were shifted to Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Soura for treatment.

    Medical Superintendent SKIMS, Dr Farooq Jan said that one was brought dead while another succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. He said both the slain BSF personnel were affiliated with 37 Battalion BSF.

    “Two BSF personnel were brought here. One was brought dead another died in the hospital. One was 35 years old while the other was 36,” Dr Jan said.

    The area was brought under siege and a search operation was launched to nab the assailants.

    A police official told KNT that at 5:25 on Wednesday evening militants fired upon the routine day duty of C-Company 37 Battalion BSF party at Pethpora Pandach that falls under the jurisdiction of police station Soura Srinagar. Due to the attack, two BSF personnel got critically injured and succumbed to their injuries at SKIMS Soura.

    He identified the slain BSF personnel as Rana Mandal (36) and Ziaulhaq (35).

    Reliable sources said that militants also snatched the service rifles of these slain BSF personnel. (KNT)

  • Telecom tariffs still unsustainable: Airtel

    Telco hopeful that ARPUs will rise

    Even though the telecom industry has witnessed some ‘repairs’, more needs to be done on tariffs which are still ‘unsustainably low’, Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel said on Tuesday.

    The company, which on Monday had posted a loss of ₹5,237 crore for the January-March 2020 quarter due to an exceptional charge on account of reassessment of statutory dues, is hopeful of achieving an average revenue per user (ARPU) of ₹200 in the short-term, as against ₹154 in the reported quarter. This is against an ARPU of ₹135 in the October-December 2012 period, and ₹123 in the year-ago quarter.

    “We believe that an ARPU of ₹154 is inadequate to turn a reasonable Return on Capital as a company and remain hopeful that ARPU will get to ₹200 in the short term and eventually to ₹300 which is where it should be for a business like ours. Of course, even at this level of ARPU, we believe, we will be very well-placed to serve all the lower end customers who may have the capacity to pay ₹100 or less,” Mr. Vittal said during a post-earning analysts call.

    He added that while there would be some growth in ARPU because of the upgradation from 2G to 4G, “our tariffs are still unsustainably low”.

    “The industry is very keen to have TRAI intervene in putting together a set of floor prices… all the responses have gone to TRAI and they haven’t taken a decision right now given the circumstances around COVID-19, but I do believe that this needs to get corrected sooner rather than later,” he said.

    The private telecom operators raised tariffs by up to 40% in December 2019.

    Mr. Vittal added that the company’s overall capex for this year was expected to “be more moderated” than that of last year. Bharti Airtel on Monday had said during FY20, its capex investment stood at ₹25,359 crore to ensure superior customer experience besides front ending some investment to ensure seamless services during the ongoing pandemic. Of this ₹11,339 crore capex was for the January-March 2020 quarter.

    Mr. Vittal added that the company saw strong traction for home broadband services.

    “We’ve seen a rapid surge in the need for home broadband… in Q4, we had about 63,000 net additions, which is one of the higher numbers that we’ve seen in many quarters, and even during the lockdown there has been a lot of demand for actually getting home broadband going,” he said.

    Airtel’s ARPU from home broadband service also increased to ₹803 from ₹787 in the previous quarter. However, on y-o-y, the ARPU was lower from ₹815 in January-March 2019 quarter.

    With inputs from The Hindu

  • Domestic flight services to resume from 25th May

    PTI

    Domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday 25th May 2020. All airports & air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25th May, tweets Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri.