Indian communist and Islamic leaders said yesterday they plan to greet US President George W. Bush with protests against US policy in Afghanistan and the Middle East when the leader arrives later this week.
Communist politicians and Muslim leaders are predicting tens of thousands of people will turn out to protest against Bush, who arrives today.
The communists, who are key allies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government, are planning a protest tomorrow at India's Parliament, a few kilometers from where Bush and the Indian prime minister will meet in New Delhi.
50,000 people
"Up to 50,000 people will take part in the march, and we have police permission to express our feelings," said Pushpender Grewal, secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
"We will protest against the US policies, especially the inhuman atrocities in Afghanistan and Iraq, a likely invasion of Iran and its continuing support of Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine," Grewal said.
On Friday, Bush will head for the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, a key center of India's booming information technology industry. Muslim groups there have called for a daylong strike to protest his visit.
In Hyderabad, where Muslims comprise nearly 40 percent of the city's 7 million people, Bush plans to visit an agriculture university and a business management school.
Business protest
"We are appealing to the people to keep their shops and businesses closed on the day of Bush's visit as a mark of protest," said Abdul Rahim Qureshi, a leader of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, an association of several Muslim groups that is trying to organize the strike.
"As Muslims, it is our duty," he said.
Some Mosques in Hyderabad have already unfurled banners that protest Bush's visit.
Communist groups and the Jamaat-e-Islami party, a hard-line Islamic group, also say they plan to hold a massive rally in the city on Friday.
VAGUE: The criteria of the amnesty remain unclear, but it would cover political violence from 1999 to today, and those convicted of murder or drug trafficking would not qualify Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the US-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodriguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency. Rodriguez also announced the shutdown
Civil society leaders and members of a left-wing coalition yesterday filed impeachment complaints against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, restarting a process sidelined by the Supreme Court last year. Both cases accuse Duterte of misusing public funds during her term as education secretary, while one revives allegations that she threatened to assassinate former ally Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The filings come on the same day that a committee in the House of Representatives was to begin hearings into impeachment complaints against Marcos, accused of corruption tied to a spiraling scandal over bogus flood control projects. Under the constitution, an impeachment by the
Exiled Tibetans began a unique global election yesterday for a government representing a homeland many have never seen, as part of a democratic exercise voters say carries great weight. From red-robed Buddhist monks in the snowy Himalayas, to political exiles in megacities across South Asia, to refugees in Australia, Europe and North America, voting takes place in 27 countries — but not China. “Elections ... show that the struggle for Tibet’s freedom and independence continues from generation to generation,” said candidate Gyaltsen Chokye, 33, who is based in the Indian hill-town of Dharamsala, headquarters of the government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). It
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
RSS