Thousands of supporters of Maoist rebels carried communist flags and shouted revolutionary slogans as they poured into this southern Indian village yesterday to hear a powerful underground leader in his first public appearance since going into hiding more than 20 years ago.
An emissary of Akkiraju Haragopal, alias Ramakrishna, said the leader of the People's War rebel group was to appear at the rally in Guthikonda Bilam village in Andhra Pradesh state ahead of Friday's peace talks with the government, which lifted a ban on the communist guerrilla group when it was elected in June.
Haragopal was expected to tell supporters why People's War -- which advocates armed struggle -- has agreed to seek an end to the two-decade rebellion in Andhra Pradesh that has killed more than 6,000 people.
Haragopal was to be accompanied by other underground rebels and supporters on a 4.5km march to Bilam, said Vara Vara Rao, a rebel emissary. More than 200,000 people were expected to attend the rally, he said.
Many women wore red saris and men wore red scarves as they marched in thousands into Guthikonda Bilam, carrying red flags and banners with the communist hammer and sickle insignia.
The assembled marchers shouted, "Long live revolution," "Down with repression" and "Land to the landless."
The village is about 250km southeast of the state capital, Hyderabad, where the peace talks are to be held on Friday in the first direct negotiations between state officials and leaders of People's War.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number