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Sunday, August 30, 2020

PDMA issues alert about heavy rains in different parts of KP

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has issued an alert about heavy rains in different parts of the province from this evening till Tuesday.

A letter in this connection has been sent by PDMA to all the Deputy Commissioners of the province to take precautionary measures to avert any human and material loss.

Tourists have also been advised to avoid visiting hilly areas during this period.

People have been asked to contact PDMA on its helpline 1700 in case of any emergency.

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Xi says China to step up efforts to fight 'splittism' in Tibet

China must build an “impregnable fortress” to maintain stability in Tibet, protect national unity and educate the masses in the struggle against “splittism”, President Xi Jinping told senior leaders, state media said on Saturday.

China seized control over Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as a “peaceful liberation” that helped the remote Himalayan region throw off its “feudalist” past. But critics, led by exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, say Beijing’s rule amounts to “cultural genocide”.

At a senior Communist Party meeting on Tibet’s future governance, Xi lauded achievements made and praised frontline officials but said more efforts were needed to enrich, rejuvenate and strengthen unity in the region.

Political and ideological education needed to be strengthened in Tibet’s schools in order to “plant the seeds of loving China in the depths of the hearts of every youth”, Xi said in remarks published by state news agency Xinhua.

Pledging to build a “united, prosperous, civilised, harmonious and beautiful new, modern, socialist Tibet”, Xi said China needed to strengthen the role of the Communist Party in the territory and better integrate its ethnic groups.

Tibetan Buddhism also needed to adapt to socialism and to Chinese conditions, he added.

Advocacy group the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said Xi’s remarks showed Chinese rule still needed to be imposed with an “iron fist”.

In emailed comments, its president, Matteo Mecacci, said, “If Tibetans really benefited as much from Chinese leadership as Xi and other officials claim, then China wouldn’t have to fear separatism and wouldn’t need to subject Tibetans to political re-education.”

China’s policies towards Tibet have come under the spotlight again this year amid worsening ties with the United States.

In July, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would restrict visas for some Chinese officials involved in blocking diplomatic access to Tibet and engaging in “human rights abuses”, adding that Washington supported “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet.

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At least 40 injured as Indian forces open fire on Muharram procession in IoK

At least 40 people were wounded after Indian forces fired shotgun pellets and tear gas shells at a Muharram procession in occupied Kashmir, witnesses said.

Indian authorities had reimposed the ban on Thursday after clashes with mourners who wanted to stage traditional processions for during the holy month.

Jafar Ali, a witness, told AFP that the procession started in the Bemina area on the outskirts of the main city of Srinagar and that government forces were present in heavy numbers.

Ali and other people who witnessed the clashes said security forces fired pellets and tear gas shells to break up the gathering.

"The forces fired pellets at the procession that was mainly peaceful and included women," said another witness Iqbal Ahmad.

At least 40 people were injured, according to witnesses.

About 25 people were taken to a nearby clinic with pellet wounds, some with their faces and bodies covered in pellet marks, a doctor there told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We moved about a dozen people to other facilities for more advanced treatment," the doctor said.

A police official confirmed the incident, saying: "Some people had gathered and were trying to start a procession, they were dispersed." He did not give details of casualties.

Muharram processions to mourn Imam Hussain, the grandson of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) who was martyred in a battle about 1400 years ago at Karbala, are held around the world but have been regularly banned in occupied Kashmir since an uprising erupted in 1989.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region is largely divided between India and Pakistan, who both claim it in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.

Last year India took away the semi-autonomous status granted to its side of the territory. Tensions have risen since.

Muslims in the procession chanted pro-separatist and an anti-Indian slogans, other witnesses said.

Several arrests have been made this week of people shouting against Indian rule when processions have been attempted, a police official said. Some have been charged under anti-terrorism laws.

Dozens of mourners were detained in Srinagar on Friday after they tried to start Muharram processions.

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