Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

Firozabad anti-CAA riots: Drone camera identifies 57 houses with stones on their roof

2019-12-26

[OpIndia] Several parts of the country experienced violent protests in the aftermath of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act that intends to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. However, following the violence, numerous reports have trickled down hinting that these protests which were touted as “a spontaneous outburst of anger against the government” were in reality meticulously planned riots.

In the wake of the violence that rocked the town of Firozabad, it came to the notice of the local administration that there were stones and bricks placed on the roofs of the houses in the areas that witnessed violence. The drone camera employed by the law enforcement to keep surveillance about the law and order situation in the city had captured images of the houses where stones were kept on the terrace.

According to DM Chandravijay Singh and SSP Sachindra Patel, drones were flown over the city for two days-Sunday and Monday to keep a tab on houses in Nalband square, Urvashi Tiraha, Mohalla Rajputana, Naini Glass and Jatavpuri, areas where stone-pelting and cases of arson were reported on Friday.

The officials claim about 57 houses have been marked in the area on whose roofs stones and bricks were found in the drone captured images. A notice has been issued to the landlords of these houses, asking them to remove the stones failing which further action will be taken against them.

On Friday, December 20, after the Namaz prayers concluded, violence broke out in certain parts of the city in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Four people died in the violence that erupted in the city, while more than 50 policemen were left injured. A dozen government and private vehicles were set ablaze by the protesters. A police post in the Nalband area was also set on fire.

During the protest, the police were also pelted with stones. Police retaliated and opened fire, killing four people. A case has been registered against 29 identified miscreants and 2500 unidentified miscreants.

Yesterday, CCTV videos released from Mangalore showed that the anti-CAA hoodlums meticulously adjusted the cameras to prevent the cameras from capturing their illegal activities. The presence of an auto carrying sacks full of stones indicated that the riots were meticulously pre-planned.

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India-Pakistan

Lahore court acquits two suspects involved in murder of Indian spy Sarabjit Singh

2018-12-16

[DAWN] A district and sessions court in Lahore on Saturday acquitted two suspects accused of killing Indian spy Sarabjit Singh inside Kot Lakhpat jail in April 2013, DawnNewsTV reported.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Moin Khokar issued directives to release Amir Tanba and Mudasir Munir from custody after all witnesses retracted their statements. The suspects were fellow prisoners of Singh and had allegedly tortured him to death.

Singh had suffered severe injuries in the head after being assaulted with bricks and other blunt weapons following which he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital. After lying in a comatose state for five days, Singh was pronounced dead by a medical board comprising senior neurosurgeons.

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India-Pakistan

Sarabjit Singh's lawyer takes refuge in Sweden

2013-10-01

[Dawn] Awais Sheikh, the counsel for Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh who was murdered in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail in May 2013, has taken permanent refuge in Sweden, the Times of India reported.

Sheikh took refuge in the Scandinavian country following his alleged abduction bid near Lahore a day before Singh's death.

Singh, who was sentenced to death 16 years ago on espionage charges, died at Lahore's Jinnah hospital after lying in a comatose state for five days following an assault on him in Kot Lakhpat jail.

Sheikh and his son Shahrukh were allegedly kidnapped from their Bedian Road farm on May 16 and were released three and half hours later.

Sheikh was known for fighting cases of Indian prisoners in Pak jails and had also written a book on the life of Singh titled 'Mistaken Identity'.

Speaking to the TOI over telephone from Sweden on Monday, Sheikh said: "Sweden has granted me permanent stay along with my family and has also provided me all facilities and security after taking note of my abduction and physical torture."

The lawyer claimed that his life was under constant threat in Pakistain from people and organizations "inimical to India-Pak friendship".

In his interview with the TOI, Sheikh mentioned a letter written by Zohra Yusuf, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistain, on May 3 to Najam Sethi, who was the caretaker chief minister of Punjab at the time, for providing security to the counsel and his family.

Sheikh claimed that the letter was ignored by the provincial authorities.

Sheikh did not elaborate as to what he was doing in Sweden "except that he was just settling in the new place", adding that however, his family felt secure in the Scandinavian country.

Prisoners of war

During the telephone interview, Sheikh, who also heads an NGO called "Pakistain-India Peace Initiatives", quoted an incident of meeting a 1971 prisoner of war (PoW) Sepoy Mangal Singh of 14 Punjab Regiment in Central Jail, Lahore.

Sheikh said his intention in referring to Mangal Singh's case was not to defame Pakistain but to remind and convince both countries "to realise their moral and international obligations and free all POWs with immediate effect".

Islamabad has always denying the presence of any PoWs in Pak jails.

In 2008, the then federal minister for human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
, Ansar Burney, had told news hounds that the Indian High Commissioner had handed him a list of around 100 missing Indian PoWs in Pak jails and that the Pak government was working to resolve the issue.

Also in May this year, Burney had written to Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
to conduct a probe on whether there were any Indian PoWs in Pak jails. However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
no development on the issue has since come to light.

At the end of the 1971 war, New Delhi and Islamabad signed the Simla Agreement under which the countries were obliged to release soldiers that had been taken as PoWs. However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
to date, there have been reports that both countries continue to hold some PoWs that had not been released.

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India-Pakistan

Hafiz Saeed leads mass rally in Islamabad

2013-09-07

[Dawn] Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
(LeT) founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed

...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain...
appeared openly at a rally in Islamabad on Friday, denouncing India as a terrorist state as thousands of his supporters chanted for "holy war" against the rival nuclear nation.

India has accused Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of criminal masterminding the 2008 attack on its financial capital Mumbai where gunnies killed 166 people over three days. The United States has offered $10 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

As dusk fell, more than 10,000 people gathered in Islamabad in a show of defiance certain to enrage India further following weeks of tensions over the disputed Kashmire border.

"The United States and India are very angry with us. This means God is happy with us," Saeed told the crowd as supporters chanted "Jihad!" ("Holy war") and "War will continue until the liberation of Kashmire". He did not use the word "jihad" himself.

"We are ready for every sacrifice for the liberation of Kashmire," the stocky and bearded former professor added at the rally marking Pakistain's Defence Day.

Speaking about Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner who died in a Pak jail this year and was given a state funeral back home, Saeed told the crowd: "He was a terrorist. How can the Indian government give state honours to a terrorist? This means the Indian government and army are terrorists."

India has called on Pakistain to bring Saeed to justice, an issue that has stood in the way of rebuilding relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours since the Mumbai carnage.

Saeed is the founder of the LeT, a Death Eater group banned in Pakistain but tolerated unofficially and believed to be close to the army. Saeed has long abandoned its leadership and is now the head of its charity wing.

India is furious that Pakistain has not enjugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
him since it handed over evidence against him to Islamabad, and allows Saeed to live freely in the city of Lahore in a villa with cops stationed outside.
Because he's an ISI resource. The run-of-the-mill seedy Pak politician doesn't get that.
Relations plunged to further lows last month after the killing of five Indian soldiers along the so-called Line of Control that separates the two sides in the Himalayan region of Kashmire.

BELLIGERENT MOOD

Seeking to defuse tensions, Pakistain's civilian leaders have kept a conciliatory tone, but on Friday, as thousands gathered in Islamabad, emotions spilled into the open.

The mood was strikingly anti-Western and belligerent, with speakers openly declaring their sympathy for the Taliban fighting Western forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

"India should stop describing Kashmire as its indispensable part," Saeed said from a makeshift stage mounted on a truck. "Otherwise every part of India would be dispensable for us."

As the crowd cheered, two men performed a patriotic song threatening to "turn the whole of India into Mumbai".

Others chanted "Whoever is a friend of India is a traitor" and waved black and white striped flags.

"They should know there are a lot of people here who are waiting for the conquest of India,"

Hamid Gul
The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Omar's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command...
, a former chief of the ISI intelligence service, told the crowd.

"It will be our privilege to take part in this war."

Saeed founded the LeT, which India blames for the rampage in Mumbai, in the 1990s. He has denied involvement in any attacks.

He abandoned the leadership after India accused the LeT of being behind an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001.

His charity, linked to the LeT, enjoys popular support for its humanitarian work.

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India-Pakistan

Peace process with India might maybe gain under Sharif govt

2013-05-18

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan expects that the peace process with India will gain pace after the installation of new government.

We hope that the dialogue process would pick up momentum in all areas, Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said at the weekly media briefing.

The peace process has been on a virtual hold since the violations of the Line of Control in Kashmir at the start of this year. Tensions resurfaced when an Indian prisoner, Sarabjit Singh, died after an attack by inmates in a Lahore jail and a Pakistani, Sanaullah, was fatally beaten in Jammu jail. Another Pakistani, Abdul Jabbar, was injured in an attack in Tihar prison.

Aizaz said Pakistan had always emphasised continuity of the peace talks so that outstanding issues could be resolved. The peace process has remained accident-prone and there have been numerous starts and stops, which impeded progress towards normalisation of ties between the two countries.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while congratulating Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif on the victory of his party in the May 11 elections, had expressed the hope to work with him to chart a new course and pursue a new destiny in the relations between our countries.

Singh also invited Sharif to visit India at a mutually convenient time.

The PML-N chief, who is set to become the next prime minister, also extended an invitation to the Indian leader to visit Pakistan.

Sharif has been an ardent supporter of improvement of relations with India. Being an industrialist himself, Sharif is particularly keen to foster bilateral trade and is likely to move forward with the agreement reached last year to grant most favoured nation (MFN) status to India which could not be implemented by the weak PPP government, particularly while the country was going to the polls.

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India-Pakistan

Sarabjit's kidnapped lawyer found

2013-05-17

[BETA.DAWN] Sarabjit Singh's lawyer Awais Sheikh and his son, who were kidnapped Thursday morning in Lahore's Burki road, were found after their abductors left them in Punjab's Sheikhupura area, DawnNews reported.

Earlier, Sheikh and his 29-year old son were intercepted by unknown gunmen soon after they left their residence. They were whisked away in a red double cabin pick-up truck, according to family sources.

The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Lahore Jawad Ahmad Dogar had also confirmed their kidnapping, adding that an investigative team had been constituted for their recovery.

A convicted Indian spy on death row, Sarabjit Singh was attacked on April 26 by two inmates Amir Tanba and Mudasir, in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail when he left his barracks for a stroll.

He suffered severe injuries in the head when the prisoners assaulted him with bricks and other blunt weapons whereby he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Lahore's Jinnah Hospital.

Singh succumbed to his injuries on May 1.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay pegs out

2013-05-10

[India Express] Six days after he was attacked by a fellow inmate in a Jammu jail, Pak prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, 52, died at the PGIMER hospital in Chandigarh on Thursday morning. Doctors said he died at 6:56 am due to "multiple organ failure".

The body was handed over to officials of the Pakistain High Commission after completion of post-mortem and various other formalities. By evening, the body was flown back to Pakistain by a special PIA plane.

His two relatives, brother-in-law Mohammed Shehzaad and nephew Mohammed Asif, who arrived in India on Tuesday, also left by the same plane. "Kehne ko kuch raha nahi, sab khatam ho gaya," said Shehzad.

Sanaullah suffered serious head injuries when he was attacked by a fellow prisoner on May 3, a day after Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh died in Pakistain.

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India-Pakistan

Attacked Pakistani prisoner is brain dead

2013-05-06

[BETA.DAWN] Sanaullah Haq, the Pak prisoner who was attacked in an India prison in Jammu last week, is brain dead doctors of the PGI Chandigarh said on Sunday, DawnNews reported.

Moreover the Pak High Commissioner was allowed to visit the Haq in Chandigarh, according to Indian media channels.

Doctors at PGI Chandigarh issued the latest report over the condition of Sanaullah Haq according to which the attacked prisoner was in a brain-dead state.

The report was reportedly signed by DR SN Mathu Raya and other doctors of the team tending to the Pak prisoner.

Sanaullah Haq, who was convicted of involvement in separatist activities in the disputed area of Kashmire, was attacked in an Indian prison by a court-martialled Indian soldier in retaliation to a similar incident in a Pak prison where some prisoners attacked Sarabjit Singh, who was a deathrow prisoner in Pakistain convicted for terrorism charges related to bombing in Faisalabad
...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
that had killed 14 people.

Sarabjit later died at a hospital in Lahore.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan officials visit 'critically' hurt prisoner in India

2013-05-05

[Pak Daily Times] Pak embassy officials visited a hospital in north India on Saturday where a Pak prisoner was at death's door in the intensive care unit after being attacked by an Indian inmate.

Sanaullah suffered multiple head injuries in a prison in India's northern city of Jammu in an apparent tit-for-tat attack after an Indian prisoner, Sarabjit Singh, was fatally assaulted in Pakistain.

On Friday, Sanaullah was airlifted to a government hospital in Chandigarh.

A spokeswoman for the government hospital said Sanaullah was in the intensive care unit and on a ventilator as his condition "continues to remain critical".

The Pak High Commission (embassy) officials "came to the hospital and we have given them Sanaullah's medical update", added Manju Wadwalkar, the spokeswoman of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Hospital.

Sanaullah, who hails from Sialkot in Pakistain, was attacked by a prisoner who was identified as a former Indian army soldier nearly 24 hours after Singh's death in Lahore.

India's foreign ministry said Pakistain High Commission officials had been given daily access to Sanaullah.

Pakistain's foreign ministry said earlier in the week in a statement that the "obvious retaliation to the death of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh is condemnable".

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India-Pakistan

Indians, Pakistanis demand UN-supervised probe into Sarabjit's killing

2013-05-04

[Pak Daily Times] Pak and Indian civil society activists have expressed sorrow on the death of convicted Indian spy Sarabjit Singh as a result of an attack on him in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore by some fellow inmates.

"We the citizens of India and Pakistain are pained by the sad demise of Mr Sarabjit Singh as a result of a dastardly attack on him in the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. ... We express our deep and heartfelt condolences for the family of the dear departed," a statement issued by PILER on Friday read. It said that given the statements by most Indian prisoners in Pakistain jails of good and humane treatment, "this unusual and inexplicable attack on Sarabjit Singh and the allegations of torture in the recent death of Chamel Singh in Pakistain jail indicate some conspiracy by vested interests to destabilise relations between India and Pakistain that were showing marked improvement in recent times".

The statement further said, "Hence we demand a thorough and complete investigation under the supervision of the UN or any independent international body. Prisoners anywhere are the responsibility of the governments and the government of Pakistain should immediately take strict and exemplary actions against all those responsible for the attack as well as the planners and conspirators. Pakistain and India should especially ensure that all steps are taken for complete protection and safeguarding all human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
of the prisoners of other country in their jails."

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India-Pakistan

HRCP accuses police of conniving in Sarabjit Singh's murder

2013-05-03

[Pak Daily Times] The Human Rights Commission of Pakistain (HRCP) has demanded action against all those who played any part in the assault on Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who died in a hospital on Wednesday, and called upon Islamabad and Delhi to take urgent measures to prevent the incident from undermining bilateral ties.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the commission said, "Not even the most naïve person can believe that a prisoner like Sarabjit in a death cell inside a jail can be targeted in such a brutal assault by prisoners without the knowledge and support of prison guards and the authorities". Commission further said that this is far more serious a crime than allowing someone like General

Pervez Perv Musharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
to escape from the court.

It was no secret that Sarabjit faced more threats than other prisoners on account of the charge that he was convicted of and yet his security was so completely compromised. He died when members of the joint Pak-India Judges Committee were visiting Pakistain in order to assess the conditions of detention of Indian prisoners in Pak jails.

"Those in Pakistain who take pride in their vengefulness must feel some shame today, if they are capable of that. Those elements in India who are no less vengeful, intolerant and fond of jingoism than their Pak counterparts would no doubt write their own script now. HRCP is concerned that Sarabjit's death might undermine the hard work done by both countries to normalise relations. They will have to go out of their way to undo the damage that the murder and the manner that it took place in has done. The need to expeditiously conclude a judicial inquiry to bring all those who are involved to justice cannot be stressed enough. If the two countries begin to treat each other's prisoners with some compassion even now instead of exposing them to the worst of treatment reserved for prisoners in their jails, then some good would still have come from Sarabjit's brutal murder," said HRCP.

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India-Pakistan

Sarabjit Singh's body flown to India

2013-05-03

[Pak Daily Times] The body of convicted Indian spy Sarabjit Singh, who died on Thursday nearly a week after he was attacked by fellow prisoners, was flown to India from Lahore on a special aircraft sent by New Delhi.

Indian foreign ministry front man Syed Akbaruddin had earlier said it was "our primary focus" to ensure that Singh's body was returned to India and given a proper burial. He denied that Singh was an Indian spy. There was anger in India over his death. "The criminals responsible for the barbaric and murderous attack on Sarabjit Singh must be brought to justice," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on his official Twitter page.

Pakistain flags were burned at angry protests in Singh's native Bhikhiwind village, in Indian Punjab. India complained that its diplomats were denied access to the prisoner as he fought for his life, and the premier said it was "particularly regrettable" that Pakistain had not responded to appeals "to take a humanitarian view of this case". Pakistain insists regular consular access was granted to Singh and said doctors did everything possible to save him before his death from cardiac arrest. "The prisoner, who had been in a comatose state and on a ventilator for the last few days, was being provided the best treatment available and the medical staff at Jinnah Hospital had been working round the clock... to save his life," the foreign ministry said.

The government provided "all assistance" to Singh's family and the Indian authorities, it added in a statement. Singh's body was handed over to Indian officials on Thursday evening who took it to India on a special plane after fulfilling the legal procedure. The Indian plane was delayed for some time, as the basic paperwork had not been completed. Later, it took off from the Lahore airport after receiving clearance from the customs and Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) officials at around 7:25pm. The body had been stopped from leaving Pakistain by customs officials who sought a NOC from the Foreign Ministry and the police report. After the body was cleared by customs, it was stopped by the ANF officials who sought a clearance certificate from the hospital.

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