Wajahat Habibullah, chairperson, National Commission for Minorities, speaks to Kavita Chowdhury on reservation for Muslims, the RTI Act and the controversy over withdrawal of AFSPA in Kashmir. You had recently visited Rajasthan. In Bharatpur district’s Gopalgarh village, some members of the minority community, Mev Muslims, were killed and the state administration was accused of mishandling the matter. What is your view? A communal riot is an unpardonable crime. The state government has taken...
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India court shocked at Pakistanis held without charge
-BBC India's Supreme Court has expressed shock at the number of Pakistanis being held in Indian jails without charge. At least 250 Pakistani nationals are being held, some for many years, with one case involving a prisoner behind bars for more than 40 years. The court ordered the government to file a comprehensive report on the prisoners within two weeks. The court was hearing a petition by a party from JAMmu and Kashmir, where...
More »Can’t have islands of peace, Army counters Omar on scrapping AFSPA by Arun Sharma
The Army today opposed any move to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from peaceful areas in JAMmu and Kashmir, arguing that the current lull in violence could be deceptive. “There cannot be islands of peace,” senior army commanders were said to have argued at the Unified Command HQ meeting today. If Srinagar and Budgam are peaceful, it does not mean they can be separated from the larger situation...
More »In Malegaon, A Long Wait by Smita Nair
Accused No 1 Noor-ul-Huda, 26 Labourer, Arrested on October 22, 2006 A month after the Malegaon blasts in September 2006, two policemen walked up to the house of Noor-ul-Huda at Jaffer Nagar on a Ramzan evening. They took Noor with them, telling his father they would send him back in 10 minutes. “Five years have passed. How long is their 10 minutes?” asks Noor’s father Shumshuz Zoha. This wasn’t the first time Noor...
More »Special powers to act and evade by Muzamil Jaleel
When Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from certain areas areas in JAMmu and Kashmir, it was a political move with many objectives. The government, however, had to put the plan on hold. Though the Home Ministry has been in favour of a withdrawal, the plan came under severe criticism from the Army, which argued that a withdrawal, even if partial, would hamper...
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