JNU row: Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi trade charges, students boycot classes

Police, meanwhile, claimed the student leader charged with sedition had raised anti-India slogans.

On their part, the JNU students stepped up their agitation by boycotting classes demanding unconditional release of students union president Kanhaiya Kumar. The teachers association of the premier institute has rallied behind the agitating students but have not struck work.

In a related incident, at least six persons, including students and mediapersons, were thrashed by a group of men in lawyer's robes within and outside Patiala House courts during the hearing of the sedition case against Kanhaiya. A BJP MLA, present there for a different case, allegedly roughed up a CPI activist.

Amid the raging row, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi, after a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, said Kanhaiya had raised anti-national slogans during a controversial event on JNU campus but admitted police have so far found "no evidence linking the LeT" to the incident.

Singh had yesterday claimed the event at JNU to protest the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had received "support" from LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.

Speaking on the the raging controversy for the first time, Shah targeted Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi alleging he was supporting "anti-nationals" and wondered whether he wanted another "division" of India.

Posing a slew of questions to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, Shah also demanded that he apologise for his stand on the JNU issue. Rahul had visited JNU on Saturday and extended support to the students' cause.

"An attempt was made to defame a leading university in the national capital by turning it into a centre which encourages terrorism and separatism. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi if it would be in national interest had the central government kept quiet?

"Are you not encouraging traitors by protesting in support of these anti-nationals?", Shah wrote in a blog.

Addressing a party meeting in Assam's Sonitpur district, Rahul returned fire saying BJP wanted to control everyone's views. "The BJP and RSS are following an agenda of creating divide and hatred, as can be seen from the recent developments in JNU, by imposing their views forcibly on people."

Kanhaiya was arrested on Friday in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over holding of the event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised.

JNU row: Hafiz Saeed says Kashmiris expressed themselves; asks Rajnath to stop 'false propaganda'

 

“India has labelled allegations against me that Hafiz Saeed is involved in anti-India protests in JNU.

"After learning about it, I felt very strange because I have never posted any such tweet, and the tweeter account itself is fake,” Saeed said in the video.

“I have not tweeted nor I have tried to provoke the students on the Kashmir cause, because Kashmiris themselves have expressed themselves.

“Everyone knows how Afzal Guru was executed. A big injustice was done to him,” he said.

“I have never spoken about it. But it was made into a big issue in India. The Indian government wanted to portray that this fake account as my own and the tweet as real,” Saeed said.

“I am surprised and want to know what India thinks about the issue of Kashmiri's freedom. India is trying to mislead the world. Kashmir is for Kashmiris.

“People of Kashmir have faced a lot of atrocities and discrimination because of the presence of the Indian security forces.

“We shouldn't we focus on this. Why can't Kashmiris speak about their own freedom.

“And to say that Hafiz Saeed has said this and that is very wrong.

“Even in the case of Mumbai attacks, they have falsely implicated me . Our court has said that it is a media propaganda.

“India runs its government through propaganda. Now it is even cheating its own people.

“So I want to tell Rajnath and others responsible to change this attitude, listen to Kashmiris, don't try to de-track the issue by labelling false allegations against me.

“This method is absolutely wrong, don't make fun of the Kashmir cause... and accept the reality,” Jama'at-ud-Da'wah chief said in the video.

CPI-M, Congress should drop 'India' from party names for supporting anti-nationals, says BJP

Interacting with media persons, Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president Dinesh Sharma also questioned the silence of the West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress over a section of JNU students holding a meet on Tuesday to mourn hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) co-founder Maqbool Bhat.

"When the whole country is outraged at the protesters who publicly gave anti-India slogans and supported a terrorist like Afzal Guru, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Indian National Congress, instead of condemning, have been rallying in their support," he said.

Mr Sharma strongly criticised CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechuri who on the day met union Home Minister Rajnath Singh demanding the release of JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar arrested on sedition charges.

"What can be more unfortunate than people are now advocating for those who deserve strong action for their anti-national stand.

"Both Congress and CPI-M who are supporting such anti-national elements, should drop India from their party names because they are pursuing anti-national politics. They are as guilty as the protesters," said the BJP leader.

Questioning the the Trinamool's silence over the issue, Mr Sharma said: "The silence itself is an indication of their support to such anti-India sentiments. The Trinamool is no different from the Congress or the CPI-M.

"The protesters deserve to be punished for their anti-national stand and parties cutting across political lines should condemn it but unfortunately many of them are indulging in politics," he alleged.

Pakistan President says don't observe Valentine's Day as it is against Islamic culture

"We should avoid Valentine Day as it has no connection with our culture," Hussain said while addressing a gathering of students - mostly girls - on the death anniversary of freedom movement leader Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar in Islamabad.

Hussain said that a blind following of western traditions will lead to a degradation of "our values", and has led to several problems including increase in attacks against women in a neighbouring country.

Hussain yesterday also said that Pakistan could achieve progress by adopting the philosophies of its great leaders.

Hussain's rhetoric against Valentine's Day came a day after the local elected council in Peshawar and Kohat district banned its celebration.

"There is no need to designate a special day where people give cards, chocolates and gifts to each other," district council chairman Maulana Niaz Mohammad said. "Valentine's Day has become a common and unnecessary part of our culture."

The celebration on February 14 has often been criticised by Islamists as an "insult" to Islam.

Police, however, said that the ban cannot be enforced as legally there is no bar on celebrating Valentine's Day.

Most people in Pakistan celebrate Valentine's day, usually observed by a limited number of people in major urban centres, at enclosed places due to fear of attacks by Islamists. In the past several such gatherings have been targeted and disrupted by activists of religious parties.

Baloch nationalists protest in front of White House

"At least 35,000 Baloch are missing. There is a grave violation of human rights on the people of Balochistan and all this is being perpetrated by the Pakistan Army and the ISI," said Mama Abdul Qadir Baloch in an interview to PTI yesterday in front of the White House.

Vice president of the Voice for Baloch Missing Person, Qadir Baloch who came from Pakistan to attend this peaceful protest in front of the White House had carried out a 3,000 km long march from Quetta to Islamabad in 2013 against human rights violations in the province.

The White House protest was organised by the Baloch National Movement (BNM) to condemn the cold-blooded murder of its secretary general, Dr Mannan Baloch allegedly by the Pakistani army in Baluchistan.

"We urge US President Barack Obama to ask the Pakistani Government to immediately stop human rights violations against the people of Balochistan. We also urge US to send NATO forces in Balochistan to save its people from the atrocities perpetrated by the Pakistan Army on us," he said.

Calling for a free and independent Balochistan that can guarantee peace and stability in the region plagued by religious extremism and terrorism perpetrated by the Pakistani army, the peaceful protestors alleged that the military is currently engaged in a bloody campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population.

"We are asking the US government to intervene and stop military aid to Pakistan as American weapons are used by them for genocide against the Baloch people," Waheed Baloch, former speaker of Balochistan Provincial Assembly said.

"Recently they killed three political leaders. There is a war going in in Balochistan. There are protests in the streets, in the mountains," he said.

Dr. Mannan Baloch was assassinated because of his unwavering struggle to end Pakistan's forceful occupation of Baloch lands, deep sea port of Gwadar, resources (natural gas, minerals, copper and gold mines) and brutal human rights violations of civilians, he alleged.

Senge Sering, president of Gilgit-Baltistan Institute, in his address supported the struggle for the independence of Balochistan.

He also condemned the brutal murder of the BNM leader Dr. Mannan Baloch. 

Former Afghan governor kidnapped in Islamabad

Pakistan is in the grip of a homegrown Taliban insurgency but the tightly-guarded capital has a very low crime rate in general and the F-7/2 sector where Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi was seized is a high security area that houses politicians, bureaucrats and expats.

Wahidi was going to a restaurant in the market with his grandson Friday evening when he was abducted by unidentified men, a police official, who requested anonymity, told AFP

The boy reported the kidnapping to the local police station and said Wahidi was in Islamabad to apply for a British visa, police said.

"We have registered a case against kidnapping of the former Afghan governor and the case is being investigated," Zia-ul-Qamar, a spokesman for the Islamabad police, told AFP.

India 'disappointed' as US okays sale of 8 F-16 jets to Pakistan

New Delhi expressed its disappointment over the US' decision of selling eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistaan and disagreed with a rationale that such arms' transfers will help combat terrorism.

The Ministry of External Affairs made government's displeasure clear and issued a statement: 

India's decision comes after, the Obama administration today notified the US Congress of its decision to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan worth nearly USD 700 million, notwithstanding American lawmakers' demand for stopping the proposed sale.

Despite mounting opposition from influential lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties, the US State Department notified the Congress that it has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Pakistan for F-16 Block 52 Aircraft, equipment, training, and logistics support.

'Under which law Pakistan can seek return of Kohinoor?'

Petitioner Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffrey told the Lahore High Court that Koh-i-Noor diamond was "Pakistan asset" as it is in "illegal possession" of Britain.

"The British government had refused to hand over the diamond to India. Now Pakistan should lay claim on it as it is first entitled to have it. It is the Pakistani government's duty to bring it back," he said.

During the hearing of the case, Lahore High Court Justice Khalid Mahmood Khan asked the petitioner to give reference of the law under which the Pakistani government could seek the return of the diamond from the British government.

The court is hearing the maintainability of the case.

It directed the federal and Punjab law officers to appear on next hearing on February 25 and give arguments about its maintainability.

Last December, the LHC Registrar office had objected to the maintainability of the petition, saying the court had no jurisdiction to hear this case against the British Queen.

However, on February 8, the LHC overruled the objection and admitted the petition for hearing. The British Queen, the British High Commission in Pakistan and the Pakistani government have been made respondents in the case.
 

Jaffery said the British had snatched the diamond from Daleep Singh, grandson of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and took to the UK.

"The diamond became part of the crown of incumbent Queen Elizabeth-II at the time of her crowing in 1953. Queen Elizabeth has no right on the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which weighs 105 carats and worth billions of rupees," he said, adding Koh-I-Noor diamond was cultural heritage of Punjab province and its citizens owned it.

Reportedly, in 1849, after the conquest of the Punjab by the British forces, the properties of the Sikh Empire were confiscated.

The Koh-i-Noor was transferred to the treasury of the British East India Company in Lahore. The properties of the Sikh Empire were taken as war compensations. Even one line of the Treaty of Lahore was dedicated to the fate of the Koh-i-Noor.

Terror scare at girls' college in Rawalpindi, building evacuated

According to The Dawn, shots were heard as police exchanged fire with car thieves, Regional Police Officer Fakhar Sultan said.

Army personnel, Elite Forces commandos, members of the Bomb Disposal Squad reached the school to secure the area and the building was cleared.

Parents rushed to the school to collect their children after the firing.

Schools in the area have been closed for the day and are on alert after the incident. 

Indo-Pak relations remain tense after Pathankot attack: James Clapper

"Relations between Pakistan and India remain tense despite the resumption of a bilateral dialogue in December," James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday.

"Following a terrorist attack in early January on Pathankot Air Force base in India, which New Delhi blames on a Pakistani- based group, India's engagement with Pakistan will probably hinge in 2016 on Islamabad's willingness to take action against those in Pakistan linked to the attack," Clapper said during his testimony.

State Department Spokesman John Kirby said he agreed with the assessment of Clapper.

"The Pakistanis have said themselves publicly that they're not going to discriminate amongst terror groups, and we know that this is a threat they face as well," he said.

"We want both sides of this to continue the dialogue that has started, understanding that it's still a tense situation, but we want them to continue the dialogue that they've started to try to get at what is a very common challenge to both countries," he said.

Seven security personnel were killed and several others were injured when six militants stormed the Pathankot base on January 2.

Kirby said it's important for everybody facing these kinds of threats to take the actions that they need to do to protect their own people and their borders, but also to eliminate this very transnational threat that terrorism is.

"The Pakistanis have taken additional steps in the recent past. Can they do more? Every nation fighting terrorism can obviously do more because it's still a very real threat out there in many parts of the world. But again, what we want is for India and Pakistan to continue to work together," Kirby said.

Responding to a question, he said that tension between India and Pakistan has an impact on Afghanistan. 

"The tension between India and Pakistan affect - well, obviously, both countries have interest in regional stability and security. And the degree to which Afghanistan is not stable - and we all recognise that Afghanistan is still a dangerous place - obviously, it affects the calculations of India and Pakistan with respect to their own national security concerns. And we recognise that," Kirby said.

"India has played a helpful role in Afghanistan in the past in terms of mostly a training capacity or a willingness to participate in that, and Pakistan in ways has played a useful role in terms of getting at the cross-border threat there in the border regions," he said.

"What we want with Afghanistan is the kind of normal bilateral relationship that we have with nations all over the world, that so far it's been very heavily dependent on the security component. And nobody is arguing that that doesn't still matter today," he said. 

Pakistan's former interior minister rubbishes David Headley's testimony

According to The Express Tribune, Rehman Malik accused India of trying to defame Pakistan by concocting confessions out of Headley.

Rehman said that they have the details about who paid tickets, who funded him and how he recruited non-state actors from Pakistan for the attacks.

In his revelation during the deposition yesterday, Headley said that Pakistan`s spy agency ISI provides financial, moral as well as military support to terror outfits like the LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen.

Headley said that he was asked by the ISI to recruit Indian army men to spy for them.

On the first day of the deposition, he revealed the sequence of events and planning behind the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Headley, one of the main conspirators in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, deposed as a witness in the case and admitted that he had come to the city with a false identity at the behest of his colleague and handler Sajid Mir, a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative.

Meanwhile, post a technical snag in video-conferencing, David Coleman Headley`s deposition has been adjourned till Thursday.  

Sexual abuse of young boys on the rise in Pakistan: watchdog

The number of young boys being sexually abused in Pakistan has increased this year, a new watchdog report said Wednesday, with more boys between the ages of six and 10 victims than girls.

In total the number of boys being abused increased by 4.3 percent in the first half of 2015 compared to the same period last year, according to the study from Sahil, a non-government organisation (NGO) working against child sex abuse.

The report said that 178 boys aged six to 10 were abused compared to 150 girls of the same ages.

"The reason for this is that more boys go out of home to play in the streets and are easily trapped," Mumtaz Gohar, a spokesman for Sahil, told AFP.

"Many families also prefer not to report offences against the girls because of defamation issues," he said.

The number of women involved in sexual assaults has increased alarmingly, with the report saying that 102 cases from January to June in 2015 involved "female abettors" -- five times as many as the same period in 2014.

The report showed a decline of 221 in overall abuse cases involving children of all ages, with roughly nine children a day being sexually abused over the first six months of 2015 in Pakistan. The figure for the first six months of 2015 was 1,565 compared with 1,786 for the same period last year.

Sex is a taboo subject in the deeply conservative Muslim-majority country. Activists working to fight child abuse have said the problem is widespread but difficult to quantify because victims are often unwilling to speak out.

Last year Sahil charted more than 3,500 registered cases in total, with a spokesman saying the true figure could be as high as 10,000.

Earlier this month Pakistan took a step towards punishing those guilty of abusing young girls with life imprisonment or even death after an influential parliamentary committee voted to amend current laws.

The amendment only appears to address the sexual abuse of girls aged under 14, not boys.

In August, a huge scandal emerged involving at least 280 children who lawyers said were filmed being sexually abused, with their parents blackmailed over the footage.

Video: Saeed Ajmal calls Harbhajan a ‘chucker’, blasts ICC for ‘pro-BCCI...

Saeed Ajmal accused veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh of chucking. Ajmal also blasted the ICC for its pro-BCCI attitude. 

In a shocking development, discarded Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal accused veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh of chucking. Ajmal also blasted the ICC for its pro-BCCI attitude. 

In an interview with a local TV channel on Monday, magician spinner Saeed Ajmal lashed at ICC for not scrutinizing Indian chuckers like Harbhajan Singh despite conflicted action.

Ajmal said ICC keeps a close eye at Pakistan bowlers and as soon as any Pakistani bowler performs, he gets ban from ICC.

The offie had told the channel: “Mein challenge kerta hoon keh woh 15 degrees ke andar nahin (I’m challenging that he (Bhajji) is not below 15 degress)’

“I’m highly disappointed over why PCB did not fight my case on medical basis, had they chose for it, it would have been rather different story,” reported the heNewsTribe.com. Ajmal also critised Pakistan’s policies and said it does not support its own bowlers the way it should.

Dawood Ibrahim hiding in Pakistan under direct patronage of ISI: Chhota Rajan

Indian police team questioned underworld don Chhota Rajan for the first time on Monday and officials believe that he could be deported to India in the next two-three days.

Rajan, who was arrested in this popular tourist town upon arrival from Australia on October 25, is expected to be produced before a court soon where the Indonesian police will submit details of the cases for which he is wanted in India.

Indian police team has been working with their Indonesian counterparts to take over Rajan's custody as early as possible.

"If the lawyer engaged by Rajan does not oppose his deportation to India, we will hand him over to the Indian police team which has come here. The entire process is likely to be completed in next two-three days," an official said.

However, if the lawyer opposes Rajan's deportation to India, the process may get longer, the official said.

Rajan has hired a lawyer, Fransico Prassar, who met him at the detention centre a few times.

The Indian team, comprising officers from CBI, Mumbai and Delhi police, arrived here yesterday and they came along with a detailed dossier on 55-year-old Rajan and his involvement in various crimes in India.

The team questioned Rajan in presence of Indonesian police at the detention centre where he has been lodged for the last ten days. First Secretary (consular) in the Indian Embassy in Jakarta, Sanjeev Kumar Agrawal, who met Rajan for nearly half an hour yesterday, was also present when the Indian team examined Rajan.

While being taken out of the detention centre, Rajan told reporters that his bete noire and India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim is currently hiding in Pakistan under the direct patronage of ISI. "ISI chhupa rahi hai (ISI is hiding him)," he said.

Mumbai Police has registered 75 cases against Rajan, including 20 of murder, four cases under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, one under Prevention of Terrorism Act and over 20 cases under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. Delhi Police has got six cases against him.

Chhota Rajan was arrested in Bali on the basis of a Red Corner Notice from Interpol and following a tip off by Australian authorities to the police in Indonesia.

Rajan was travelling with the identity of Mohan Kumar with passport number G9273860 when he was apprehended at the airport here after arriving on a Garuda Indonesia flight GA715.

Rajan, whose original name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, has been questioned by the Indonesian police several times in the last few days to confirm his identity and criminal acts in India.

Rajan, who is wanted in over 75 heinous crimes ranging from murder, extortion to smuggling and drug trafficking was questioned both in English as well as in Hindi through a translator.

Mumbai-born Rajan, once a close confidante-turned-rival of underworld ganglord Dawood Ibrahim, has said that he is not afraid of Dawood, the prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

In 2000, there was an attempt on Rajan's life when Dawood's men tracked him down to a hotel in Bangkok but he managed a dramatic escape.

In the absence of an extradition treaty, the Indian authorities have already provided documents to their Indonesian counterparts about his Indian identity to facilitate his deportation. "The team (comprising officers from CBI, Mumbai and Delhi police) reached Bali yesterday. It will take at least three days to complete the deportation procedure, after which latest by Thursday he should land in India," said a senior officer of Mumbai crime branch on condition of anonymity.

Rajan would probably be first taken to Delhi in connection with a fake passport case against him, another officer said.

Considering the threat to his life from underworld rivals, especially henchmen of fugitive gangsters Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel, he could be produced before the court only through video conference from his cell.

Crime branch's ACP Praful Bhosale, inspector Nandkumar Gopale and inspector Ajay Sawant, who have dealt with underworld crime extensively, would be among those who would be interrogating Rajan.

A top police officer said that the priority of the cases to be investigated against Rajan here would be decided as per the evidence gathered in each case.