Political parties demand security as militants hit Pakistan election gatherings

The Counter Terrorism Department arrested five Daesh militants in Peshawar on Friday. (Photo courtesy: Counter Terrorism Department)
Updated 13 July 2018
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Political parties demand security as militants hit Pakistan election gatherings

  • Intelligence agencies say that Al-Qaeda has planned sabotage activities in Karachi and Punjab. The chief of Jandullah, an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), is already present in Karachi to execute the plan
  • CTD Peshawar on Friday claimed to have arrested five Daesh terrorists, who, according to police, were recruiting people in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa capital

KARACHI: Major political parties in Pakistan, which intelligence reports say are the direct target of militants, have urged the government to tighten security for their candidates after the Taliban carried out two bomb attacks on election activities in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
On Tuesday a bomb attack on the election meeting of Awami National Party — a Pashtun nationalist and liberal party — left its leader and candidate, Haroon Bilour, and 20 others dead. Just three days later on Friday, the rally of Akram Khan Durrani, former chief minister and leader of the religo-political party, Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUIF), killed four. Durrani survived.
Intelligence agencies alarms
Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have sent a series of threat alerts to law enforcement, warning them of attacks on political leadership, including PTI’s Imran Khan, PMLN’s Shehbaz Sharif and JUIF’s Akram Durrani.
“Sleeper cells of Daesh/TTP/AQIS/LeJ have also been reactivated and are likely to target security installations as well as political figures to disrupt the momentum of GE-2018,” reads an intelligence report, a copy of which was made available to Arab News.
The intelligence agencies say that they have learnt that Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) — a branch of Al Qaeda — is planning major terrorist activities in Karachi and Punjab during the general elections of 2018. The report has named three terrorists tasked with carrying out activities including suicide attacks. “Ameer of Jandullah Tariq Burmi is reportedly present in Karachi and will coordinate and execute terrorist activity (ies) in Karachi.”
Another threat alert reads: “Daesh has planned to conduct IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and suicide attacks on political leaderships, meetings and party workers during upcoming general elections scheduled to be held on July 25, 2018.”

A threat alert says that the proscribed Jamaat-ut-Ahrar (JuA) has also planned to target the leadership of different political parties by carrying out blasts with explosive-laden vehicles. “A potential life threat against Mr. Shehbaz Sharif, former Chief Minister of Punjab, has been reported on the pretext of various attacks on PMLN leaders in the recent past,” reads another threat alert.
According to reports, the Afghanistan-based militants groups, i.e. TTP and its affiliates, in connivance with other outfits, may target prominent political figures in public gatherings to sabotage the general elections 2018 process in Pakistan. “Such terrorist activities may include SB/IED/VBIED/sniper attacks against the main leadership of the major political parties as well as other entities which could contribute toward affecting the law and order situation.”

“Terrorists of Harkat-ul Ahrar are planning to conduct suicide attacks targeting the election campaign of Imran of PTI and leadership of PMLN as well as PPP, probability of such attack is high in Punjab and Karachi, however, materialization in Balochistan and KP cannot be ruled out,” reads another alert.
Another intelligence report, which also warned against infighting between political parties during the campaign and on polling day, especially in Sindh and its capital Karachi, reads: “The terrorists may conduct suicide, IED blasts, attacks on politicians and public gatherings, target killing, kidnapping of political and religious figures, attacks over security personnel installations.”

Raja Umar Khattab, a senior terrorism police officer known for his actions against Al-Qaeda and Daesh militants, says generally the situation is under control as peace has been restored in Pakistan.
“The terrorism threat, however, persists in Karachi as there had been no act of terrorism for long and sleeper cells have remained quiet in a bid to look for the soft targets,” Khattab said, adding major gatherings such as election activities may provide that soft target.
Militant of Daesh arrested
Besides recent attacks, the Friday arrests of Daesh in Peshawar, a Pakistani city close to Afghan border, also corroborate the intelligence reports.
The Counter Terrorist Department has arrested five terrorists associated with Daesh from Board Bazaar neighborhood, a handout issued by CTD Peshawar on Friday said, adding that investigations are underway and startling disclosures are expected.
“The terrorists, besides distributing pamphlets of Daesh, were inviting people to the outfit for the cause of damaging integrity of Pakistan.”

Vulnerable demands tightened security
The situation has alarmed political parties, which have demanded proper security arrangements.
“We have expressed our reservations to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). In our Thursday meeting with ECP, the security of the candidates and people remained top of the agenda,” Moula Bux Chandio, the Pakistan People’s Party central information secretary, told Arab News.
“PPP had always been top of the target list of terrorists. Our leader Benazir Bhutto was martyred during an election campaign,” Chandio said, saying threats to specific parties is a threat to free and fair elections so it is the responsibility of the caretakers to provide complete security.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pakistan (MQM-P), a liberal nationalist party which had bagged the majority of seats from Urban Sindh, was also under Taliban attacks during 2013 general elections.
“The security agencies have brought much peace but the bomb blasts in Peshawar and Bannu have raised the alarm bell,” said Aminul Haque, the MQM’s spokesperson, lamenting that the government took back the security of its leaders, leaving them at the mercy of terrorists. “Not only security of our central leadership but the security of our headquarters at Bahadurabad has also been taken,” he told Arab News.
Haque said: “Had the people responsible for ensuring security worked for it instead of meddling in political affairs, the situation would have been much better.”
Ameer Nawab, the Awami National Party’s Sindh leader and former minister, said that the security of parties previously under attack should have been beefed up. “Instead, we are denied security that means less movement and less campaigning, which results in poor results,” he said.


Supreme Court overturns Islamic schools ban in India’s most populous state

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Supreme Court overturns Islamic schools ban in India’s most populous state

  • There are 2.6 million students and about 25,000 Muslim religious schools in Uttar Pradesh
  • Article 30 of India’s Constitution guarantees the right of minorities to run educational institutions

NEW DELHI: India’s top court overturned on Tuesday an order that banned Islamic schools in Uttar Pradesh, effectively permitting over two million students in the country’s most populous state to return to their studies in madrasas. 

Islam is the second-largest religion in Uttar Pradesh, accounting for some 20 percent of its 230 million population. 

In March, Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad High Court scraped a 2004 law governing madrasas in the state, saying it violated India’s constitutional secularism and ordering that students be moved to conventional schools. The Supreme Court put it on hold in April after receiving petitions challenging the order. 

Tuesday’s ruling by the top court will allow about 2.6 million students and 10,000 teachers to return to the 25,000 Muslims religious schools operating in the northern Indian state.

“The Allahabad High Court erred in holding that the madrasa law had to be struck down for violating basic structure, which is the principle of secularism,” Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said in court. “The constitutional validity of a statute cannot be challenged for violation of the basic structure of the Constitution.” 

Article 30 of India’s Constitution guarantees the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions. 

“The Madrasa Act is consistent with the positive obligation of the state to ensure that students studying in recognized madrasas attain a level of competency which will allow them to effectively participate in society and earn a living.” 

Madrasas provide a system of education in which students are taught Qur’an, Islamic history and general subjects like math and science. 

In states governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, such as Uttar Pradesh and Assam, authorities have been converting hundreds of madrasas into regular schools. 

“This is a landmark judgment and puts a brake to all the negative campaigns that has been going on against madrasas across the country,” Wahidullah Khan, secretary-general of the All-India Teachers Association Madaris Arabia, told Arab News. 

“For us, it’s a big relief. It provides a new lease of life to thousands of madrasas across the country. The Islamic schools have been taking care of the basic education of millions of Muslims across the country and we were under lots of pressure because of the communal campaign against Muslims and their educational institutions.” 

With over 200 million Indians professing Islam, Hindu-majority India has the world’s largest Muslim-minority population. 

Indian Muslims have faced increasing discrimination and challenges in the past decade, accompanied by tensions and riots ignited by majoritarian policies of the Hindu right-wing BJP since it rose to power in 2014. 

“We were waiting for this kind of verdict. It’s quite welcoming and relieving for the Muslim community,” Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, BJP member and former chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrasa Education, told Arab News. 

“The judgment brings relief to all,” he said. “There has been a systematic attempt to stigmatize the Islamic schools over the years and branding them as vicious but the ruling of the Supreme Court should now stop this negative campaign.” 
 


Swedish court sentences far-right politician for insulting Muslims

Updated 9 min 11 sec ago
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Swedish court sentences far-right politician for insulting Muslims

  • The Danish-Swedish 42-year-old man, who was not named but has been identified by Swedish media as Rasmus Paludan
  • In 2022, Paludan, founder and head of the Danish nationalist anti-immigration party Stram Kurs, made his offensive remarks directed at Muslims, Arabs and Africans during protests

MALMO: A Swedish court sentenced on Tuesday a far-right politician to four months in jail for two counts of “incitement against an ethnic group” after making hateful comments at political rallies two years ago.
The Danish-Swedish 42-year-old man, who was not named but has been identified by Swedish media as Rasmus Paludan, founder and head of the Danish nationalist anti-immigration party Stram Kurs, had been previously convicted and sentenced by a Danish court on a similar charge, the Malmo District Court said.
In 2022, Paludan, founder and head of the Danish nationalist anti-immigration party Stram Kurs, made his offensive remarks directed at Muslims, Arabs and Africans during protests that he led in the southern city of Malmo in 2022, the court said. He also burned a copy of the Qur’an, Islam’s holy book, on at least one occasion. In response, a violent wave of riots swept the country.
Some observers also say Paludan’s actions may have momentarily risked Sweden’s chances of joining NATO after increasing political tensions with Turkiye. Sweden joined the alliance in March this year.
The court in a statement Tuesday said Paludan’s remarks against Muslims “cannot be excused as criticism of Islam or as political campaign work.”
Chief Councilor Nicklas Söderberg, the court’s chairman, said: “It is permitted to publicly make critical statements about, for example, Islam and also Muslims, but the disrespect of a group of people must not clearly cross the line for a factual and valid discussion.”
He added that during the Malmo rallies in April and September 2022 “there was no question of any such discussion,” and that Paludan’s public statements “only amounted to insulting Muslims.”
The court took particular interest in whether the politician knew the protests were filmed and published on Facebook. Paludan had said that he wasn’t aware of it but the district court disagreed and said his “actions at the gatherings would be downright illogical if he didn’t know about the publication on Facebook.”
Paludan, a lawyer by profession, told Swedish media outlets that he wasn’t surprised by the verdict.
“It was expected. We will appeal,” the Swedish newspaper Expressen cited him as saying.


Philippine police to probe social media posts of Filipino-Israeli soldier in Gaza

Updated 9 min 57 sec ago
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Philippine police to probe social media posts of Filipino-Israeli soldier in Gaza

  • Department of Foreign Affairs confirms the Filipino soldier is an Israeli citizen
  • Photos shared by Israel Genocide Tracker which monitors soldiers’ social media

MANILA/DUBAI: Photos of a Filipino appearing to be a member of Israel’s troops in Gaza will be investigated by the Philippine National Police, its chief said, after the man’s social media posts went viral showing a rifle with the PNP’s logo.

Screenshots of the posts showing Justin Flores were shared last week by the X handle Israel Genocide Tracker, which scours the internet to find and publicize the actions of Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

The content shared by the X account comprises photos and videos that Israeli soldiers themselves have published online.

The posts range from selfies and pranks among the ruins of houses to blowing up buildings in Gaza, waving women’s underwear and rifling through the property of Palestinian civilians.

The photos and videos from the social media of Flores showed destroyed neighborhoods in Gaza and himself posing amid the rubble.

Another post with the line “Proud to be Israeli/Filipino” shows a rifle bearing the seal of the Philippine police on the ammunition magazine. It is attached to a belt with Hebrew writing.

“I’ll have it investigated,” PNP Chief Gen. Rommel Marbil told Arab News in a text message on Monday evening.

“He is using a TAVOR firearm here. Not the issued rifle for the PNP.”

The weapon is an assault rifle, designed and produced by Israel Weapon Industries. In 2018, the Philippine News Agency reported the acquisition of Tavor rifles for the nation’s police and coast guard.

A screenshot of an Oct. 29, 2024 post by the X account Israel Genocide Tracker shows photos from the social media of Justin Flores. (X/@trackingisrael)

While the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it was waiting for a report from its embassy in Tel Aviv, it confirmed to Arab News that Flores was an Israeli, while his mother held dual Philippine-Israeli citizenship.

His alleged participation in Israel’s deadly war on Gaza has, however, already triggered outrage in his ancestral home and questions over how his Israeli citizenship was acquired, as according to Israel’s Nationality Law, military service streamlines the process.

“Did he acquire Israeli citizenship by serving in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)? If so, it seems the IDF relies on fighters from overseas to do their dirty work,” said Renato Reyes, president of BAYAN, the Philippines’ largest alliance of grassroots groups.

“It is just shameful that a Filipino would be part of Israeli genocide against Palestinians. We were a colonized people, and we should have more in common with the Palestinians than the Israeli occupiers.”

Drieza A. Lininding, chairman of the civic organization Moro Consensus Group, said individuals joining fighting abroad should be tracked.

“Those joining the IDF and genocide against Palestinians should be treated as terrorists and must be arrested the moment they land here in the Philippines. This is in conformity with the Philippines’ vote in the UN condemning the genocide,” he told Arab News.

“The government must regard them as a threat to our national security.”

If such persons still hold Philippine citizenship, they may lose it under the Commonwealth Act 63, “by accepting commission in the military, naval or air service of a foreign country,” Attorney Farah Decano, dean of the College of Law at the Lyceum Northwestern University, told Arab News.

She said the unauthorized use of the PNP logo was also a violation. “The problem, however, is that the use is in Israel. Our criminal jurisdiction is only in the Philippines,” she said.

“It gives the impression that we are providing arms to the Israelis which the government must immediately deny. The Philippine government must request Israeli government for the confiscation of such arms.”

Israel’s relentless air and ground attacks on Gaza have killed over 45,000 Palestinians and injured more than 101,000, according to Gaza Health Ministry data. But the real toll is feared to be much higher.

A study published by the medical journal The Lancet estimated in July that the true number of those killed could be more than 186,000.

The estimate took into consideration deaths as a result of starvation, injury and lack of access to medical aid as Israeli forces have destroyed most of Gaza’s infrastructure and blocked the entry of aid.


A week after Spain’s floods, families hold out hope that loved ones are not among the dead

Updated 22 min 13 sec ago
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A week after Spain’s floods, families hold out hope that loved ones are not among the dead

  • At least 218 have been confirmed dead after a deluge caused by heavy rains late on Oct. 29
  • Authorities have yet to any give an estimate of the missing seven days on

SEDAVI, Spain: Francisco Murgui went out to try to salvage his motorbike when the water started to rise. He never came back.
One week after catastrophic flooding devasted eastern Spain, María Murgui still holds out hope that her father is alive and among the unknown number of the missing.
“He was like many people in town who went out to get their car or motorbike to safety,” the 27-year-old told The Associated Press. “The flash flood caught him outside, and he had to cling to a tree in order to escape drowning. He called us to tell us that he was fine, that we shouldn’t worry.”
But when María set out into the streets of Sedaví to try to rescue him from the water washing away everything in its path, he was nowhere to be found.
“He held up until 1 in the morning,” she said. “By 2, I went outside with a neighbor and a rope to try to locate him. But we couldn’t find him. And since then, we haven’t heard anything about him.”
At least 218 have been confirmed dead after a deluge caused by heavy rains late on Oct. 29 and the next morning swamped entire communities, mostly in Spain’s Valencia region, catching most off guard. Regional authorities have been heavily criticized for having issued alerts to mobile phones some two hours after the disaster had started.
Authorities have yet to any give an estimate of the missing seven days on. Spanish state broadcaster RTVE, however, shows a steady stream of appeals by people who are searching for family members who are not accounted for.
María Murgui herself has posted a missing person’s message on social media with a photo of her father, a 57-year-old retiree.
“This is like riding a rollercoaster. Sometimes I feel very bad and sometimes I feel better. I try to stay positive,” she said. “This truly is madness. We don’t know what else to do. Neither does anybody else in town.”
Central government passes relief package
While many search for their loved ones, the gargantuan recovery efforts in Sedaví and dozens of other communities slowly moved forward.
To aid those in need, the central government approved a 10.6-billion-euro relief package for 78 communities on Tuesday. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez compared it to the measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The package includes direct payments of 20,000 euros to 60,000 euros to owners of damaged homes, among other financial aid for businesses and municipal governments.
“We have a lot of work left to do, and we know it,” Sánchez said.
Sánchez said that he will ask the European Union to help pay for the relief, saying “it is time for the European Union to help.”
Many people are still without basic goods amid scenes of devastation
The floods have left behind post-apocalyptic scenes.
Street after street in town after town is still covered with thick brown mud and mounds of ruined belongings, clumps of rotting vegetation, and wrecked vehicles. A stench arises from the muck.
In many places, people still face shortages of basic goods, and lines form at impromptu emergency kitchens and stands handing out food. Water is running again but authorities say it is not fit for drinking.
The ground floors of thousands of homes have been ruined. It is feared that inside some of the vehicles that the water washed away or trapped in underground garages there could be bodies waiting to be recovered.
Thousands of soldiers are working with firefighters and police reinforcements in the immense emergency response. Officers and troops are searching in destroyed homes, the countless cars strewn across highways, streets, or lodged in the mud in canals and gorges.
Authorities are worried about other health problems caused by the aftermath of the deadliest natural disaster in Spain’s recent history. They have urged people to get tetanus shots and to treat any wounds to prevent infections and to clean the mud from their skin. Many people wear face masks.
Thousands of volunteers are helping out, filling the void left by authorities. But the frustration over the crisis management boiled over on Sunday when a crowd in hard-hit Paiporta hurled mud and other objects at Spain’s royals, Sánchez and regional officials when they made their first visit to the epicenter of the flood damage.
Sánchez’s national government is set to announce a new package of relief on Tuesday.


Erdogan ally floats Turkiye constitutional amendment to let him extend his tenure

Updated 05 November 2024
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Erdogan ally floats Turkiye constitutional amendment to let him extend his tenure

ANKARA: The main political ally of longstanding Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that a constitutional amendment should be considered to allow the president to run again in elections set for 2028.
After his re-election last year, Erdogan is serving his last term as president unless parliament calls an early election, according to the constitution. He has ruled Turkiye for more than 21 years, first as prime minister and then as president.
“Wouldn’t it be a natural and right choice to have our president elected once again if terror is eradicated, and if a heavy blow is dealt to inflation and Turkiye secures political and economic stability,” said Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is allied with Erdogan’s ruling AK Party (AKP).
A constitutional amendment to secure Erdogan’s ability to re-run in the presidential elections should be considered, he said in a parliamentary speech to MHP lawmakers.
Bahceli, a staunch nationalist, rattled Turkish politics last month by suggesting that the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) could be allowed to speak in parliament if he announces an end to the group’s insurgency.
Some analysts said the shock suggestion might be motivated by an AKP-MHP desire to win the support of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, parliament’s third-biggest, for a constitutional change that could boost Erdogan’s prospects in 2028 elections.
A constitutional change can be put to a referendum if 360 lawmakers in the 600-seat parliament back it. An early election also needs the support of 360 MPs.
AKP and its allies have 321 seats while DEM has 57.