SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Triggering fresh controversy over ‘hijab’, a four-year-old nursery girl in Assam was asked to stop wearing traditional Islamic headscarf or face expulsion.

According to reports, the incident took place at a Catholic Mission-run Kristo Jyoti School, near Bokakhat in Assam’s Golaghat district, where the authorities refused to allow Muslim girl Fathima Bibi to wear ‘hijab’ along with school uniform.
Following the school’s action, the parents of the four-year-old girl have moved Gauhati High Court to allow their child to follow the tradition.
Fatima’s parents were served a 15-day notice from school authority asking them to remove the hijab or stop sending her to school.
The problem started more than a month back when on March 21 Fatima’s class teacher objected to her wearing the headscarf. The teacher also wrote a remark asking the parents to abide by the rules of school.
On March 25, girl’s parents wrote to school Principal Father Jose Varghese requesting him to relax the uniform rules for her.
The Principal on March 28 served a notice to them to remove the hijab within 15 days of time or not to send their child to school.
On April 8, Fatima’s mother filed a writ petition in the High Court to set aside the school’s decision.
Alee Ahmed, mother of the girl said that she had no other option but to seek justice in the court.
“Hijab is a part of the tradition. So she wears the scarf on head along with the complete uniform. I hope justice will be done to my daughter,” mother said.
Notably, the father of the girl hails from Kerala and is posted in Manipur while the mother is a local resident of Bokakhat.
However, the school authorities are adamant on their stand of expelling Fatima if she continues to wear the scarf. The school Principal said that he has nothing against the girl but her dress code violates the norms of school.
“Apart from Fatima, there are several Muslim girls as student. If we make any relaxation for her then we may have to allow other girls to wear the scarf,” said Father Jose Varghese.

-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:abna

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Hundreds of people have protested for the second day outside government buildings and residences of top politicians in India's capital, New Delhi, angry at the conduct of police dealing with the kidnapping and rape of a five-year-old girl.

About 100 protesters, many of whom were members of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, faced off with the police on Sunday as they gathered outside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence and near the house of Sonia Gandhi, leader of the ruling Congress Party.

Police briefly detained 50 of the protesters, when they tried to break down barricades on the road leading to Gandhi's house.

The protesters were furious over allegations that police had ignored complaints by the girl's parents that she was missing, and demanded better policing standards.

"Police and other officials that fail to do their jobs and instead engage in abusive behaviour should know that they will be punished,'' Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said.

The protesters also demanded that the Delhi police chief be removed from office.

"What is the commissioner of Delhi doing? We demand removal of the police commissioner," one protester told Al Jazeera's Sohail Rahman.

As people hit the streets against the latest case of rape, doctors reported on Sunday that the young victim's condition had improved.

DK Sharma, medical superintendent of the state-run hospital in New Delhi, said the girl was responding well to treatment and that she had stabilised.

Suspect arrested

The girl went missing on April 15 and was found two days later by neighbours who heard her crying in a locked room in the same building where she lived with her family.

She was alone when she was found, having been left for dead by the man following the brutal attack, police said.

On Saturday, a 24-year-old man was arrested in the eastern state of Bihar, about 1,000km from New Delhi, in connection with the incident.

After being flown to Delhi, he was in custody and was being interrogated, police said.

The incident came four months after the fatal gang rape of a woman on a New Delhi bus sparked outrage across India about the treatment of women in the country.

Sexual crimes against women and children are reported every day in Indian newspapers, and women often complain about their sense of insecurity when they leave their homes.

Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, has called for changes in attitudes toward women in India, where there has been a fierce debate since December's gang rape about the routine mistreatment of females.

"The gruesome assault on the little girl a few days back reminds us once again of the need to work collectively to root out this sort of depravity from our society,'' Singh said on Sunday at a meeting with civil servants.

A day earlier, Singh had urged Indian society "to look within and work to root out the evil of rape and other such crimes from our midst".

Since the death of the female rape victim last December, people have demanded harsher punishments for convicted rapists and a public sex offenders' register to name and shame them.

Indian law has since been amended to include the death penalty in cases of rape.

But activists said that merely passing strong laws is not enough, and that the government has to convey its intention to crack down on crimes against women to its officials and the police.

"Enacting strong laws are simply a first step, but it needs the government to focus urgently on implementation if it is serious about protecting children and other victims of sexual abuse,'' Human Rights Watch's Ganguly said.-www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)  Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Indian capital New Delhi to protest against the brutal torture and rape of a five-year-old girl, demanding punishment for policemen over their apathy in dealing with the case.

Protesters gathered in front of the police headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday shouting anti-government and anti-police slogans. 

They argued that the police did not help locate the girl, when she went missing from her home on April 15. 

A protester was detained for trying to enter the police headquarters. 

"The government makes laws just for the sake of making them, with no intention to stop crimes. None of the laws are implemented and we see rapes increasing day by the day," said a man protesting outside the police headquarters.

Protesters also staged demonstrations outside the residence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, demanding death sentence for the rapist. 

Police have arrested a man in connection with the rape. 

The 22-year-old man, identified as Manoj Kumar, was arrested from Muzaffarpur district in the eastern state of Bihar - located about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) east of New Delhi - early on Saturday morning, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. 

The assault on the little girl has evoked memories of the horrific gang rape by six men of a 23-year-old medical student on a moving bus on December 16, 2012, in New Delhi. She succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Singapore on December 29. 

The horrific nature of the crime shocked Indians, who thronged the streets, demanding protection for women and capital punishment for rape, which currently carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

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SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- India has reiterated that it will not halt its oil imports from Iran despite the US-engineered sanctions against the Islamic Republic’s oil sector, a report says.

Quoting senior Indian government officials, the Economic Times reported on Thursday that New Delhi will continue its energy ties with Tehran. 

Meanwhile, India’s state-run General Insurance Corp (GIC) has recently agreed to provide insurance cover for tankers carrying Iranian crude oil. 

India is among Asia’s major importers of energy, and relies on the Islamic Republic to satisfy a portion of its energy requirements. 

Indian refiners HPCL, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and Essar are the main clients of Iranian crude oil. 

At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union (EU) imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors. 

The sanctions, which prevent the EU member states from purchasing Iran's oil or extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude, came into effect on July 1, 2012. 

The illegal US-engineered sanctions were imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. 

Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –The death toll from a collapsed building in India's financial center Mumbai rose to 72 on Saturday, as an injured woman trapped for 36 hours was freed from the rubble of the illegal and half-constructed building.

Rescue workers using cranes and bulldozers continued to search through the wreck of twisted steel and concrete after the seven-storey building collapsed "like a pack of cards" on Thursday evening, officials and witnesses said.

A shortage of cheap homes in Asia's third-largest economy has led to a rise in illegal construction by developers who use substandard materials and shoddy methods in order to offer rock-bottom rents to low-paid workers.

"The building collapsed like a pack of cards within three to four seconds," said Ramlal, a resident. "It just tilted a bit and collapsed," he said. Residents said laborers paying rent of around $5 a day had lived in the building.

The building, which was in a forested area in the city of Thane, had been made using poor materials and without proper approvals, said Sandeep Malvi, a spokesman for licensing authority the Thane Municipal Corporation.

He said 72 people had been killed and 36 injured had been admitted into local hospitals. "There may still be more bodies inside," Malvi added. "The rescue is still going on."

As the sun rose on Saturday, around 100 workers from the national disaster relief agency continued to use jackhammers and other equipment to cut through the pile of metal and concrete.

The woman dragged from the building on Saturday was found after workers heard her voice and used camera equipment to pinpoint her location under the rubble. A 10-month old infant was pulled from the debris on Friday.

The Deputy Municipal Commissioner of the area has been suspended following the collapse, which the state chief minister said was due to the building being built illegally, local media reported.

Police said they were searching for the builders and would charge them with culpable homicide in connection with the disaster.

"Unauthorized constructions are a product of unavailability of affordable housing," said Lalit Kumar Jain, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India.

A sharp rise in property prices in densely populated Mumbai over the past five years has put housing out of reach for tens of thousands of lower earners, many of whom moved to the city in search of jobs, and who now sleep on the streets or in slums.

In 2012, India's urban housing shortage was estimated at nearly 19 million households, according to a report by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:Reuters

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –India's Supreme Court lifted on Tuesday a three-week order banning Italy's ambassador from leaving the country after Italy sent two marines back to India to face trial over the deaths of two Indian fishermen.

The court had earlier banned the ambassador, Daniele Mancini, from leaving after Italy announced it would not send the accused marines back after a home visit. But the Italian government changed its mind and sent the two back on March 22.

"It's good news," Diljeet Titus, a lawyer representing the Italian marines, said of the court's decision.

"The travel restriction on the ambassador has been vacated as the undertaking was complied with, Italy kept its word."

The accused, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, are charged with murder for shooting the two fishermen off the coast of the southern state of Kerala last year while serving as security guards on a cargo ship.

They say they fired warning shots at a fishing boat believing it to be a pirate vessel.

The case has caused outrage in Italy, which says the incident happened in international waters and the men should not be tried in India. Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi resigned over the decision to return the pair to India.

The marines are due to be tried in a special federal court in New Delhi, but the court has yet to be established.

"The government has sought time, saying they are taking steps to form this special court. But they have nothing to show for it," said Titus.

Rome's right wing mayor plans to turn off the lights of ancient landmarks the Colosseum and the Imperial Forum for the first time on Wednesday to "draw attention to the shameful case of the two marines".

Also on Wednesday, Italian neo-fascist group Casapound is due to protest in front of the seat of government in Rome, calling for Italy to close its embassy to India and to expel the Indian ambassador. The group also wants outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti to resign his position as Senator for life.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:Reuters

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – A senior Indian official says trade ties between Iran and India are “on the rise,” stressing that New Delhi will not halt oil imports from the Islamic Republic.

“Any kind of permanent halting of oil shipments from Iran is not feasible at this point of time,” the Indian daily The Hindu quoted a senior Commerce Ministry official as saying.

The official noted that any decision to stop Iranian crude will “jeopardize” the rising bilateral trade relations.

“The Iranians have shown interest in import of various business commodities including agricultural products and any adverse decision on the crude oil front will jeopardize that great opportunity,” the official said.

The comments came only days after India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily rejected the recent Western reports that that his country might halt imports of Iranian crude over the US-led sanctions against Tehran's energy sector.

An Indian oil official also recently announced that details of an insurance fund for Iranian oil shipments would be outlined in the near future, adding that India's national insurance companies, the Oil India Development Board as well as other major players in the nation’s oil industry will contribute to the insurance fund.

India is among Asia’s major importers of energy, and relies on the Islamic Republic to satisfy a portion of its energy requirements.

The United States, the Israeli regime and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) it is entitled to acquire and develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Taghribnews

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –

-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Sacbee

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Three unknown assailants have shot dead a leader belonging to one of India’s prominent regional parties at his farmhouse in the country's capital, New Delhi. He was 62.

Deepak Bharadwaj unsuccessfully contested the 2009 national elections on the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket, and was considered one of the richest candidates with declared assets worth more than 6bn rupees ($110.5m).

The attackers entered his farmhouse 'Nitish Kunj' located in Rajokri on the Delhi-Gurgaon border area and had a chat with Bharadwaj, before opening fire from their car at him around 9:15am local time on Tuesday.

"They (family) told me that somebody shot Deepak Bharadwaj in the morning. He has been taken to AIIMS. Deepak Bharadwaj was my close friend but I don't know if he had animosity with anybody," said a family friend of the deceased, Swami Anand Maharaj.

Senior police officers immediately rushed to the spot and he was taken to the state-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for treatment.

Neeraj Kumar, the Delhi police commissioner, has said that CCTV cameras installed at the farmhouse have captured footage of the car and the attackers, local TV station, NDTV, reported.

Bhardwaj was engaged in the businesses of real estate, hotels and education.

Last year, another business tycoon, Gurdeep Singh Chadha, was also killed at a farm house in Delhi after he entered into a heated argument with his brother and later people from both the sides fired at each other

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Two Italian marines have arrived back in India's capital, New Delhi, to face murder charges following a last-minute climbdown by their government, ending a bitter diplomatic standoff between the countries.

Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, accused of shooting two Indian fishermen, touched down in an Italian military plane in the evening on Friday after being flown from their homeland, Syed Akbaruddin, Indian foreign ministry spokesman, told AFP news agency.
Italy's government on Thursday reversed a March 11 decision not to send the marines back from a home visit after Rome secured a promise from New Delhi that the two would not face the death penalty if convicted, officials said.
The marines, part of a military security team protecting a tanker from piracy, are accused of shooting two fishermen off the coast of the southern Indian state of Kerala in February last year.

They say they fired warning shots at a fishing boat believing it to be a pirate vessel.

President Giorgio Napolitano paid tribute to the pair's "sense of responsibility" in agreeing to return.

India and Italy have been embroiled in an escalating row over the marines, who had been allowed home to vote in the
Italian elections in February on condition they returned to India by Friday.
The Indian government, which last week issued orders to immigration authorities to prevent Rome's ambassador to New Delhi from leaving the country, hailed Italy's U-turn as a victory for diplomacy.
The decision to return the marines has stirred anger in Italy and calls for Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi to resign.

Michele Emiliano, the mayor of Girone's hometown of Bari, said he had been comforting the marine's "despairing" family.

"A hypocritical government is trying to end its embarrassment by sending the sailors back to India after exhibiting them as 'free' during the election campaign," Emiliano wrote on Twitter.

Foreign Minister Terzi defended the move in an interview with la Repubblica daily on Friday, rejecting calls from centre-right politicians for him to quit.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:AL Jazeerea