NEW DELHI: An Indian judge charged a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and senior leaders from his ruling party with criminal conspiracy on Tuesday in connection with the 1992 destruction of a mosque by a Hindu mob.
The demolition of the mosque in northern Uttar Pradesh state unleashed some of the deadliest religious riots across the country since independence in 1947, killing about 2,000 people.
Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti and stalwarts of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party led by L. K. Advani and M. M. Joshi appeared in court in the city of Lucknow to hear the charges.
All three deny any role in the razing of the mosque.
The trial of senior BJP leaders will raise fresh questions about Hindu nationalism within Modi’s party at a time when critics accuse his supporters of trying to marginalize minority groups and redefine India as a Hindu nation.
“The judge accepted our plea to charge the leaders with criminal conspiracy and the accused are already facing trial for making provocative speeches that incited Hindus to pull down the Babri mosque,” said M. R. Shamshad, a lawyer representing Muslim leaders and victims of the violence.
Bharti, entering the courtroom on Tuesday amid a crowd of reporters, rejected the charges.
“I don’t consider myself a criminal,” she said.
Lawyers representing Joshi and Advani did not respond to requests for comment.
Many Hindus believe that the mosque in the town of Ayodhya was built on top of the birthplace of their god-king Rama and the BJP is committed to the construction of a temple there.
The dispute is still at the core of tensions between Hindus and India’s Muslim minority. BJP party leaders have faced prosecution for their alleged involvement in the mosque’s destruction for more than a decade, but last month the Supreme Court ruled the party leaders must be tried and the case wrapped up within two years.
Advani, a former home minister and chief of the BJP, led Hindus on the pilgrimage that ended with the razing of the mosque. He says he tried to stop the clashes.
On Tuesday, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, a firebrand Hindu priest, met the three accused outside the court in a sign of support.
BJP leaders charged over 1992 mosque demolition
BJP leaders charged over 1992 mosque demolition
Prosecutors seek up to 14-year terms for French rape trial defendants
- The case has sparked horror, protests and a debate about male violence in France
- Until Wednesday, or latest Thursday morning, prosecutors are outlining their sentencing demands for all the defendants
AVIGNON, France: French prosecutors on Tuesday demanded sentences of up to 14 years for some of the remaining co-defendants of a man charged with enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his wife while she was drugged and unconscious.
On Monday, prosecutors requested a maximum 20-year jail term for Dominique Pelicot, who has been on trial in the southern city of Avignon since September with 49 other men for organizing the rapes and sexual abuse of Gisele Pelicot, now his former wife.
One man is being tried in absentia.
The case has sparked horror, protests and a debate about male violence in France, with tens of thousands of protesters staging demonstrations across the country on Saturday against violence targeting women.
The decade-long abuse of Gisele Pelicot by Dominque Pelicot was only uncovered when he was arrested for a separate upskirting offense, leading investigators to discover his meticulously-kept records of the visitors to the family home in the town Mazan.
Until Wednesday, or latest Thursday morning, prosecutors are outlining their sentencing demands for all the defendants, most of whom come from ordinary professions ranging from the fire brigade to the media.
On Tuesday, public prosecutor Laure Chabaud asked for a 14-year sentence for Karim S., 38, who was one of the few defendants whose messaging with Dominique Pelicot was discovered by investigators.
For Florian R., 32, who did not admit “intent” and Gregory S., 31, who was “aware of Gisele Pelicot’s altered state,” Chabaud demanded thirteen years in prison.
Some defense lawyers have described the sentencing demands as “staggering” and “out of proportion,” alleging the public prosecutor’s office was under pressure from “public opinion.”
“I fear what will happen next,” said Louis-Alain Lemaire, a lawyer for four defendants.
But public prosecutors say the trial should herald a fundamental change in society.
“In 2024, we can no longer say ‘she didn’t say anything, she agreed,’ that’s from another era,” Chabaud said on Monday.
Prosecutors asked for a 12-year sentence for nine of the remaining defendants, including Boris M., 37, who claimed during the hearings that he, too, was a victim.
“He says he was a victim of Dominique Pelicot, like Gisele Pelicot,” prosecutor Jean-Francois Mayet said.
But “at no time did he seek or obtain Gisele Pelicot’s consent,” he said, adding, “in reality, he was pleased with the situation presented to him” by the main defendant.
Prosecutors sought a 12-year sentence for Mahdi D., 36, who also claimed to be a victim of Dominique Pelicot’s actions.
Chabaud also asked for 12-years for Lionel R., 44, who said he was taking “part in a couple’s fantasy.”
Many of the accused argued in court that they believed Pelicot’s claim that they were participating in a libertine fantasy, in which his wife had consented to sexual contact and was only pretending to be asleep.
Among them, 33 have also claimed they were not in their right minds when they abused or raped Gisele Pelicot, a defense not backed by any of the psychological reports compiled by court-appointed experts.
Prosecutors also sought a 12-year jail term for Cyril B., 47, who “was well aware Gisele Pelicot should not be woken up,” and for Thierry P., 54, who said Dominique Pelicot was “solely responsible,” the public prosecutor said.
Mayet demanded the same prison sentence for Omar D., 36, who argued “the husband’s consent and presence seemed to be sufficient,” and Ahmed T., 54, who “denies any responsibility.”
Two other defendants, Redouane A., 40, who said he came to Mazan to “please the couple” and Jean T., 52, who claimed without evidence he was also drugged by the main defendant, are also facing a 12-year jail-term.
On Monday, prosecutors requested a 17-year prison sentence for one defendant, Jean-Pierre M., 63, who applied Pelicot’s practices against his own wife to rape her a dozen times, sometimes in Pelicot’s presence.
The trial has made Gisele Pelicot, who insisted the hearings be held in public, a feminist icon in the fight of women against sexual abuse.
Prosecutor Mayet praised her “courage” and “dignity,” thanking her for allowing the hearings to be held in public.
The verdicts and sentencing are expected by December 20.
Russia vows response to latest Ukraine ATACMS strikes
- Ukraine firing the long-range missiles into Russia for the first time last week prompted a furious reaction from Moscow
- Russia’s defense ministry on Tuesday said Ukraine had carried out fresh strikes — on November 23 and 25 — using ATACMS
MOSCOW: Moscow’s military on Tuesday pledged a response to fresh Ukrainian air attacks inside Russia using US-supplied ATACMS missiles.
Ukraine firing the long-range missiles into Russia for the first time last week prompted a furious reaction from Moscow.
Russia’s defense ministry on Tuesday said Ukraine had carried out fresh strikes — on November 23 and 25 — using ATACMS.
“Retaliatory actions are being prepared,” it said in a post on Telegram, without elaborating.
The United States gave Ukraine permission to use the weapons to hit Russian territory earlier this month after months of requests from Kyiv.
In a rare admission, Russia said the fresh strikes had caused damage to military hardware and wounded some of its personnel on the ground.
A strike on the Kursk Vostochny air base wounded two servicemen, the defense ministry said, while a strike on an air defense battery damaged a radar system and also caused “casualties.”
It said three of the five missiles fired in the first strike were shot down, while seven of the eight used in the second were destroyed.
Moscow rarely provides such specific details on Ukrainian aerial attacks and almost never admits missiles have reached their intended target.
The defense ministry also posted photos of what it said were the missile fragments, showing large casings with English-language inscriptions on the side.
AFP was unable to immediately verify the images.
The strikes come with tensions having ratched up dramatically in the near three-year conflict over the last few weeks.
Putin last week signed a decree lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, days before launching the nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missile at Ukraine.
US Air Force in UK says a small number of drones spotted flying over bases in eastern England
- The Air Force hasn’t identified who is believed to be behind the incursions
- Unspecified mitigation measures are underway
LONDON: The US Air Force says a number of small drones have been detected near three bases in eastern England that are used by American forces.
Tuesday’s ongoing incident comes just days after drones were spotted near RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell. They were actively monitored after they were seen in the vicinity of and over the three bases, US Air Forces Europe said in a statement on Sunday.
The Air Force hasn’t identified who is believed to be behind the incursions. Unspecified mitigation measures are underway.
Lakenheath is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, which the US Air Force describes as the foundation of its combat capability in Europe. Mildenhall hosts the 100th Air Refueling Wing, and Feltwell is a hub for housing, schools and other services.
Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell, located close to one another in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, are Royal Air Force bases used primarily by the US Air Force
Death toll from Hindu-Muslim clashes sparked by mosque survey rises to six in India
- Street battles broke out in a bid to block a team of surveyors from the government from entering the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal
- Hindu activist groups have laid claim to several mosques they say were built over Hindu temples during Muslim Mughal rule
Lucknow, India: The death toll from violent protests in India sparked by a survey into whether a centuries-old mosque was built on a Hindu temple has risen to six, an official said Tuesday.
Around 20 police officers were also wounded during the violence on Sunday in Sambhal in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, district magistrate Chirag Goyal told AFP.
Street battles broke out in a bid to block a team of surveyors from the government’s Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from entering the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal.
The six Muslim men were killed by gunfire — with Goyal saying they were shot by fellow protesters.
“The six killed were caught in crossfire by rioters using homemade pistols,” he said. “The police only fired tear gas and rubber bullets.”
Two people were initially reported dead on Sunday, but more details emerged later, while others later died of their wounds.
Goyal said 25 people had been arrested following the violence.
Hindu activist groups have laid claim to several mosques they say were built over Hindu temples during the Muslim Mughal empire centuries ago.
The survey in Sambhal was ordered by a local court, after a petition from a Hindu priest this month claimed it was built on the site of a Hindu temple.
Within hours the court ordered a survey of the mosque, a decision protested by local Muslim residents.
The first survey was undertaken on November 19. A second survey four days later, which included taking photos and video of the mosque’s features, triggered the violence.
The hilltop Shahi Jama Masjid was built in 1526 during the rule of Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun, according to historians, with renovations during the 17th century.
Hindu nationalist activists were emboldened earlier this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand new Hindu temple in the northern city of Ayodhya, built on grounds once home to the centuries-old Babri mosque.
That mosque was torn down in 1992 in a campaign spearheaded by members of Modi’s party, sparking sectarian riots that killed 2,000 people nationwide, most of them Muslims.
Some Hindu campaigners see an ideological patron in Modi.
Calls for India to more closely align the country’s officially secular political system with its majority Hindu faith have rapidly grown louder since Modi was swept to office in 2014.
It has made the country’s roughly 210-million-strong Muslim minority increasingly anxious about their future.
Philippines, UAE pledge stronger economic ties as Marcos marks first visit
- Marcos is the first Philippine president to visit Abu Dhabi in more than 15 years
- UAE president says he looks forward to talks on a free trade deal with the Philippines
Manila: The Philippines and the UAE on Tuesday committed to boosting economic relations as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. marked his first official trip to Abu Dhabi.
On his one-day trip, Marcos was received by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
He is the first Philippine president to visit the UAE since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2008.
During the meeting, the two leaders committed “to deepening cooperation in various areas, including economy, trade and sustainability,” Marcos’ office said in a statement.
“The two leaders emphasized their dedication to strengthening bilateral ties and delivering lasting benefits to their peoples, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of friendship and collaboration between their nations.”
The Philippines and the UAE celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations on Aug. 19.
Emirati state news agency WAM cited Sheikh Mohammed as saying that he hoped the visit “would herald a new and significant chapter” in UAE-Philippine ties and that the UAE “looks forward to continuing discussions toward reaching a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the Philippines to elevate trade and investment relations to new heights of mutual economic growth.”
Negotiations on the free trade deal have been underway between Philippine and UAE officials since the beginning of this year.
The UAE is a key trading partner of the Philippines in the region and home to the second-largest Filipino diaspora after Saudi Arabia.
Some 700,000 overseas Filipino workers live and work in the UAE. Many are employed in the construction, healthcare and hospitality sectors.
Marcos was initially expected to meet representatives of the Filipino community, but his visit was shortened, with the Philippine Presidential Communications Office saying he would “immediately fly back to Manila to resume his personal supervision and inspection of the relief and reconstruction activities in communities devastated by six successive typhoons.”
