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Safar 27 ,1435/December 30, 2013 # 53
We have an excellent selection of political and military
news from Citizens for Legitimate Government [CLG]. After
reading the breaking news,
please scroll down
to the end to this great selection.
Breaking News: Bangladesh in tumult
December 29: People from all over Bangladesh moved on Dhaka,
the capital, to protest the pro-India regime's plan to hold
elections after terrorizing Jamaate Islami and killing more
than 300 Islamic youth. The big impetus came from Khaleda
Zia, a Bangladeshi nationalist woman leader who supports
Jamaate Islami.
The regime successfully mobilized military and police to cut
off all transportation to Dhaka. So most people were
stranded.
However, within Dhaka itself, several thousand people
clashed with security forces in various parts of the city.
Khaleda Zia herself was not allowed to leave her home.
Several times the police opened fire killing several people
and injuring many others.
Hasina Wajed, the leader of the pro-India ruling party has
successfully mobilized the 10 million Hindu minority with
lurid propaganda tales of Jamaate Islami killing Hindus 40
years back.
Breaking News: Daily bombing of Aleppo by Assad's Alawite
Air Force: Retreat from Adra.
December 15 to December 30: Every day Syria's air force, led
by officers of the Alawite sect drop barrel bombs on the
seven major regions of Aleppo under control of Islamic
forces. Observers say these bombs are specially prepared to
kill civilians. BBC and other monitors of the conflict say
that these daily bombings have killed 517 people, of which
155 are children, 46 women, 46 Muslim fighters and the rest
civilian males. Assad bombs civilians in the hopes that the
mujahideen will retreat although the people he hit with
chemical weapons in the suburbs of Damascus are still
supporting the mujahideen.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Assad military gave up after ferocious
attempts to take back the industrial town of Adra. Hizbullah
joined the Alawites but the mujahideen repulsed them. So on
December 29, for once Assad agreed to let the civilian
population be evacuated instead of hitting them with
artillery fire as his generals usually do.
Also, the mujahideen are trying to capture Assad's military
air port in Deir al-Zour and have captured the village of
Jafar in an attemptb to outflank the airport.
[In Lebanon, a leader of Sunni unarmed political movement,
Mohamed Chattra, has been assassinated, most probably by
Hizbullsh. He had written to Iran to get Hizbullah to
withdraw from Syria.]
[On the "Israel"-Lebanon border, some mujahideen elements
have been firing at the Israelis. Israel replied with heavy
artillery. Hizbullah has not fought Israel for many years.
During the two Israeli invasions of Gaza, Hizbullsah didn't
fire a shot.]
Breaking News: Iraq's US Installed regime, supported by
Iran, nearing collapse.
December 30: Large areas of western Iraq and north eastern
Iraq are now in the hands of al-Qaida, reports indicate.
America is rushing the most sophisticated weaponry to the
Baghdad regime to stop further advances by the Islamics..
For details, please scroll down to the news selection by
CLG.
Breaking News: Islamic woman hits Russian Transportation hub.
December 30: In the city of Volgagrad [once known as
Stalingrad], an Islamiic woman carried out a martyrdom
operation. Her body was too shattered to be found but her
head has been found. At least 14 Russians were killed and
35 wounded. She put a stop to the transportation hub for
several hours.
The people of Chechnya and Ingushetia and neighboring areas
have been resisting Russia and trying to set up an Islamic
state. Russia has destroyed entire cities, including mosques
and medressas [just as it did in Afghanistan. Both Islamic
men and women are involved in the Jihad against Russia,
reports indicate.
The Struggle in Turkey: Pseudo-religion being used against
resurgent Islam.
Gulen movement trying to destabilize the Islamic Erdogan
movement.
by Prof. Suleyman Kurter [Wisconsin]
The report below describes fairly well what is going on in
the clash between Gulen and Erdogan. The article makes a
good point that we have to look at the global level of the
emergence of conflicting Turkish politics toward Western
powers particularly US and Israel. Especially Turkey's stand
on Gaza, Iran, Syria and Egypt made America and Israel very
uncomfortable. In recent years the Western powers used to
see a subservient Turkey for their causes. However Turkey's
move toward independent decision making or safe guarding its
interest has caused alarm in US, Israel and Western powers.
They are afraid to see the emergence of Panislamist ideas
and the reemergence of Ottoman political thought. Thus these
powers have activated their allies in Turkey to create chaos
and marginalize the present government and its leader,
Erdogan. Unfortunately, a few Muslim journalists and even
one or two Muslim groups see this chaos in a very simplistic
way, They think this fight is between Erdogan and Gulen.
[
Scroll way down please.
]
Our America: Durham, North Carolina
Support Group for New Muslims: Creative Effort by African
American Sister.
December 25: Where should Muslims go on Christmas? Darul
Arqam has the answer. This is a support group for new
Muslims ['reverts']. It has been initiated by Sis. Amatullah
Abdel Karim, an African American sister totally devoted to
the cause of Islam.
The most impressive aspect of the December 25, four hour
long, program was the recitation of the Qur'an by young
people. They were all young but some were incredibly young,
4 to 6 years old and one could never think they could recite
the Qur'an correctly. One young "sister" recited all of sura
Hashr.
A delicious halal lunch was catered from a major mosque in
Raleigh.
Sis. Amah Shabazz presented the outline of an Islamic school
which would use cognitive task analysis and bring Islam into
the class room via all the modern technology which young
people are already familiar with.
Dr. Kaukab Siddique was the keynote speaker: Some of his
main points were:
-
America needs Islam as never before. The value system
here has collapsed and neither the churches nor the secular
system can stop the rolling catastrophe.
-
Many immigrant Muslims were invited to this program but
did not turn up.
-
While people in America are embracing Islam, the
immigrant Muslims are rapidly assimiliating into the pagan
culture of America.
-
Christianity has been defeated by Santa Claus and
widespread commercialism which has entered every home.
-
The key to the victory of Islam is MARRIAGE across race
and class lines.
-
Marriage is no longer viable in Amerivca. It will work
only if it's basis is fear of Allah & the Sunnah of
Muhammsd, pbuh.
-
Islam does not permit Muslims, men and women, to marry
non-Muslims. Our Arab brothers are mistaken in thinking that
sura Maidah permits them to marry non-Muslim women.
-
Slavery and the subjugation of women exist in newly
morphed shapes and forms among both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Islam should target these fallacious mental contructs bring
about Sunnah-oriented thinking.
[Readers are encouraged to help the project manager for this
'revert program' Sis. Amatullah. If you would like like to
help, send checks and money orders to:
Darul Arqam c/o 804 Angier Ave., 212A, Durham, NC 27701
Our America
Two Islamic Centers: One extremely poor: the Other a Million
Dollar Wonder
On December 27, 2013 Dr. Kaukab Siddiqque spoke at two
Islamic centers, one in Augusta, Georgia, [downtown], the
other in upscale Martinez, Augusta's twin town.
The first was Dr. Siddique's Juma Khutba at the Muslim
Community Center in downtown Augusta, very clean, very
Islamic but obviously extremely poor and run down. Dr.
Siddique was personally welcomed by the imam of the masjid
and his khutba drew appreciation from the mostly African
American audience,
The second event was Dr. Siddique's presentation at the
Islamic Community Center in Martinez, Georgia, which for its
architectural beauty and size can compete with any of the
million dollar mosques in America.
Both the Khutba and the presentation have been videotaped
and will soon be available to the general public.
New Trend urges Muslims to support the downtown Islamic
center. The address is:
Muslim Community Center, 1821 Slaton street, Augusta,
Georgia 30904-4066
Phone: 706-481-8007
Gulen Movement is based in USA & Supported by pro-Israel
Hawks.
It aims to minimize and undercut Islamic resurgence led by
Erdogan
From World Bulletin
The clash of allies: The AK Party vs Gulen Movement II-
Levent Basturk Seeing and reading the clash between the AK
Party and the Gulen movement as a reflection of a fracture
in the ruling grand coalition will be very misleading.
Levent Basturk-World Bulletin
Within the last few years, many commentators who wrote on
the conflict between the AK Party and the Gulen movement
focused mostly on the domestic factors because they mostly
looked at the issue as a power struggle between the two.
They even went further and claimed that an attempt to seek
the causes of this conflict within the context of external
factors is a conspiracy theory. This approach fails in
several accounts.
The Gulen movement does not describe itself as a political
movement or party. Besides, it claims that it is a
methodological obligation for them to stay out of politics.
On the other side, it is very clear that it is actually one
of the formations deeply rooted in politics. Recently, the
Gulenists try to explain this dilemma by emphasizing that
their movement is a civil society formation working as a
pressure group over the government; aimed to influence the
decision making process. Although this reasoning makes sense
at a first glance, considering that, the movement uses its
followers in state security, intelligence and judicial
bureaucracy to shape rather than affect policies, it becomes
doubtful that their civil society argument holds any water.
In-fact, the Gulen movement is recently functioning as a
formidable political force in Turkey without being organized
in any form of political legal organization. It functions in
a way unlike any formal political organization functioning
in a democratic political system. Being a civil society
organization or association merely functions as a cover to
hide the real sources of political power the movement has,
which is its extensions in various governmental branches
that bypass formal and legal decision-making hierarchy of
the state when the movement's vital interests are at stake.
In reality, it is a deeply rooted political formation which
is not subject to any set of rules in the political system.
At the same time, it is also a political formation that does
not play in accordance with any set of rules by the system.
Furthermore, the way the movement used its political power
in the past by using its extensions in the state bureaucracy
(arbitrary police-judiciary abuse of power against some
suspects in various coup trials) to settle some of its
political accounts with those whom it considered as
contenders despite the government objections falsifies any
claim that a democratic movement or social force objected a
government tending to be more authoritarian every single
day.
HOW TO DISCUSS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT'S STANCE
After the first part of my article on the clash between the
AK Party and Gulen movement was published last week, the
famous graft operation in Turkey launched by the pro-Gulen
police- judicial apparatus opened a new debate about the
tension between two sides. This debate, again, missed the
points which we emphasized above.
Any analysis on the Gulen movement should not ignore the
fact that we are dealing with a global movement whose leader
and headquarters are in the US despite its Turkish origins.
As we mentioned last week, being centered in the US,
especially within the post-9/11 context, is not coincidental
and not just related to Gulen's escape from possible
persecution in Turkey in 1998. There is a considerable
convergence of the interests between the US and the movement
within the context of "war on global terror" that made
"dirty wars" routine and the "world a battlefield" as
investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill has showed us.
Moreover, Gulen's understanding of Islam and approach to
matters were considered acceptable during post-9/11 by
various segments in the US. A RAND Cooperation report, Civil
Democratic Islam, written by Cheryl Benard, wife of Zalmay
Khalilzad, a member of George W. Bush's foreign policy team
during the post-9/11 era, categorizes Gulen as a modernist
scholar whose works must be encouraged. According to this
report, modernism is what worked for the West; so the West
needs to advance their vision of Islam over the
traditionalists. As of 2005, Daniel Pipes, a hardcore
hawkish pro-Israel conservative who supported the so-called
"war on terror" campaign of the Bush Administration, praised
the "moderate" Gulen movement, with which, he claimed, he
had good relations.
Although some hawkish (neo-)conservatives such as Pipes have
changes their positions vis-à-vis the Gulen movement, the
positive image of the movement still prevails in the US.
Nevertheless, the movement had become convinced since 2010
that being seen as associated with the Erdogan government
would hurt its image.
Despite the fact that the Gulen movement is proud to be so,
being a global movement creates a sense of insecurity for
the movement's leadership. Within the current geopolitical
atmosphere of world politics, operating in more than 150
countries without facing with strong resistance as a Muslim
formation requires a maximum level of conformity with the
global status quo. The movement is being tolerated or even
promoted to have worldwide visibility due to its "moderate"
appearance. This moderate stance is not just related to its
"Islamic" message. It is also about the position it takes on
world affairs.
THE GULENISTS VIEW THE WORLD WITH MAINSTREAM AMERICAN
OUTLOOK
A close review of the movement's media will immediately
reveal that a reader can hardly see any mention of the word
"occupation" in any news or op-ed it published about Israel.
If done at all, any criticism of Israel in the movement's
media is handled in a very carefully with mild language,
which usually accompanies a harsher criticism of the
Palestinian side. If anyone who is not familiar with the
Palestinian Question reads the movement's media, s/he will
get the impression that Palestinians are the main obstacle
in front of solving the decades old conflict in the region.
This is not to say that the Gulen movement is a pro-Israel
Muslim formation. However, it is very clear that it does not
want to antagonize Israel and does not want to be perceived
as being anti- Israel. Moreover, it believes that not
antagonizing Israel strengthens its moderate image in the
eyes of the US and Europe, which is the key to movement's
survival and expansion on a global scale.
It is this stance that caused the first serious rift between
the Gulen movement and the AK Party as confirmed by Huseyin
Gulerce, a veteran journalist who writes for the movement's
daily Zaman. Mr. Gulerce said "It was the Mavi Marmara
crisis [in 2010] that created the first cracks," in their
relationship" and added, "Mr. Gulen's attitude was very
clear, as he always suggested that Turkey should not be
adventurous in its foreign policy and stay oriented to the
West, and that it should resolve its foreign policy issues
through dialogue", reported by The New York Times.
EVENTS LED TO "SHIFT OF AXIS DEBATE" AND THE GULENIST
POSITION
Gulen's desire to see Turkey oriented toward the West made
him critical of Erdogan's foreign policy on other matters
too. In 2010, the US and Turkey had also a disagreement on
the issue of Iran's nuclear energy program. The US tended
toward implementing a new set of sanctions to curb Iran's
nuclear ambitions. On the other side, Turkey supported
Iran's program to develop nuclear technology for peaceful
purposes. In 2010, Turkey and Brazil together agreed to a
fuel- swap deal with Iran in May 2010 in a failed attempt to
avoid international sanctions against Iran. Rejection of
this deal by the US and other permanent members of the
Security Council led Turkey and Brazil vote against United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 that imposed
further sanctions on Iran.
Turkey's no vote against sanctions at UN SC together with
the Mavi Marmara incidence on 31 May 2010 angered most of
the political establishment in Washington, DC. Israel held a
military operation against the Mavi Marmara and other five
ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza with the purpose of
breaking the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip.
During the operation, nine Turkish citizens, one of whom was
also a US citizen, lost their lives. This incidence led to a
crisis in Turkish-Israeli relations. These two developments
in May 2010 heated up the debate about the foreign policy
orientations of Turkey. Many politicians and pundits in the
US accused Turkey with the "shift of axis", a change in
policy orientation from the West toward a pan- Islamist
foreign policy, under the "Islamist" oriented AK Party rule.
At the time the AK Party government in general and Prime
Minister Recep T. Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu in particular were intensely criticized, even
attacked by various segments in the US capital. The US
media, the Israeli lobby, both parties in Congress, and even
the foreign policy establishment were part of the critical
position taken towards the Erdogan government. These
criticisms did not remain limited with the government's
handling of the Mavi Marmara incident. The entirety of
Turkish foreign policy was under scrutiny. The critics
accused Erdogan and Davutoglu with deviating from
traditional pro-Western foreign policy in favor of an
Islamist one with the aim of becoming a regional power.
At this critical conjuncture, Gulen had an interview with
the Wall Street Journal that shows his discontent with the
way the Turkish government handled the incidence. In this
interview, Gulen said the flotilla, which included the Mavi
Marmara ship owned by IHH, a Turkish humanitarian charity
organization, had to ask the permission of the Israeli
authorities despite the fact that
asking this permission was completely antithetical to the
notion of breaking an illegal blockade enforced by an
occupying army at the expense of depriving an entire
population from access to basic needs.
POST-ARAB SPRING CRITICAL STANCE OF THE GULENISTS VIS-À-VIS
AK PARTY
The wave of Arab uprisings started in Tunisia and spread to
the entire MENA region by the end of 2010 raised hopes and
aspirations for the entire region. It also helped Turkey by
changing the course of the debate from the "axis of shift"
to the "Turkish model". Those who argued that Turkey could
be a model for the "New Middle East", where authoritarian
regimes were becoming anathema, as a country that has
created a synthesis between Islam and secular liberal
democracy.
The so-called "Arab Spring" brought to forefront Islamist
formations that were willing to compete for political power
in accordance with democratic rules. Their affinity to the
AK Party, a political entity with roots in Islamist movement
and ruling secular Western oriented Turkey, made the AK
Party a center of focus again. In the first two years of
"Arab Spring", the AK Party's role, position, and policy
toward new developments were usually viewed positively in
the West despite occasional ongoing criticisms caused by
allegedly controversial steps taken by the government in
some occasions.
In the third year of "Arab Spring", the AK Party's regional
and overall foreign policy became a focal point of criticism
again. The rising star of the region in 2011 began to be
seen as the lonely wolf of 2013. Three factors primarily
played a role in this change of course from optimism to
severe critical position toward the AK Party rule: the
Syrian stalemate, the military coup in Egypt that toppled
President Morsi's government, and the new Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani's opening toward the West.
The Gulenists' view of the AK Party's foreign policy during
the course of the Arab Spring developed along the lines of
Western attitudes toward the Erdogan government. In 2011 and
2012, they maintained a conditional optimism about the
government's regional policy during these crucial years. At
certain conjunctures, they remained critical of certain
steps taken by the government.
When the Libyan uprising started, the Gulenists joined the
critics of the government because of the government's
unwillingness to join the interventionist camp against
Gaddafi. During the early months of the Syrian uprising, the
Gulenists tried to present the crisis from a sectarian
perspective. They not only tried to urge the government to
immediately cut the ties with the Assad regime, but also
promoted a confrontational policy vis-à-vis Iran, the most
important ally of Syria in the region.
The Gulenists were also concerned with the ties the
government was developing with the new political actors in
the Arap Spring countries. They found the government's
policy of building strong relations with Islamist political
parties objectionable. In the meantime, they constantly
raised the issue of the necessity to improve political
relations with Israel. After President Morsi
was toppled by a coup in Egypt in July 2013, the Gulenists
tended to criticize Erdogan because of his supposedly
pan-Islamist foreign policy during the course of the Arab
Spring.
IS THE GULENIST OBJECTION TO FIDAN A DOMESTIC MATTER?
Many tend to see the targeting of Turkish intelligence chief
Hakan Fidan by the Gulenists as a domestic issue between the
Gulenists and Erdogan government. The commentators usually
present the case as the difference of opinion between the
Gulenists and the government regarding how to solve the
Kurdish problem. What disturbs the Gulenists mostly is that
the US is critical of Turkey's overall approach to the
Kurdish problem, which also includes Turkey's improved
relations with Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq as an
essential element. The increased interdependence between
Turkey and KRG is not independent of AK Party's search for a
solution to the decades-old conflict. On the other side, the
US is worried that growing economic interdependence between
Turkey and KRG is weakening the ties between the autonomous
region and central government in Iraq by itching fault lines
between the two. It is not totally unreasonable to think
that completely disappointed with the central government in
Iraq, the KRG may choose to break off with Baghdad in favor
of a federation between Turkey and KRG whose economies are
mutually interdependent.
CONCLUSION
Seeing and reading the clash between the AK Party and the
Gulen movement as a reflection of a fracture in the ruling
grand coalition will be very misleading. The Gulen movement
is not just a religious movement originated in Turkey. It is
a global movement that that defines its needs and interests
at the global scale. Treating and comparing it with an
ordinary domestic group with a popular following is totally
misleading. It acts locally in Turkey after it does its
calculations globally. Treating it as an interest and
pressure group trying to affect the decision making process
like any other civil society organization cannot read the
real picture in Turkey. The Movement in fact had a great
influence over the government and filled many government
cadres with its followers. The clash is not because an
authoritarian government denied any contributions
recommended by a civil society formation that has deep
interest in the democratization of political system. What
the Gulen movement tries to do goes beyond a struggle to
provide its input over the policies. Rather, in reality, it
tries to force on the government its own policies determined
in accordance with its global interests.
Kashmir
Peace with India Impossible without Freedom for People of
Kashmir:
Syed Munawar Hasan talks to Kashmiri Delegation.
by Anwar Niazi
LAHORE, Dec. 28: Ameer, Jamaat e Islami, Pakistan, Syed
Munawar Hasan, has impressed upon Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif to convince India for the solution of the Kashmir
issue which was imperative for a lasting peace in the region
and for cordial relations between the two neighbours.
Talking to a delegation of Kashmiris led by Ghulam Muhammad
Safi that called on him at Mansoora on Saturday, he said
that talks with India could not be successful without
solving the Kashmir issue. The Prime Minister should make it
clear to New Delhi that peace talk would remain meaningless
unless the issues of Kashmir and the river water were solved
justly.
The JI Ameer said that every Pakistani child considered
India an eternal enemy and this national outlook could not
be changed. As such, the rulers in Islamabad should refrain
from accepting Hindus' slavery.
Syed Munawar Hasan said that India had not accepted Pakistan
from heart but the Pakistani rulers were crazy to declaring
India as the Most Favourite Nation. India's secret agencies
were involved in subversion and terrorism in Balochistan to
destabilize this country. He said that the rulers might
forget the India's role in the East Pakistan debacle but the
nation could not forget that. India was now out to repeat
the same story in Balochistan, he added.
The JI Ameer said that at the recent DGMO's meting with
India, Islamabad should have lodged strong protest over the
construction of boundary wall by the other side, and warned
of serious consequences and higher tension if the project
was not dropped. He said if India succeeded in completing
the wall project because of the the rulers cowardice, the
liberation of Kashmir would become difficult.
Syed Munawar Hasan said that Mian Brothers were keen to lift
visa restrictions with India He said that at the time when a
JI leader from Bangladesh was executed for his loyalty to
Pakistan, the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was
witnessing a Kabaddi match in an Indian town.
The JI Ameer was sure that the desire for friendship with
India was only one sided as India
attached little importance to this country. Indian rulers'
statements regarding Pakistan were most humiliating as they
were still talking of the Mumbai attacks and were trying
hard to have Pakistan declared as a terrorist state.
The JI, he said, was not averse to normal relations or talks
with India but this would be on equal footing. He pointed
out that whereas India wants talks of trade and cultural
exchange, and not of Kashmir or river water issue. He said
that the Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had declared
Kashmir as the life line of Pakistan. Therefore, the PML(N)
government should give due weight to the Quaid words and
give top priority to the Kashmir issue. He said the whole
world was aware of Indian forces' atrocities in Kashmir but
the US patronage of India and Israel was the main hurdle in
the solution of the Kashmir and Palestine issues.
Human Rights in Kashmir
Indian Army's Occupation Cover-up vs Documentation of
Atrocities by Monitors
With thanks to Khurram Pervez & Habib Yousufzai [Canada]
On the eve of the 10 December 2013 Human Rights Day, Lt.
General Chachra
ordered that there be "zero human rights violations" and
claimed that the
Northern Command of Indian army has received 1,524
allegations of human
rights violations during the past 20 years and out of which
42 cases from
Jammu and Kashmir involving 124 army personnel were found
true following
investigation into each of them by an "independent and
autonomous body".
This Indian army position is an attempt to obfuscate the
reality of the
Indian States human rights record in Jammu and Kashmir. Over
the last 23
years, there have been thousands of cases of enforced
disappearances,
extra-judicial executions, rapes, torture and other
violations.
Additionally, over the last 23 years, only a fraction of
cases against the
armed forces have been recorded in the form of First
Information Reports.
Against this background, 1524 allegations are miniscule and
not even
remotely close to the actual figure of allegations against
the armed
forces. It appears the Indian State is aware of this as it
constantly
contradicts itself: the former Chief of the Army Staff
General N.C. Vij on
21 May 2004 stated that two thousand complaints of human
rights violations
were received during the last 14 years and that "Most of
them were found
incorrect. 35 armed forces personnel were punished which
included eight
officers. Some of them were dismissed from service and later
on jailed."
But, in a contradictory letter to the National Human Rights
Commission
[NHRC] dated 24 May 2004, he stated that 131 army personnel
of various
ranks were punished for human rights violations.
More recently, on 6 May 2012, army sources revealed to the
media that 1532
allegations were received, out of which 995 were from Jammu
and Kashmir,
and 961 were found false and 59 personnel from Jammu and
Kashmir were
punished. Therefore, between 6 May 2012 and 9 December 2013,
the total
number of allegations in Northern Command inexplicably comes
down by 8, but
the number of personnel punished in Jammu and Kashmir goes
up to 124 from
59 in just one year. The lies of the Indian army obviously
have not been
consistent as in 1st November 2007 the GOC 15 Corps, A. S.
Shekon mentioned
to the media that 85 army personnel have been punished
between 1990 and
2007.
In the year 2000, the then National Conference Minister, Ali
Mohammad Sagar
claimed that in his party's rule 210 army personnel were
convicted. It is
surely in contradiction to what army has been claiming and
therefore it can
assumed that such politicians are promoting lies when it
comes to army's
culpability and misleading their own people.
It is clear that the Indian army only carries out
court-martials when
pushed to do so by public pressure that leads to police
investigations.
Therefore, presumably, it is the investigations of the
Indian State run
police that have so consistently been disregarded by the
Indian army i.e.
the Indian army agrees with only 3% of the police
investigations.
There is no transparency. RTI applications for information
relating to the
court-martial processes are routinely ignored and/or
dismissed. In fact,
even the present army statement is not accompanied by any
details: no names
of victims, detailed allegations or record of court-martial
proceedings. No
information that could allow the public to critically
analyze the human
rights record of the Indian army. JKCCS has in its
possession, and has
already made public, the only information provided by the
Indian army on
court-martials between 1990-2011 in Jammu and Kashmir: two
lists dated 28
March 2012 and 18 June 2012 pertaining only to the Rashtriya
Rifles, and a
separate communication dated 22 June 2012 relating to one
Rashtriya Rifles
court-martial. A total of 29 court-martials are provided in
the first list,
and 53 in the second. Accounting for overlaps between the
lists, and adding
the case in the third communication, the total number of
court-martials is:
58*.*
*Based on information provided in the RTI, except in three
cases, there is
no way to discern whether these court-martial relate to
violations against
civilians or other army personnel. But based on other
available information
it appears only a total of 5 cases in these lists relate to
civilians. *Only
9 Officers appear to be involved in all these
court-martials. Further, what
is clear is that of these 58 cases, 20 appear to be quite
clearly related
to more minor crimes i.e. *not* murder or sexual assault
including rape. Of
the remaining 38 cases, appropriate conviction/punishment
*appears* [as
there is no record to analyze] to have been provided in only
21 cases. Of
particular note are two cases of rape, one against Captain
Ravinder Singh
Tewatia [for the rape of mother and daughter in February
2000], and the
other against Major Rehman Hussain [for the rape of mother
and daughter in
November 2004]. Captain Tewatia was convicted by the
court-martial and
sentenced to imprisonment for seven years. Major Hussain was
dismissed from
service as he was reportedly only convicted for outraging
the modesty of
the victims. Both alleged perpetrators challenged their
decisions in the
High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and received verdicts in
their favor. While
Captain Tewatia's case is still pending further legal
challenge, Major
Hussain has reportedly returned to service. Therefore, the
information
provided by the Indian army would require further
verification to ascertain
whether the court-martial verdicts were subsequently
overturned.
On 6 December 2012, IPTK/APDP released the report titled
*alleged
Perpetrators* that analyses cases of human rights violations
in Jammu and
Kashmir. The criminal role of 235 army personnel, including
96 from the
Rashtriya Rifles is detailed in this report. *No substantive
response has
been received from the Indian army to date.*
*The human rights record of the Indian army stands for zero
tolerance for
any principles of justice. The fact that in 23 years the
Indian State
[Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence] has not
granted sanction
for prosecution in a civilian court under AFSPA sends a
clear message: the
State forces will commit crimes, deny sanction for civilian
prosecution,
carry out their own court-martials in exceptional cases, and
ensure zero
transparency or accountability. Therefore, the recent
statement of the
Indian army must be understood to be nothing but a part of
the 2011 army
doctrine - WHAM [Winning Hearts and Minds] - an attempt to
mislead the
people of the true role and intentions of the Indian State,
as the Indian
State is institutionally responsible for the crimes
perpetrated on the
people of Jammu and Kashmir.*
Important News compiled by Citizens for Legitimate
Government [CLG]
[New Trend checked the level of reporting here and it seems
to be lof high quality.]
Mission not accomplished: U.S. Quietly Rushing Dozens of
Hellfire Missiles and Surveillance Drones to Iraq
26 Dec 2013 The United States is quietly rushing dozens of
Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones to Iraq
to help government forces combat an explosion of violence by
a Qaeda[CIAduh]-backed insurgency that is gaining territory
in both western Iraq and neighboring Syria. In addition, 10
ScanEagle reconnaissance drones are expected to be delivered
to Iraq by March. The Obama administration has given three
sensor-laden Aerostat balloons to the Iraqi government,
provided three additional reconnaissance helicopters to the
Iraqi military and is planning to send 48 Raven
reconnaissance drones before the end of 2014. And the United
States is planning to deliver next fall the first of the
F-16 fighters Iraq has bought.
US sends Hellfire missiles to Iraq
26 Dec 2013 The U.S. has
sent Hellfire air-to-ground missiles to the Iraq's air
forces, which is using them in an ongoing campaign against
the country's branch of al-Qaida, officials in Washington
and Baghdad said Thursday. Two intelligence officers and a
military officer said that 75 Hellfire air-to-ground
missiles arrived on Dec. 19 and more will be shipped in the
future. They said the missiles are being used now by four
Iraqi King Air propeller planes during a large-scale
military operation in the western desert near the borders
with Syria. Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State
Department, confirmed the missile shipment and also said
that the United States was planning on sending ScanEagle
drones.
US embassy in Kabul hit by rocket attacks
25 Dec 2013 A pair
of rockets have hit the US embassy in the Afghan capital,
Kabul, sending hundreds of US diplomats and aid workers into
bunkers, Press TV reports. According to the US embassy, the
incident took place early on Wednesday, leaving no
casualties. This is while Afghan officials have said that
another two rockets have struck the neighboring districts to
the embassy and three police officers were injured, when one
of the rockets, which had not gone off on impact, detonated.
[Gee, what a shame! Maybe it's time for the U.S. to leave
Afghanistan and let the CIA worry about protecting its own
opi-m and gas routes.]
U.N. experts urge U.S., Yemen to explain erroneous drone
strikes
26 Dec 2013 United Nations human rights experts told the
United States and Yemen on Thursday to say whether they were
complicit in drone attacks that 'mistakenly' killed
civilians in wedding processions this month. The independent
experts questioned the legitimacy of drone attacks under
international law and said the governments should reveal
what targeting procedures were used. Local security
officials said on December 12 that 15 people on their way to
a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their
party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy. [Negative.
USociopaths *love* to bomb wedding parties. The US has
bombed countless wedding parties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It's done on purpose -- just look at the mathematical
probability. --LRP]
U.S. Marines poised to enter South Sudan [for oil]
23 Dec 2013 About 150 U.S. Marines are poised to enter turbulent
South Sudan to help evacuate Americans and provide security
for the U.S. Embassy, two U.S. military officials said
Monday. The troops are moving from Spain to Africa, probably
to the nation of Djibouti, the officials told CNN on Monday.
[See: Ah, then came the dawn. If there's oil for US
predators to steal for its corpora-terrorist overlords, can
the 'Americans are under attack' false
flags/invasion/occupation be far behind? South Sudan rebels
hold key oil-producing city 22 Dec 2013 South Sudan's
central government lost control of the capital of a key
oil-producing state Sunday, the military said, as renegade
forces loyal to a former deputy president seized more
territory in fighting that has raised fears of
[CIA-engendered] full-blown civil war in the world's newest
country. Bentiu, the capital of oil-rich Unity state, is now
controlled by a military commander loyal to former Vice
President Riek Machar, said Col. Philip Aguer, the South
Sudanese military spokesman. The armed rebels were said to
be in control days earlier of some of South Sudan's oil
fields, which have historically been a target for rebel
movements, 'endangering' the country's economic
lifeblood.]
Here is why US Marines are being deployed to South Sudan: S.
Sudan oil output down by 45,000 bpd due to clashes -minister
24 Dec 2013 South Sudan oil production has fallen by 45,000
barrels per day to 200,000 bpd after oil fields in Unity
state were shut down due to fighting, the petroleum ministry
told Reuters on Tuesday. "We have temporarily shut down oil
production in Unity state which was producing 45,000 barrels
of oil per day," Petroleum Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau told
Reuters by telephone.
Edward Snowden says NSA spying worse than Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'
25 Dec 2013 Edward Snowden says truth is
scarier than fiction when it comes to Big Brother. The
30-year-old who revealed the NSA's massive spying programs
claims the widespread surveillance is far beyond the ominous
thought police of author George Orwell's dystopian novel
"1984." "The types of collection in the book -- microphones
and video cameras, TVs that watch us -- are nothing compared
to what we have available today," Snowden said during "The
Alternative Christmas Message," broadcast by Britain's
Channel 4.
Bin Laden son-in-law pleads not guilty to new terrorism
charges
23 Dec 2013 The son-in-law of Osama bin Laden entered not
guilty pleas Monday to two additional terrorism charges
filed against him last week, and a judge granted the
prosecution's request that jurors chosen for the trial
remain anonymous, even while they go through the selection
process. The trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is due to begin
Feb. 3 and would mark the first time a terrorism suspect
charged with crimes related to the [Bush-Cheney] Sept. 11,
2001, attacks has been tried in a U.S. civilian court.
Egypt arrests dozens under new anti-terror law --
Terrorism charges will also apply to anyone who finances or promotes
the group "verbally and in writing". Egypt increased
pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday, detaining at
least 38 of its supporters on suspicion of belonging to a
terrorist organisation the day after it was declared one by
the government, security officials said. General Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief who led the overthrow of
Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July, said the country
would be "steadfast" in the face of terrorism, after a small
bomb went off in Cairo, wounding five people. Publication of
the Brotherhood's newspaper, Freedom and Justice, was halted
in response to the decision.
Egypt declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group
25 Dec 2013 Egypt's military-backed interim government has
declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group,
criminalising all its activities, its financing and even
membership to the group from which the country's ousted
president hails. The announcement on Wednesday is a dramatic
escalation of the fight between the government and the
Brotherhood, which has waged near-daily protests since the 3
July popularly backed military coup that toppled President
Mohamed Morsi. An Egyptian court had banned the group in
September .
2013-12-30 Mon 22:32:19 cst
NewTrendMag.org