Ali Kazak

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2018PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi:

“Solidarity is not just an abstract expression of empathy; rather, it is an active, positive and concrete engagement”

“On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution 181 (II).  Following the international community’s decision to adopt the Partition Plan, the suffering, dispossession, displacement, and victimization of the Palestinian people commenced as the state of Israel was established on the land of historical Palestine.
Seventy-one years later, the longest occupation in modern history persists while Israel continues to implement an official policy of unlawful unilateralism with a total disdain for international law and Palestinian human rights; such criminal behavior includes Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, its expropriation of Palestinian land and resources, the deliberate targeting of peaceful protestors in the besieged Gaza Strip, the cultural, historical, demographic, and territorial distortion of Jerusalem, and the eviction and deportation of Palestinians from their homes and land, among other violations.  Such Israeli measures, which have been emboldened by the current US administration’s disastrous moves and decision-making, constitute a total negation of the most basic requirements for peace, stability and security.
Today also marks the forty-first anniversary of the UNGA’s designation of November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.  On this occasion, we extend our gratitude to the individual governments and parliaments worldwide that have recognized us, as well as the political parties, representatives of civil society, churches, solidarity and BDS groups, and others who have worked tirelessly in the service of the cause of a just peace and in defense of the Palestinians, a people in captivity and exile, and their right to live in freedom and dignity.
Solidarity is not just an abstract expression of empathy; rather, it is an active, positive and concrete engagement.  It should send a strong and important message to both the Palestinian people and to the global community that there is a price to be paid for Israel's persistent violations of international law and conventions.  Simultaneously, it would be assuring the Palestinian people of the protection available to them in the international legal and political system. The injustice which began in 1948 must come to end.”

http://www.dci.plo.ps/en/article/10998/November-29,-2018-PLO-Executive-Committee-Member-Dr-Hanan-Ashrawi-“Solidarity-is-not-just-an-abstract-expression-of-empathy;-rather,-it-is-an-active,-positive-and-concrete-engagement”

Urgent Appeal for occupied Jerusalem

November 28, 2018

In light of the recent grave developments in Jerusalem and the Israeli occupation’s accelerated and egregious violations committed against the Palestinian people’s national and human rights in the occupied city, PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi issued the following appeal to governments worldwide and all members of the international community to hold Israel accountable for its illegal actions:
“Since the beginning of the year, Israel has accelerated and intensified its efforts to entrench its colonial military occupation, especially in and around occupied Jerusalem. Such measures include Israel’s theft of Palestinian lands, the expansion of its illegal settlement enterprise, the arrest of Palestinian representatives and officials and the deliberate targeting of Palestinian ministries and institutions, the revocation the IDs and residency status of Palestinians, the demolition of commercial and residential Palestinian-owned properties and other structures, and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes, among other flagrant violations of international law and relevant conventions. Such egregious violations are outlined in the PLO Department of Public Diplomacy and Policy’s fact sheet entitled, Strategic Threats Facing Jerusalem: Israel’s latest and most dangerous violations in occupied Jerusalem.
With its draconian measures and unlawful policies aimed at Israeli expansion and Palestinian displacement and ethnic cleansing throughout occupied Jerusalem, Israel’s extremist, racist government coalition headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately and systematically working to complete the total annexation and isolation of Jerusalem from its Palestinian environs and surrounding areas, as well as the distortion of the occupied city’s demographic, historical and cultural character. Clearly, this is evidence of Israel’s objective to implement its fundamentalist Zionist plan of superimposing ‘Greater Israel’ on all of historic Palestine, thus making its colonial occupation regime and apartheid discriminatory rule of the Palestinian people permanent and irreversible.
These measures pose a strategic threat to Palestinian human and national rights, especially through the imposition of new and "permanent" realities on the ground that deliberately undermine the achievement of Palestinian statehood. It should be noted that such acts are the practical translation of the so-called "Jewish Nation-State Law," which was enacted to maintain an exclusivist and exclusionary racist system at the expense of the Palestinian people and their rights.
The current US administration’s dangerous policies on Jerusalem and other core issues have emboldened Israel to persist in its unbridled and egregious violations with full impunity and with a total disdain for international law and the global rule of law. Equally, the international community has maintained Israel’s impunity and exceptionalism by refraining from holding Israel accountable for these grave measures and illegal policies, as well as for failing to provide protection for the Palestinian people. In these conditions, where the principle of accountability is ignored, justice and peace will remain elusive and the culture of impunity will be further entrenched, threatening not only regional peace and security but also undermining the international legal and political order.
We call on governments worldwide and all members of the international community to take immediate and concrete steps to hold Israel accountable for its persistent and willful violations, in line with your obligations under international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016). We urge them to effectively adopt policies and laws that unequivocally ban the support of and/or profiteering from the illegal Israeli settler-colonial regime of occupation in Palestine, especially in Jerusalem.
We also appeal to the world to increase its support for Jerusalem and its embattled institutions, which have been systematically targeted by the Israeli government and the current US administration. Without concrete and firm action, Israel will continue to undermine the two-state solution and destroy the basic requirements for a just peace and stability, while the Palestinian people continue to endure immeasurable suffering from unchecked brutality.
At a time when the rights-based international system is under threat, the reality and future of Jerusalem is a litmus test for the world and the integrity of its legal and political system. It is our hope that the global community and people of conscience will rise to the challenge and defend the universality and indivisibility of human rights. The world must not fail Jerusalem.”http://www.dci.plo.ps/en/article/10997/November-28,-2018-Urgent-Appeal-for-occupied-Jerusalem

CNN fires Dr. Marc Lamont Hill for supporting Palestinian rights

CNN fires Dr. Marc Lamont Hill for supporting Palestinian rights

Earlier today, CNN fired Dr. Mar c Lamont Hill, prominent academic, author, activist, and television personality, in response to pressure from Israel advocacy groups. The news network was attacked after Hill gave a speech yesterday at the United Nations in defense of Palestinian rights, as part of the UN-organized International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

If you'd like to watch Dr. Hill's speech, you can view it here.

Dr. Hill, who was named one of America's most influential Black leaders by Ebony Magazine, frequently travels to Palestine and is a passionate supporter of Palestinian rights. He is an avid and outspoken advocate for freedom and equality for all people.

If you would like to contact CNN, here is their contact.

Information:

CNN Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CNN
CNN: 1 (404) 827-1500
CNN Feedback form: https://www.cnn.com/feedback

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69th birth anniversary of constitution of India

69th birth anniversary of constitution of India

in India — by Shamsul Islam — November 26, 2018

RSS PRESENTS MOST LETHAL INTERNAL THREAT TO DEMOCRATIC-SECULAR INDIAN POLITY

The history is replete with instances when the democratic polities have been destroyed not by the foreign enemies but inimical forces from within, camouflaged as saviours. Germany’s take-over by the Nazi Party led by Hitler and Italy by the Fascist Party led by Mussolini are the living examples of this trend. The Indian polity governed by a democratic-secular constitution passed by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949 seems to be in process of being captured by RSS and its appendages which rule India today. This lot has no hesitation in, unabashedly, declaring that they are in power to convert present Indian constitutional s                                                                       ystem into a Hindutva exclusionary state. This sinister Hindutva project is declared to be their object despite the fact that these rulers who are mostly cadres of RSS took oath to uphold a democratic-secular constitution.

Blue-eyed boy of both RSS and PM Modi, a minister in latter’s cabinet, Anantkumar Hegde addressing an event organised by the Brahman Yuva Parishad in Koppal district of Karnataka declared “We are here to change the Constitution” and decried those who believe in seculari                                                                                         sm as “people without parentage”. [i] We have forgotten how many times present RSS boss, Mohan Bhagwat like his predecessors declared India to be a Hindu nation where Hindutva politics will rule.

RSS DEMANDED MANUSMRITI AS CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

There is no hidden agenda so far as undoing democratic-secular India is concerned. It is as old as the constitution of India. The Constituent Assembly of India ratified the constitution on November 26, 1949,  RSS was not happy. Its organ, ORGANIZER in an editorial (The Constitution) on November 30, 1949, complained:

“The worst about the new constitution is that there is nothing Bhartiya about it. The drafters of the Constitution have incorporated in it elements of British, American, Canadian, Swiss, and sundry other constitutions. But there is no trace of ancient Bhartiya constitutional laws, institutions, nomenclature and phraseology in it…in our New Constitution there is no mention of the unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. Manu’s Laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing”.

The RSS continued vigorously its campaign for the enforcement of Manu’s Codes in India. Sankar Subba Aiyar, a retired High Court Judge wrote (‘Manu Rules Our Hearts’) in the same RSS organ on February 6, 1950,

“Even though Dr Ambedkar is reported to have recently stated in Bombay that the days of Manu are ended it is nevertheless a fact that the daily lives of Hindus are even at the present day affected by the principles and injunctions contained in the Manu Smrithi and other Smrithis. Even an unorthodox Hindu feels himself bound at least in some matters by the rules contained in the Smrithis and he feels powerless to give up altogether his adherence to them.”

How loyal the RSS is to the Constitution of India can be known by the following statement of MS Golwalkar which is being reproduced from Bunch of Thoughts which is not only selection of the writings of Golwalkar but also a Bible for the RSS cadres:

“Our Constitution too is just a cumbersome and heterogeneous piecing together of various articles from various Constitutions of Western countries. It has absolutely nothing which can be called our own. Is there a single word of reference in its guiding principles as to what our national mission is and what our keynote in life is?”[ii]

RSS HATED FLAG OF DEMOCRATIC-SECULAR INDIA

The RSS English mouthpiece ORGANIZER demeaning the choice of the National Flag just on the eve of Independence(14 August 1947) wrote:

“The people who have come to power by the kick of fate may give in our hands the Tricolour but it never be respected and owned by Hindus. The word three is in itself an evil, and a flag having three colours will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country.”

RSS AGAINST DEMOCRACY

Golwalkar while delivering a speech before the 1350 top level cadres of the RSS at RSS headquarter, Resham Bagh in 1940 declared:

“RSS inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology is lighting the flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land”.[MS Golwalkar, Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan (collected works of Golwalkar in Hindi), vol. 1, Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur, p. 11.]

When the Constituent Assembly adopted adult franchise for future elections, RSS was not happy and declared it as a kind of threat to political stability,

“realizing the inertia of the to think out political issues and vote intelligently, we cannot be over-optimistic about universal adult franchise. A country where economic inequalities are appalling can introduce political economy only at the risk of political instability”.

RSS DECRIED FEDERAL STRUCTURE

The RSS is also dead against federal structure of the constitution, again a ‘Basic’ feature of the India polity. This is clear from the following communication of Golwalkar which he sent to the first session of the National Integration Council in 1961. It read:

“Today’s federal form of government not only gives birth but also nourishes the feelings of separatism, in a way refuses to recognize the fact of one nation and destroys it. It must be completely uprooted, constitution purified and unitary form of government be established”.[iii]

RSS AGAINST COMPOSITE INDIAN NATIONALISM

The Constituent Assembly of India founded an all-inclusive, non-sectarian and secular polity but Organizer in its issue on the very eve of Independence (14 August, 1947), rejected the whole concept of a composite nation in an editorial titled ‘Whither’:

“Let us no longer allow ourselves to be influenced by false notions of nationhood. Much of the mental confusion and the present and future troubles can be removed by the ready recognition of the simple fact that in Hindusthan only the Hindus form the nation and the national structure must be built on that safe and sound foundation…the nation itself must be built up of Hindus, on Hindu traditions, culture, ideas and aspirations”.

Unfortunately, those who profess faith in the present Indian polity or constitutional institutions like judiciary which are supposed to safeguard the basic structure of the Indian polity, have largely failed to realize the gravity of the critical challenge presented by the Hindutva gang led by RSS. A simplistic narrative has been that RSS is OK except its inimical attitude towards Muslims and Christians of the country. It was due to this discourse that when Narender Modi as CM of Gujarat while talking to the Reuters on July 7, 2013 declared that he was a ‘Hindu nationalist’, there were no protests in or outside Parliament. It is to be noted that it was for the first time in the history of independent India that a person occupying a high constitutional post declared to be a ‘Hindu nationalist’, the same epithet which killers of MK Gandhi had used for themselves. There was no uproar, either from secular political parties or higher judiciary which is expected to safeguard the democratic-secular constitutional set up of the country.

It is shocking that ‘Maoists’, ‘Urban Naxals’, ‘Khalistanis’ and ‘Islamists’ who according to the Indian State want to destroy Indian polity are hanged or put behind bars regularly but the RSS cadres rule India despite their open declarations/deeds of  undoing Indian constitutional polity. Sad beginning of an end of a glorious future of India as an egalitarian and justice-able society dreamt by the constitution makers!

Shamsul Islam is a retired Professor of University of Delhi.Email: notoinjustice@gmail.com

For some of S. Islam’s writings in English, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu & Gujarati see the following link:

http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam

Shamsul Islam | University of Delhi - Academia.edu du-in.academia.edu It is an interview which was recorded by a correspondent of electronic portal Indian Nation on the side lines of a mammoth protest in Delhi against the assassination of journalist, political activist, a dear friend, Gauri Lankesh.

Facebook: shams shamsul

Twitter: @shamsforjustice

[i] [https://indianexpress.com/article/india/anantkumar-hegde-we-are-here-to-change-the-constitutionsecular-mos-4998737/]

[ii] M.S. Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, Sahitya Sindhu, Bangalore, 1996, p.238.

[iii] MS Golwalkar, Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan (collected works of Golwalkar in Hindi), vol. 3, Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur, p. 128.

Uneasy head that wears the crown

Uneasy head that wears the crown 
Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam

I begin this piece with a request to the reader to read it as a continuation of my last article (The magic moment, again!, November 13, 2018).

And with that I am going to make a paradoxical statement: whoever wins the Lok Sabha election in 2019 will be an unhappy person. The next prime minister from the party winning the majority seats would be the unhappiest and unluckiest person in India as he/she would be inheriting problems from this government that cannot be solved, only postponed, to become greater and more unmanageable for future governments. The new prime minister in 2019 (even if we are cursed to have Mr Modi again as prime minister for another term) will be sitting on a stove of burning coal.

Why? Because the four and a half-year misrule of Mr Modi has destroyed major democratic institutions, torn the social fabric of the country with hate propaganda and given the licence to rowdy Sangh foot soldiers to lynch Muslims, Dalits, women and other weaker people at will, with impunity, because policemen act as spectators and bystanders, if not active participants.

Possibly no less a matter of concern is the economy, particularly rural economy. Some indicators of the rural economy’s health are: prices of agricultural and horticultural products, sale of motorcycles (which shows movement in the rural economy), sale of cement and steel (which indicates prosperity and construction of new houses in villages) - all these show adverse trends for village economy. The rural economy was shattered after a reckless and irrational note ban two years ago as millions of rural daily wage workers in cities suddenly became jobless and returned to their villages because there was no cash available to pay them.

The rural economy was shattered as it had more mouths to feed, but more idle hands. Villages did not need new workers. The supply of labour in the villages far exceeded the demand for them. As a result, rural wages fell suddenly. The government has been concealing the negative impact of the double whammy of note ban and GST, but the fact is that the national economy has badly staggered under their impact and slackened at a time when the economy of the rest of the world is showing an upward trend.

The worst thing to happen for the next government is a full-blown banking crisis blowing up in its face in 2019 itself. The medicine government has forced the Reserve Bank of India to dispense to failing banks and NBFCs will be worse than the disease and empty out India’s treasured wealth. The crisis is only being postponed for the elections, and it is going to return in a more powerful form.

Meanwhile, I would like to quote from a recent column of the economist and former finance minister P. Chidambram:

CHILLING FACTS

India occupies the ‘heights’ in other respects too:

• In the Global Hunger Index, India’s place is 103, denoting severe hunger. Sixteen countries have higher (meaning worse) ranks.
• In the Gender Inequality Index, India’s rank is 125 out of 188 countries.
• In the Index of Economic Freedom, India occupies rank 130 out of 180 countries.
• In the Human Development Index, it ranks 130 out of 189 countries. India is in the bottom third.
• In the Freedom of Press Index, the rank is 138 on a descending scale of 180 countries.
• In per capita GDP, India’s rank is 140, also in the bottom third of 188 countries.
• In the Education Index, it is worse: 145 out of 191.

We can take satisfaction that India has not reached the ‘height’ of 182 in any index constructed after a survey of a maximum of 191 countries. However, ranks of 103, 125, 130, 138, 140 and 145 are not such that they can be dismissed in a cavalier manner by citing dubious statistics. What do these ranks tell us? That the high rate of growth and considerable economic progress achieved by the country have not put an end to the abject poverty of a significant proportion of the population. We can debate the size of that proportion, but even at 20 percent, it means that 250 million have been left behind. While poverty cuts across race, religion and caste, it is an undeniable fact that most of the 250 million of the very poor are Dalits, Scheduled Tribes, most backward classes, minorities and the disabled.

PITY

Pity the next prime minister who is going to inherit the bitter fruit of Mr Modi’s misrule. Even Mr Modi is not going to handle the situation well if he inherits himself.

Are the Distinctive Kalash People of Pakistan Really Descendants of Alexander the Great’s Army?

The Kalash (known also as the Kalasha) are an indigenous people living in what is today Pakistan. Although Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, with more than 95% of its population being adherents of Islam, the Kalash hold on to their own religious beliefs, along with their own identity, way of life, and language. The Kalash people are also noted for their fair skin and blue eyes, leading to a popular hypothesis that they were of Greek origin, specifically the descendants of Alexander the Great’s soldiers who followed him on his campaign in India.

The Kalash can be found in the Chitral District, which is situated in the northwestern Pakistani region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They live in three specific valleys in this area, Bumboret, Birir, and Rumbur. In an article from 2016, it was estimated that the Kalash community consist of about 3000 people, which makes them the smallest minority group of Pakistan. Nevertheless, this group is best known for their unique and well-preserved culture, which has led to it being listed by UNESCO for consideration as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. As a matter of fact, this bid for recognition is an attempt by the Kalash to safeguard their culture.

Islam Ki Taqat

5 Horrible Things Happening to Uyghur Muslims

5 Horrible Things Happening to Uyghur Muslims

 

Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi wa Sallam said, “The believers are like one body of a person; if the eye is sore, the whole body aches, and if the head aches, the whole body aches.” (Muslim)

 

By Gulnaz Uighur

 

In 1949 two things happened, first was the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and second was the invasion of East Turkestan by them. Soon after these events, the world witnessed ‘cultural revolution’ under Mao Zedong. It was one of the most dreadful phases in my people’s history.

 

History is repeating itself. Today again two things are happening, current Chinese leader Xi Jinping, an early comrade of Mao and an atheist, is exercising his power over China and has sent Uyghurs and Kazakh Muslims to illegal concentration camps, which are being called as ‘re-education’ camps. This term is inspired by Mao’s renaming of genocide as ‘cultural revolution’.

 

Uyghur Muslims who have Turkic roots are forced to become robots for PRC.  They are being kept apart from their families, their children and tortured to forget their identities, denounce their religion and pledge allegiance to the Communist Party. This is happening because Uyghurs practice Islam and have a unique culture and China thinks of us as extremists for doing so.

 

While European Union and United Nations are condemning these camps, Muslim nations like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Islamic countries in Africa, Maldives have chosen to keep quiet and continue their ‘friendship’ with Beijing. Out of all these countries, only Malaysia has had the courage to stand up and support Uyghurs. In Islamic Studies, we have always learned about the concept of Ummah (Muslim Brotherhood) as explained in the Quran. Now is the time to truly show its power by saving Uyghurs from Chinese torture. China’s policies are clearly anti-Islam and we must stop this plague before it takes down all the others.

 

Below are 5 horrible things that are happening with your brother and sisters in these Chinese secret camps. Please share our pain and demand your government helps Uyghurs before it’s too late.

1. Brainwashed to forget Islam: People living in the camps are not allowed to pray. They are specifically told that rituals in Islam are dangerous, to not follow things that have been told in Quran. They have to sing pro-Chinese songs to get food. The authorities make sure that they learn Chinese propaganda and forget about their own culture. Many ex-detainees have said that people are increasingly becoming like robots. The guards make them fearful and weaken detainees, physically and mentally, so that they become obedient.

 

2. Forced to eat pork and drink alcohol: Party leaders in Urumqi have begun an anti-halal movement in which they led responsible parties to swear an oath to “fight a decisive battle against pan-halalisation”. Uyghurs are now pressured to not only denounce their religion but are also being forced to eat pork and drink alcohol. The Halal signs have been removed from the boards of restaurants. Chinese Government says that this anti-halal campaign will help them to stop Islam penetrating secular life and fueling “extremism”.

 

3. Forms of Torture: In order to make people obey their orders, the authorities torture them in various inhumane ways. Victims are shackled to “tiger” chairs by their ankles; their hands are locked behind. Chinese Communist Party torturers don’t let them sleep, hang people for hours and beat them. Tools like thick wooden and rubber batons, whips made from twisted wire, needles to pierce the skin, pliers for pulling out your nails etc. are used to torture the person and beat the Islam out of them. People are made to stand on cement slabs in the hot sun, without any clothes except flimsy underwear. They put people in a water prison filled with very dirty, smelly water, up to the neck, for up to five days. During this torture, Uyghur victims are given a small piece of bread, the words of prison guards, “just so [they] survive”.

 

4. Women are raped: During an interview, some ex-detainees have revealed that young Uyghur women are raped daily by CCP officials in the camps and are killed if they resist. These women are taken from their cells and raped all night long. If they keep resisting, then they are injected with something and killed. Women are also given pills to stop them from becoming pregnant. There are usually 40 to 50 women in one small room, but five to 10 are regularly taken out and they just disappear, they never come back. People are being killed daily.

 

5. Bizarre Reasons behind being sent to the camps: At present anyone is taken in the camps. In prior years religious Uyghurs were targeted, but now not a single Uyghur is safe. They may go out to buy vegetables and may never come back. Still, some of the reasons that can get Uyghurs in trouble are bizarre. They are being detained for reasons such as contacting friends and relatives abroad, traveling to a foreign country, growing a beard, and hearing a religious sermon while getting a haircut. Bodies of those who die in the concentration camps are never released to their family members.

 

In the words of an ex-detainee,

“You can’t even commit suicide in these camps. Because of the “extreme pressure” in the detention camps, a lot of Uyghurs want to commit suicide, But there is no way to do so, because five to ten people are always watching you, and there are cameras in the rooms.”

 

May Allah Ta’ala alleviate the plight and suffering of the Ummah who are being afflicted with tribulations on a daily basis. May He protect them from the tyrants and oppressors, safeguard and protect their Imaan, and grant the Ummah His divine help. Ameen. 

India’s Hindu nationalists changing Muslim town names

India’s Hindu nationalists changing Muslim town names

Demand to rename Agra, the city of the 17th-century Taj Mahal, is most curious

By Rahul Bedi

14 November 2018

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is on a name-changing spree across northern Uttar Pradesh state, but only of towns and places with a Muslim association.

The state’s BJP government recently renamed Allahabad, one of Uttar Pradesh’s larger cities, which was named by India’s Mughal rulers in the 17th century.

Located on the banks of the holy Ganges River, the city will now be known as Prayagraj, which according to folklore is the spot where the four-faced Hindu creator god Brahma offered his first sacrifice after making the world.

The nearby Mughalserai (Mughal Hostelry) railway station, one of north India’s busiest, has been named after Deendyal Upadhya, an associate of the ultra-Hindu right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or National Volunteer Corps, which provides spiritual guidance to the BJP.

The fundamental role of the 93-year-old corps is to keep Hinduism “pure” from outside influences such as Islam and Christianity, a goal the BJP has been avidly pursuing after assuming federal power in 2014.

Gandhi assassination

The RSS, which Mr Modi joined as a novitiate, has been proscribed twice since India’s independence in 1947 for its extremist beliefs. Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin subscribed to RSS tenets, murdering him for his secular approach towards India’s Muslims.

Meanwhile, Faizabad, 160km north of Allahabad, the seat of former regional Nawabs or Muslim chieftains since the 18th century, is now known as Ayodhya, a name associated with the birthplace of Rama, another Hindu god.

But the demand from BJP legislator JP Garg to rename Agra, the city of the 17th-century Taj Mahal, is more curious.

He wants the city, 230km southeast of New Delhi, to be named Agar-Van, meaning “city of forests”, or Agar-Wal after India’s trader community of the same name.

“Agra has no meaning,” Mr Garg said, adding that there had once been forests in the area and people from the Agarwal community lived here, but provided no supporting evidence to back his claim.

No proof

Several historians said no such proof exists, and critics believe Agra’s name change is being mooted by the BJP simply because the city was the Mughal capital for 92 years until 1648.

But BJP lawmaker Sangeet Som, who is demanding the renaming of Muzaffarnagar, a small town 315km north of Agra, founded in the 17th century by a Mughal nobleman, is possibly the most forthright about his party’s motives in this regard.

Aiming to change the name of Muzaffarnagar to Laxmi Nagar, after the Hindu goddess of wealth, Som said that by renaming cities the BJP was only trying to “retain and safeguard” Hindutva or Hindu hegemony destroyed by Muslim rulers.

Opposition parties have responded by accusing the BJP and the RSS of rewriting history in an attempt to extend their cultural influence.

They also said that by resorting to changing city names, the party was deflecting attention from its inability to kick-start the flagging economy, create jobs and improve civic amenities such as roads, sewage and sanitation.

“The BJP is busy doing things which have nothing to do with progress and development,” said Sharad Yadav of the National Democratic Party.

Image: A monkey on the banks of the Yamuna River, next to the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Photograph: Saumya Khandelwal/Reuters

UN office warns 97 percent of ground water in Gaza is undrinkable, causing risk of disease outbreak and epidemic

UN office warns 97 percent of ground water in Gaza is undrinkable,

causing risk of disease outbreak and epidemic

November 16, 2018

Electricity supply in Gaza increased up to 18 hours a day in some areas, following the provision of additional fuel to operate the Gaza Power Plant.

Only 22 per cent of patients injured during the Gaza demonstrations, who were referred for follow-up surgery in the West Bank or Israel, have been granted Israeli exit permits.

97 per cent of ground water extracted in Gaza is unfit for human consumption, generating the risk of a waterborne disease outbreak.

The number of Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians and their property during 2018 grew by 57 and 175 per cent, compared with 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Overview: October 2018

Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, assault ‘Urif village (Nablus), 6 July 2018. © Photo by ‘Adel al-’Amer/B’Tselem

During the first week of November, residents of the Gaza Strip experienced some respite from the deteriorating humanitarian situation. First, the electricity supply increased up to 18 hours a day in some areas, from 4-5 hours in previous months, following the provision of additional fuel to operate the Gaza Power Plant. Second, around 27,000 civil servants, hired by Hamas after the 2007 takeover, were paid their August salaries, while 50,000 of the poorest families began receiving an US$ 100 allocation. These developments have been made possible due to funding provided by the Government of Qatar, and following Israel’s authorization of the entry of the fuel and cash into Gaza. In addition, while the ‘Great March of Return’ demonstrations along the perimeter fence continue, there has been a significant decline in clashes between demonstrators and Israeli forces and a resulting decrease in casualties.

Read more

More casualties sustained during the ‘Great March of Return’ in Gaza

*This figure includes 171 Palestinians killed during the Great March of Return demonstrations and other activities and 57 killed in other circumstances.

While participating in a demonstration near the Gaza fence with Israel on 6 April 2018, a university student in his mid-twenties was shot and injured in his left hip by Israeli forces. He was standing about 30-40 metres from the barbed wire fence inside Gaza territory and burning a tyre with other demonstrators.

Read more

Study warns water sanitation crisis in Gaza may cause disease outbreak and possible epidemic

A recent report prepared by the RAND Corporation warns that if the chronic state of emergency in Gaza’s water and sewage sector continues, an endemic disease outbreak or other public health crisis is imminent, with the risk of it spreading to Israel and Egypt. The projection is based on data collected by Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) partners and authorities over previous years, analysis of the expected impact of recent developments, and lessons learnt from disease outbreaks in Haiti, Yemen and Iraq. The report emphasised that cooperation between the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Egypt is vital if an epidemic is to be pre-empted.

Read more

High level of violence by Israeli settlers; rise in Israeli fatalities

Settler violence and settlement expansion in western Ramallah

The high level of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians reported during the first four months of 2018 in an earlier Humanitarian Bulletin, continued through October as the annual olive harvest began. Since the start of 2018, OCHA has documented 217 incidents attributed to Israeli settlers that have resulted in Palestinian casualties (60 incidents) or in damage to Palestinian property (157 incidents). As a monthly average, this is the highest level of incidents recorded since 2014 and represents a 57 and 175 per cent increase compared with 2017 and 2016 respectively (see chart).

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OCHA oPt works to ensure a coordinated and effective response to humanitarian needs stemming from the conflict, the occupation and other policies, as well as from natural disasters or extreme weather events.

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