NUTTER T PARTY FOR Q

Critics say Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exaggerated her Capitol riot story. Here's what she said.

Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY
Fri., February 5, 2021, 

WASHINGTON — After Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told an at-times emotional story about fearing for her life the day of the Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot on the Capitol, conservatives were quick to accuse her of exaggerating and politicizing her account.

The New York Democrat told CBS News in an interview that the backlash is one reason she waited to share her experience in the first place.

"So many survivors fear being publicly doubted. But the fact of the matter is that the account is accurate," she said.

Ocasio-Cortez in an Instagram Live video on Monday described her experience that day as traumatic and disclosed she is a sexual assault survivor. She likened the rhetoric of those who want people to move on from the Jan. 6 riot "without accountability" to the tactics of abusers.

Freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who this week was stripped of her House committee assignments for her support of dangerous conspiracies and racist remarks, accused Ocasio-Cortez of having "faked her outrage with another hoax."

Here's a look at the criticisms and how they compare with what Ocasio-Cortez said:

What AOC said in her Capitol riot story

On Monday, Ocasio-Cortez detailed an encounter with a Capitol Police officer whom she initially feared was a rioter.

Near the time the mob was clashing with security outside the U.S. Capitol, she said, someone began banging on the doors of her office. Fearing that rioters had entered the building where her office is, she hid inside a bathroom within her inner office.

Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said she heard a man yelling, " 'Where is she?' And I just thought to myself, 'They got inside.'"

More: Democratic lawmakers join Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in sharing Capitol riot experiences

She said she saw a man wearing a black beanie through the door hinge and, as he continued to yell for her, "I thought I was going to die."

After emerging from her hiding spot, Ocasio-Cortez and her legislative director realized the man was actually a Capitol Police officer. He didn't identify himself as such and "was looking at me with a tremendous amount of anger and hostility," she said.

Told to leave the building but not given a specific destination, Ocasio-Cortez said she and her legislative director were searching for where to go and could hear rioters just outside.

She and her legislative director ended up barricading themselves in Rep. Katie Porter's office, where staff pushed furniture up against the doors. In case they needed to run outside, she and Porter rummaged through staffers' things to find workout clothes to wear to better blend into the crowd in case they needed to go outside.

She said she remained in Porter's office for several hours until the Capitol was secured.

#AOCLied and other things her critics are saying

Conservatives on social media have cast doubt on Ocasio-Cortez's account, saying she was not in the Capitol Building itself during the attack and that her office was too far away for her to have been scared for her life.

Social media posts with the hashtag #AOCLied and some Republican lawmakers said she was exaggerating and using the story to politicize the Capitol attack.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who was sworn in to Congress last month, said on Twitter that her office is near Ocasio-Cortez's and that rioters were not in the halls of their offices.

However, Ocasio-Cortez never said rioters were in the halls, only that she feared they might enter and that she initially feared the police officer she interacted with that day was a rioter.

How trauma works: Ocasio-Cortez is explaining something about trauma. Experts say we should listen.

In her account of the dramatic encounter with the officer, she described him as a man in a black beanie and did not say he was an officer until the end of the encounter. However, some early reports and social media posts that circulated before she got to that part of the story described the man as an insurrectionist.

Porter, whose office Ocasio-Cortez hid in after leaving her own, said Ocasio-Cortez was not exaggerating her fear.

"She came to my office building. I saw her. She asked if she could come into my office. I am here to tell you and everybody, she was terrified," Porter said on CNN.
Where was Ocasio-Cortez during the riot?

Ocasio-Cortez was clear in her Instagram post that she was not in the main Capitol Building, but rather was in the Cannon House Office Building, part of the Capitol complex connected to the Capitol Building by tunnels.

In her video, she described the uncertainty from that day, with members of Congress not receiving clear communication on safety measures or updates about the breach.

"As the Capitol complex was stormed and people were being killed, none of us knew in the moment what areas were compromised," Ocasio-Cortez later tweeted, pointing out that Mace had also said she barricaded herself inside her office out of fear.

After the officer told her to leave Cannon and head to another building, Ocasio-Cortez said she and her legislative director spent some time figuring out where they were supposed to go, eventually winding up in Porter's office.

About the lockdown and evacuation

Rioters breached the Capitol Building and occupied parts of it for several hours on Jan. 6, prompting the lockdown of the entire Capitol complex and evacuation of multiple buildings.

Rioters stormed in from multiple sides of the 1.5 million-square-foot complex through just a few of its 658 windows and 850 doorways minutes after the order to evacuate. Rioters crowded halls inside the Capitol Building and climbed over chairs. Some made it inside the Senate chambers, while others sat inside lawmakers' offices. A man wielding zip-tie handcuffs made it to the Senate floor.

Capitol riots: How police failures let a violent insurrection into the Capitol

Some of Ocasio-Cortez's critics say she was not in danger in the building where her office is located, but Ocasio-Cortez pointed out on Twitter that the attack was not only centralized in the Capitol dome and that there was reason for alarm throughout the Capitol complex.

"People were trying to rush and infiltrate our office buildings - that’s why we had to get evacuated in the first place," she tweeted.



Pipe bombs were also discovered at the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national committees, located within a few blocks of the Capitol. However, it is not clear whether they were placed as part of riots.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How #AOCLied compares to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Capitol riot story

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Tlaib and Rep. Bush share traumatic stories from Capitol riots

SUNDAY SERMON; DUH OH
Why Joe Biden's faith-based 'equity' agenda is getting pushback from religious conservatives

Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY
Fri., February 5, 2021

WASHINGTON – As President Joe Biden tells it, the nuns who taught the future president based their religious instruction on the Gospel of Matthew: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

That tenet was echoed during his first days in office, when Biden signed orders to ensure fair treatment for marginalized groups on housing and other issues.

“We’re all God’s children,” Biden said. “We should treat each other as we would like to be treated ourselves.”

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden meets with members of the community at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha, Wis., Thursday.

Another of his earliest actions strengthened anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people. On Thursday, Biden was expected to sign a memorandum to protect the rights of LGBTQ people worldwide, including providing protections to gay and lesbian refugees and asylum seekers.

But what to Biden is an “advancing equity” agenda grounded in his deep Catholic faith appears to some Christian conservatives as attacks on their own intensely held beliefs that will unravel the “religious freedom” protections championed by the Trump administration. Those protections treated religious beliefs as paramount, even if they conflicted with another person’s rights – to an abortion, to marry a person of the same sex, or to be transgender.

“It absolutely is a direct conflict with Trump’s approach,” said history professor John Fea, author of “Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump.”
Stark contrast to Trump White House

Biden, only the second Catholic president, has brought to the White House a different approach to faith, both personally and through policy.

Unlike Trump, Biden regularly attends church. His Catholicism has played as large a role in his life as his outsized family Bible did at his inauguration. Biden wears his son’s rosary beads, made the sign of the cross when paying his respects to fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick Tuesday, and quotes Bible passages.

“The contrast couldn’t be starker,” said John Carr, co-director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. “We’re going from one of the least overtly religious presidents in modern times to one of the most overtly religious presidents in recent history.”

President-elect Joe Biden walks from St. Joseph on the Brandywine, a Roman Catholic Church, after attending Mass in Wilmington, Del.

The difference is already clear in policy.

Trump was a hero to the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of nuns running homes for the elderly, which challenged the federal requirement that insurance plans cover birth control. At Trump’s renominating convention, a nun from the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary questioned Biden’s religion and called Trump the “most pro-life president.”

Biden is praised by Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention about caring for all of God’s creations. She’s thrilled by Biden’s efforts to expand health care coverage, address racism and reverse Trump’s anti-immigration actions.

“One of the ways that he's living out his faith is by centering the issues of equity at the heart of his administration, which I find super-exciting,” she said. “It’s never happened before.”

Joe Biden carried the family Bible for his inauguration at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 20.

Advancing the 'common good'

Biden has not yet announced a faith-based adviser or created a faith outreach office. But he has declared that “advancing equity has to be everyone’s job.”

Biden’s focus on “the common good” is a central concept of the centuries-old Catholic social tradition, Massimo Faggioli wrote in the new book “Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States.”

In remarks to the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, Biden said his faith provides hope and solace, clarity and purpose.

“It shows the way forward, as one nation in a common purpose, to respect one another, to care for one another, to leave no one behind,” he said.

National Prayer Breakfast: Biden urges a turn to faith at event notable for absence of Trump

But Biden's emphasis on social justice issues over social policy flashpoints like abortion mirrors an ongoing struggle in the Catholic Church between Pope Francis, with his pastoral approach, and the church’s more conservative wing. (A photo of Biden with Francis was among the personal photos arrayed behind Biden when, sitting at his desk in the Oval Office, he took steps last week to expand health insurance access and to allow federally funded family planning groups to provide or refer patients for abortion services.)

“We are deeply committed to making sure everyone has access to care – including reproductive health care – regardless of income, race, zip code, health insurance status, or immigration status,” Biden said in a joint statement with Vice President Kamala Harris last month recognizing the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that affirmed the right to an abortion.

Far from creating a more equitable society, Christian conservatives say, Biden’s actions are reverse discrimination – particularly his first-day move to ensure workplace and other protections for people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“With a stroke of a pen, President Joe Biden has turned 50-year-old civil rights legislation on its head, hollowing out protections for people of faith,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement.

Trump's strongest supporters

White evangelical Protestants were Trump’s strongest supporters, according to the Pew Research Center. That’s despite Trump having been one of the least religious to ever run for the presidency.

But Trump promised on the 2016 campaign trail that the “first priority of my administration will be to preserve and protect our religious liberty.” Religious freedom became a signature issue of both his domestic and foreign policy.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden bows his head in prayer as he visits Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Del., on June 1, 2020.

Recent cultural and demographic changes have made evangelicals feel not only that the idea of America as a Christian nation is under siege but that their own liberty is being threatened, said Fea, who teaches history at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

“Trump provided the kind of fighter, the strong man, to protect their interests,” he said.

The feeling of both loss and victimization is reflected in Pew Research Center surveys. In a 2019 poll, a majority of adults who identify with or lean toward the GOP said that religion is losing influence in American life and that this is a “bad thing.” A 2020 survey suggests that Republicans who have experienced some form of harassment online are more likely than Democrats to say they believe their religion was a reason.

“We live in a time when the freedom of religion is under assault,” then-Vice President Mike Pence told Liberty University graduates in 2019. During the Trump administration, Pence’s strong faith-based views on abortion and homosexuality made him a target of Democratic criticism, including from those seeking the party's 2020 presidential nomination. Biden had to backtrack after being lambasted by progressives and LGBTQ activists for calling Pence a decent guy.

"There is nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights, and that includes the Vice President," Biden tweeted.

Then-candidate Joe Biden bows his head in prayer at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha, Wis.

Biden’s own positions on gay marriage and abortion evolved over the years. After voting to block federal recognition of same-sex marriages 16 years earlier, he backed legalizing gay marriage in 2012 – jumping out ahead of President Barack Obama in his announcement.

Biden has become a strong supporter of Roe v. Wade and, in 2019, reversed his support for a longstanding provision that bans federal funding for most abortions.

Rabbi Hara Person, head of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, said she’s encouraged that Biden is not imposing his faith-based opposition to abortion on others.

“Religious liberty means not only freedom to practice our faith as we see fit, but it’s also freedom from having the religious views of others imposed on us,” she said. “That was something that was really missing these last four years.”

Carr, of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, said he backed Biden, in spite of Biden’s “going along with the extremism of the Democratic Party on abortion.”

“I think character matters, competence matters and treating people with respect matters,” Carr said. “Lifting up the poor and vulnerable matters, and Trump failed those tests for me.”

But Carr is waiting to see what Biden will prioritize.

“Is it going to be overcoming COVID, bringing us together, caring for creation? Or is it going to be sort of a culture war?” he asked. “I think what Biden campaigned on, and who he is, is pursuing justice in unity – not a culture war agenda.”

Carr, who in a former role with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops helped develop their documents on political responsibilities of Catholics, recently organized a discussion of how Biden’s Catholicism affects his presidency and the role its playing in the divide within the church.

The split was highlighted when Pope Francis’ congratulatory message to Biden on Inauguration Day emphasized “respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable, and those who have no voice.”

Issuing his own statement, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops warned that Biden “has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender."

"Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences," wrote Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez.

Biden’s presidency could contribute to “the difficult realignment of American Catholicism with Pope Francis’s vision – a process resisted by `culture war’ bishops since the time of Francis’s election, but also interrupted by Trump,” Faggioli wrote in his book on Biden and Catholicism. “The mere possibility of such a realignment will being a lot of attention to this particular Catholic moment.”

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden attends a Sunday 

service at Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, S.C., on July 7, 2019.

More broadly, there’s a stark divide along religious lines on whether people see the United States as having an essential culture and values that immigrants take on or whether it’s a nation made up of many cultures and values that change as new people arrive, according to Daniel Cox, director of the Survey Center on American Life.

White Christians – including white evangelical Protestants and white mainline Catholics – believe the U.S. has a central culture, surveys show. The majority of everyone else believe culture and values adjust, Cox said.

“That’s a fundamentally different conception of the country and where it ought to be headed,” Cox said.

Biden will have to take that into account as he tries to weave together the disparate groups that make up his coalition and fulfill a central campaign promise – one that’s also rooted in his faith – of bringing the country together.

“I think,” Cox said, “that’s really going to be challenge.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Biden's Catholic faith is shaping his social equity agenda

Kulturkampf

Trump’s controversial diversity training order is dead – or is it? Colleges are still feeling its effects.

Chris Quintana, USA TODAY

Sat., February 6, 2021, 

An overturned executive order from President Trump focused on banning some forms of diversity training is still sparking debate on college campuses.

Many universities scrambled to comply with the controversial order last year, which would have prevented the federal government and its contractors from offering diversity training that Trump had called divisive. Biden has since overturned the order, but it had already tapped into a live vein of distrust among right-leaning voters who fear colleges are not teaching their students, but rather indoctrinating them.

Look no further than the University of Iowa and its college of dentistry. Back in October, the college emailed everyone in the department condemning the order. But one student disagreed with the university's criticism – and did so by replying all to the email.

"By condemning executive order 13950, does the [College of Dentistry] support using federal funds to promote trainings that include race/sex stereotyping and/or race/sex scapegoating," student Michael Brase wrote.

What followed was a messy debate full of denials and accusations of racism that unfollowed one email at a time.

An excerpt of the email sent by administrators in the college of dentistry at the University of Iowa to everyone in the department. The email sent off a flurry of discussion in the college over race and diversity training.More

An excerpt of the response sent by Michael Brase to the University of Iowa's college of Dentistry tied to President Trump's executive order on diversity training. The email set off a flurry of discussion around race and diversity training.More

The result?

The conservative student recently testified in front of Iowa lawmakers. And the Republicans in the committee praised his willingness to stand up to brain-washing while bashing the university. At the same time, other students, especially those of color, in the program are more vexed than ever. They recently led a protest that, among other things, is pushing the department to require more diversity training. (They also want to revise the email policies so it's harder to reply all.)

"We are protesting for a culture change," said Megha Puranam, one of the student protesters, "and to hold the University of Iowa and College of Dentistry accountable for the diversity values that they claim to champion."

This debate is not new. A Pew Research Center survey in 2019 found that nearly 60% of right or right-leaning voters thought colleges have a "negative effect" on the country. And a 2018 survey showed nearly 80% of right-leaning voters said professors bringing their, "political and social views into the classroom," was a prime factor in what was wrong with college.

Those in higher education, though, fear Trump’s order and antagonism toward colleges more broadly may serve as a guidepost for state or local lawmakers looking to influence their local universities. And students at these institutions fear the attack on diversity training may translate to more overt racism.

“Simply because the federal government has changed positions doesn’t mean state governments are going to follow suit,” said Peter Lake, a law professor at Stetson University that studies higher education law. “The executive order was more than just an executive order. It was a rallying cry.”

And it’s not just in Iowa. In Georgia, a state Republican lawmaker asked the University system of Georgia to catalog which of its professors were teaching courses about white privilege. That lawmaker, Rep. Emory Dunahoo, said his questions came from his constituents. Professors though are already worried about what they see as overreach from the state government.

Trump's repeated attempts to mold campus politics

This is not the first time, however, Trump’s actions would attempt to influence free speech in the American higher education system. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had the Department of Justice regularly get involved in free speech disputes on college campuses.

Trump also signed an executive order in 2019 that sought to “promote free and open debate on college and university campuses.” He threatened to withhold billions in research funding for those that failed to comply, but little was said about it beyond its unveiling. And the order wasn’t clear in how it extended beyond the first amendment.

The Trump administration's focus on race also manifested in college admissions. The Department of Justice had sued Yale, alleging the university of discrimination against Asian and white applicants. That case was dismissed this week though as part of the Biden's administration.

But the executive order on diversity training was more pointed. It would have restricted training that, “inculcates in its employees any form of race or sex stereotyping or any form of race or sex scapegoating,” and it applied to the federal government and its contractors or grantees. Universities weren’t directly mentioned, but they do rely on such forms of federal funding and many tried to comply with the order.

“It's more oriented towards viewpoints and content of speech and ideas,” Lake said. “To be that specific is fairly unprecedented.”

The Trump order homed in on critical race theory, or the idea that racism is interwoven into American society and gives some groups of people advantages over others. Supporters of the executive order will say they don’t have an issue with diversity broadly, but they’re against critical race theory.

The order caused many universities to scramble in attempting to comply with the order. John A. Logan College in Illinois even canceled a talk by a Hispanic author in an effort to comply. The University of Iowa was one of the institutions that responded quickly to the order, and suspended its diversity training briefly.

President Joe Biden: Here are all the executive orders Biden has signed so far
What happened in Iowa?

"We encourage people to think and reflect on our history, culture, science, and other matters," read the email signed by members of the college's faculty. "The Executive order undermines fundamental university values and practices."

Brase, a second-year dental student, recalled reading that message and feeling frustrated, he said, that administrators had lent their name and university position to condemning Trump's executive order.

Brase told USA TODAY he is not against diversity training, but that he specifically has an issue with critical race theory. As for responding to what was essentially a listserv, Brase said he wanted his words heard by all given the college's message had gone out to everyone.

Michael Brase, a student at the University of Iowa's college of dentistry, recently lodged a complaint against the university. He claims the institution impugned his free speech rights after he responded to a mass email condemning President Trump's now defunct order on diversity training.

Among other points, Brase wrote in his response that he wanted to know if by condemning the executive order, did the college support using federal money to promote scapegoating?

More replies followed. One faculty member, Steven Kelly, wrote he was frustrated that the college appeared to be blaming all of America's problems on, "white males or the police." And another, Nancy Slach, wrote she was a "conservative Christian," and that she rejected the idea that America is an, "irredeemably racist and sexist country," while saying she could not support Black Lives Matter.

One person even pleaded for the reply-alls to stop, which initially ended the discussion.

Brase said eventually the college in November summoned him to a disciplinary hearing in connection to the emails for "unprofessional" behavior tied to using a "public platform after you were offered other means to continue the conversation." Among the potential outcomes, administrators said Brase might face probation, a recommendation that he be dismissed, or that no action at all would be taken.

It was then that Brase elevated the issue and contacted his Republican lawmakers. Days later, the college had canceled the disciplinary hearing. Its dean, David Johnsen, wrote in a message to Brase they had been wrong in how they handled the issue and that everyone's voice deserved to be heard.

As for Brase? He has a wider audience than ever. He recently spoke in front of an oversight committee where Republican lawmakers lauded his efforts.

"The actual context of that executive order isn't what is still in play here," Brase said. "This whole situation has highlighted what happens when you disagree with official statements the administration has put out."

Many of Brase's peers, though, also feel like he still doesn't understand the issues. And rather than feeling welcomed at the college, they say they feel more excluded than ever. To that end, a group of dentistry students recently held a protest pushing the college for a change in its culture.

Medical school applications surge: COVID-19 inspires Black and Latino students to become doctors

Puranam had even replied to Brase's original email.

"Michael, it seems like you missed the point of the seminar or maybe you have yet to attend it," Puranam wrote. "I am excited for you to take time to understand the core values of [Diversity, equity and inclusion] training while acknowledging your own biases, (the idea that DEI training is to turn a group of people into scapegoats.)"

AJ Foley, a dentistry student, said that as a Black man it was especially difficult to see his professors condemning the Black Lives Matter movement.

What's more, he said he had a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that one student would takeover an entire email thread to make a point rather than going to a professor or administrators directly.

Foley said he is one of only four students in his class who are Black, and that he had been asking himself, "Is this place really a place for me?"

The University of Iowa, for its part, said that improving the climate on campus requires a "community-wide effort," and a university spokeswoman mentioned its diversity, equity and inclusion plan as an example of its efforts.

"The University of Iowa is committed to fostering an equitable and inclusive environment for everyone in the university community, as well as one where ideas and perspectives can be freely expressed and discussed," the statement read.

University of Iowa dental students, from left, AJ Foley, Megha Puranam, Jasmine Butler, and Shannon Oslad, hold signs and chant during a protest organized by Action UIowa Task Force to, "Put DEI in DDS," Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, outside the College of Dentistry on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City, Iowa.

Just asking questions? Or controlling the classroom?

Meanwhile in Georgia, a Republican lawmaker had a simple request framed around themes that would have been home in Trump's executive order.

Specifically, that lawmaker, Rep. Emory Dunahoo, had written to the University System of Georgia requesting to know if any faculty were, "teaching students who identify as white, male, heterosexual, or Christian are intrinsically privileged and oppressive, which is defined as 'malicious or unjust' and 'wrong.'"

Dunahoo, had told The Gainesville Times in January he sent his request to the college based on concerns from his constituents.

Professors in the Georgia higher education system, though, saw Dunahoo's request as an overreach by the government into their classrooms. Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric at the University of North Georgia, said the questions do echo the themes in Trump's executive order.

And he is fearful that Dunahoo's comments may led to professors being singled out. He added someone can disagree with the critical race theory ideas that inform diversity trainings but to be, "labeled un-American because of what one teaches is the key to the frustration and fear of a lot of faculty."

He said he hopes the university administration will explain why professors need to teach about concepts including racism or white privilege in an academic setting. And Boedy added, government oversight is necessary, but, "when it comes to curriculum and the freedom to pursue research and profess certain values as an expert in a field – none of that should mean one has to be a target."

Some states have proposed legislation to ban such teaching. In Arkansas, a Republican lawmaker Mark Lowery introduced a bill that would cut funding to institutions that, "isolate, students based on race, gender, political affiliation, social classes, or other distinctions within programs of instruction." The bill's sponsor told The Arkansas Democrat, he was specifically against, "critical race theory."

Students of color at Iowa say the whole incident shows how they're treated differently. Foley believes he would have been disciplined if he had sent, "insensitive and unprofessional comments" to the entire college.

"That was the most frustrating part about it to me," he said. "I couldn't even put it into words."

Biden should insist that the 'lawmakers' make the law

David Schoenbrod, Opinion contributor
Sat., February 6, 2021

At a gala last month celebrating its 50th anniversary and its membership of three million, the Natural Resources Defense Council listed some of its major environmental protection accomplishments. The first listed was pushing Washington to ban lead additives to gasoline. As the staff attorney who headed this campaign, I felt proud. Yet, I also felt sad because our courtroom victories sped the ban far less than Congress had delayed it by faking responsibility. The resulting deaths and brain damage illustrate why President Biden should insist Congress force itself to vote on major regulations.

When drafting the Clean Air Act in 1970, Congress knew that cars starting with the 1975 models must not use leaded gasoline because it would ruin the equipment needed to comply with limits on other pollutants. The tough choice was whether to cut the lead in the gas burnt by pre-1975 cars, 100 million of which would still be on the road in 1975. In opposition, gasoline refiners and lead additive makers argued that cuts would increase motorists’ costs and were unnecessary to protect health. Instead of deciding, Congress required the Environment Protection Agency to “protect health” by 1976. That way, the legislators got credit for protecting health but shifted responsibility to the EPA for any costs or the failure to protect health.

History of Congress ducking on responsibility

The agency recognized the health harm but hesitated to act, as I testified in a hearing in 1974 before a junior senator named Joe Biden. He urged me to condemn the leaders of EPA. I refused, believing that President Nixon and Congress members had privately used their power over the agency to prevent it from protecting health. I asked Senator Biden to investigate. He claimed to lack authority but promised to ask other senators to do so. They didn’t and not surprisingly: legislators didn’t want to undercut the credit they got for protecting health. We now know that the White House and legislators of both parties pressured the agency to leave the lead in.

Our courtroom victories did prompt the EPA under Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter to modestly cut the lead per gallon in the gas used by the old cars — but it did not act decisively until the mid-1980s. By then, the large refiners had changed sides. They urged the Reagan administration to ban leaded gasoline because, with few pre-1975 cars still on the road, selling both leaded and unleaded gas had become unprofitable.

President Joe Biden on Feb. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

If Congress could not have ducked responsibility in 1970, it would have cut the lead in the gas used by the pre-1975 cars significantly, and lead emissions would have dropped much faster. This I show in an open letter to President Biden. Based on EPA health data, the delay in getting the lead out resulted in about as many American deaths as in the Vietnam War, and left some hundred thousand children so permanently brain-damaged their IQs dropped below 70.

Michael Mann: Why Biden's actions are good news from front lines of the climate change war

Congress often ducks the hard choices, which is why the rules on immigration, healthcare, the environment, and much more change radically when a president of a different party gets elected. So, we suffer from an erratic law. Moreover, to mask their failure to make hard choices, legislators write detailed statutes designed to maximize their credit and minimize their blame rather than benefit their constituents.
Voters want Congress to be involved in approving regulations

A recent poll shows that 82% of voters want Congress to vote on the regulations agencies write. Thus, many lawmakers in Congress say they want to do so. Yet, as Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the House Rules Committee stated at a recent hearing, “I have a lot of colleagues on both sides [of the aisle] that like to rail against the administrative state, but they certainly wouldn't want to have to vote on all those rules and regulations, because they are high risk votes.”

To serve the public that elected him, President Biden should, as my letter urges, insist that Congress enact a statute that forces votes on major regulations and the president to sign off on them personally. Justice Breyer has shown how Congress could create a fast-track legislative process to promptly force its members to vote on agency actions despite gridlock and filibusters. The statute could set a future date to take effect to show that its purpose is to empower voters to hold elected officials accountable rather than disempower a particular president. That way, both legislators and the president would have to take personal responsibility for decisions on major regulations.

David Schoenbrod is a professor at New York Law School, a senior fellow with the Niskanen Center, and author of "DC Confidential: Inside the Five Tricks of Washington."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden needs to insists that lawmakers actually make laws

#FIGHTFOR15;

ANOTHER DAY SAYS BIDEN

Biden says the $15 minimum wage hike likely won't be part of the COVID-19 relief package

Kelsey More Business Insider
Fri., February 5, 2021, 

President Joe Biden. Susan Walsh/AP

President Joe Biden says a $15 minimum wage hike is not likely to be in the COVID-19 relief bill.

Biden said he would be open to negotiating an incremental wage increase separately.

"Look, no one should work 40 hours a week and live below the poverty wage," Biden said.

President Joe Biden said he does not believe a measure to raise the minimum wage to $15 will ultimately be included in the COVID-19 stimulus package.

During a CBS interview clip released on Friday, Biden said although he included the minimum wage raise in his $1.9 trillion relief bill, he does not think it will happen due to "the rules of the United States Senate."

"My guess is it will not be in there," the president said. "But I do think that we should have a minimum wage stand by itself, $15 an hour."

Biden said he would like a separate negotiation to take place on minimum wage, and to implement the hike incrementally. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25.

"Look, no one should work 40 hours a week and live below the poverty wage. And if you're making less than $15 an hour, you're living below the poverty wage," Biden said.

The president and congressional Democrats sought to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 as part of the coronavirus stimulus bill. However, congressional Republicans, and some Democrats, have fought against it.

As Senate Democrats position themselves to pass a relief package without any GOP support, an amendment passed in the chamber late Thursday calls into question whether the wage increase will be included in the bill.

Biden team under fire for deportation uptick, 

backing Moise as Haiti tensions multiply

Jacqueline Charles, Michael Wilner, Monique O. Madan
Fri., February 5, 2021, 9:12 p.m.·10 min read





They arrived back in Mexico without shoes, identification documents or even children’s diapers.

Held by U.S. immigration officials in detention over several days, the group of over 100 Haitian asylum seekers were sent back across the border earlier this week carrying little more than the clothes on their backs, according to immigration advocates and a memo shared with the Miami Herald.

The group immediately stood out as they arrived from El Paso in Juárez, one of Mexico’s most dangerous border cities under a public health measure known as Title 42 that the Trump administration invoked during the coronavirus pandemic, said Tania Guerrero, an immigration attorney in the area.

“Nobody was at the bridge to receive them,” she said. “They were just dropped there.”

Though President Joe Biden quickly issued an executive order halting all deportations for 100 days as one of his first acts in office, information from Haitian government officials, U.S. data and activists indicate the pace of removals has continued at a steady clip.

Less than a week after his suspension order, a federal judge in Texas barred the U.S. government from enforcing the president’s moratorium for two weeks. Officials in the Caribbean nation were notified this week to expect 14 flights in the first half of February — some as frequent as twice a day.

That’s far higher than the two monthly flights U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement chartered to Haiti back in March at the start of the pandemic, and about as high as during a peak period around last year’s presidential election.

Biden promises a new era with Latin America and the Caribbean. How much can he really do?

Amid an uproar from Haitian activists, the Biden administration grounded two scheduled flights Friday that were supposed to arrive with 135 passengers each. It is unclear if the flights will be rescheduled or if 10 other scheduled flights will continue. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to multiple requests seeking more information.

The removals underscore the challenges the new president will face in trying to push through a campaign promise to reduce deportations and transform the immigration system during a pandemic. Activists monitoring the removals say many are being done under Title 42, which allows federal officials to send migrants back to halt the spread of the virus. They say children and even infants have been aboard the removal flights.

“These are people who are asylum seekers, most of them have not had any credible fear interviews. They are just being placed in airplanes and sent back,” Marleine Bastien, a Haitian community activist said.
Deportations come as Haiti’s turmoil mounts

The latest removals are taking place as a brewing constitutional crisis, an uptick in kidnappings, gang violence and a severe economic contraction push Haiti into a new chapter of uncertainty.

Opposition political parties and civil society groups, including human rights organizations and the Catholic Church, contend that President Jovenel Moïse’s presidential term ends Sunday. He took office in 2017 after a chaotic general election marred by fraud allegations. Though Haiti’s presidential terms last five years, detractors say Moïse’s mandate technically started in 2016, when an interim government was installed for a year before an election redo.

Moïse disagrees. During an unannounced appearance in the northeastern city of Fort-Liberté Friday, the 52-year-old leader who has been ruling by decree since January 2020 told Haitians they are stuck with him.

“We’ve assassinated presidents. We’ve exiled presidents. We’ve imprisoned presidents,” he said, referring to Haiti’s sordid history. “But do not forget, there’s a last president that is stuck in your throats. You won’t kill this one. You won’t assassinate this one. You won’t imprison this one. You won’t throw this one in exile. It is stuck in your throats.”

The unrest has sparked concern among Haitian activists that migrants are returning to danger.

“This is a very fluid and dangerous situation,” Bastien said. “People’s lives are at stake; those who are deported across the border and those who are deported to Haiti, a country on lockdown, basically, are in great danger. We are asking DHS to stop and put a moratorium on all deportations.”

Tensions were further stoked Friday when the Biden administration announced it supports Moïse’s claim that his presidential term does not end for another year. State Department spokesperson Ned Price noted that the U.S. position was in line with that of the Organization of American States.

While OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro has been vocal in his support for Moïse, member countries have not met on Haiti and taken a position.

“The Haitian people deserve the opportunity to elect their leaders and restore Haiti’s democratic institutions,” he said. “We’ve urged the government of Haiti to organize free and fair legislative elections so that parliament may resume its rightful role.”
Stateless migrant, children among those deported

On the same day Biden issued his executive order suspending deportations, Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske issued a memo listing the agency’s enforcement priorities as of February 1. The memo said DHS would focus its limited resources on national security, border security and public safety threats.

But the first roadblock came on Jan. 26, when a federal judge in Texas issued a temporary restraining order, barring the U.S. government from enforcing Biden’s deportation moratorium. Though the order blocked the moratorium, it did not require deportations to resume at their previous pace.

That is exactly what happened, say immigration and Haitian activists. Though many of those being removed fall under Title 42, some do not. On Tuesday, for example, Paul Pierrilus, a stateless migrant born of Haitian parentage, was deported to Haiti less than two weeks after his deportation was halted by immigration enforcement.

Pierrilus, 40, moved to the U.S. from the French territory of St. Martin when he was 5. He arrived in Port-au-Prince aboard an ICE deportation charter flight from Louisiana with 63 other individuals.

“We have seen a rush to deport as many people as possible during the 14 days of the Texas restraining order,” said Guerline Jozefa, the director of the San Diego-based Haitian Bridge Alliance, which works with Haitian migrants along the southern border.

Jozefa was among those frantically calling lawmakers and others to get the Biden administration to ground Friday’s flights.

In addition to the deportations and the expulsion to Juárez, about two dozen Haitians were also expelled to Tijuana, Mexico, on Monday, she was told. The group included an infant, who according to one of the migrants interviewed by the Herald, was transported in the back of a scorching truck driven by a U.S. immigration agent.

Unlike deportations, where migrants have had a chance to present a credible fear of prosecution or trafficking, expulsions of those caught in the process of crossing the border by foot or in cars happen quickly with no interview or due process. They were not part of Biden’s 100-day moratorium.

“Expulsions should have also been included in the moratorium from the start,” Jozefa said. “The moratorium did not provide protection or relief for some of the most vulnerable people under Title 42.”

Jozefa said she and others are calling on the Biden administration to receive asylum seekers with dignity. Activists also called on the administration to halt the flights and for ICE to carry out the spirit of Biden’s reform push, despite the Texas order.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the expulsions of Haitians make up a small fraction of those taking place at the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico.

“Approximately 90% of the individuals expelled in the last three weeks were from Mexico or Northern Triangle countries,” the spokesperson said. “Haitians ranged from 2% to 5% of Title 42 expulsions in the last three weeks. The Haitian flights mostly involve individuals who were encountered within the last week while attempting to cross into the United States between ports of entry.”

Under the Trump administration, Mexico agreed to only accept migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador expelled under Title 42. Neither DHS nor the White House responded to questions about why the Haitians taken to Juárez, and a group that was expelled to Tijuana on Monday, were returned to Mexico instead of Haiti.
‘People’s expectations have to be in line with reality’

Ira Kurzban, a Mami-based immigration lawyer who sued the Trump administration in 2018 on behalf of Haitian migrants, said Biden’s desire to overhaul immigration is running up against the influence of former President Donald Trump and the chief architect of his immigration policy, Steve Miller.

“I think what’s going on is that Trump and Miller put in place a process to tie the Biden administration up as much as they could and I think they are getting the cooperation from the lower levels of ICE and [U.S. Customs and Border Protection],” he said. “They now have the cooperation of the southern Texas ruling.”

Kurzban said the failure of ICE and CBP agents to use discretion on who they deport and how often they do, shows that Biden could be encountering a revolt within the ranks.

“People’s expectations have to be in line with the reality, which is they put in place all of these landmines and measures, which prevent real change to a humane immigration policy and it’s going to take the Biden administration some time to straighten that out,” he said. “For those people who thought everything was going to change overnight, I think they were unrealistic.”

Heidi Altman, director of policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said Haitian migrants are not the only ones being caught up.

In addition to Title 42 deportations, which are “happening en masse,” Altman said advocates are hearing accounts from across the country of ICE officers denying requests for leniency “for people who are clearly no longer considered enforcement priority under the new memo.”

“What we’re seeing is an alarming disconnect between the spirit and the letter of the policies that are being issued, and the suffering that people are continuing to endure on the ground,” Altman said.

Biden, she said, needs to quickly move in addressing issues within DHS.

“The last administration weaponized immigration law and policy to maximize cruelty and suffering and they did it quickly and effectively,” Altman said. “And this administration is going to have to act with the same speed and urgency and boldness, but in the opposite direction toward welcoming and respect for human rights.”
Rumors fuel migrant quest to cross border

In Juárez, Guerrero, the immigration attorney, said she began getting text messages late Wednesday afternoon that a group of Haitians had been dropped off in the Mexican city.

She said migrants had arrived without socks or shoes. There were babies with dirty diapers. Some said that their identification documents had been taken from them while in U.S. custody. Others were dehydrated.

Advocates said the migrants had been in another part of northern Mexico and decided to cross through Juárez after rumors spread that it was an easier way to get into the U.S.

U.S. government officials have tried to discourage Haitians or any other migrants from coming to the border. Roberta Jacobson, a top Biden aide on border issues, asked Spanish-language media last week to discourage audiences from coming to the U.S. border.

“It is not the moment,” she said, adding that the journey was “very dangerous, and we are in the middle of creating a new system.”

Despite Jacobson’s pleas, advocates said rumors are spreading quickly and many Haitian migrants who have been stuck at the border for months or years are anxious to move on.

Guerrero said the incident highlights the need for the Biden administration to act quickly.

“I understand we’re not going to fix four years in two weeks,” she said. “I get that. But please show some sense of humanity here. Please show you have a plan working forward; don’t give me empty promises.”

WHO?

Graffiti Pops Up in Caracas Praising Maduro Financier Saab
Patricia Laya and Alex Vasquez
Fri., February 5, 2021,


Graffiti Pops Up in Caracas Praising Maduro Financier Saab

(Bloomberg) -- President Nicolas Maduro’s Colombian financier Alex Saab is being labeled “the people’s savior” in new graffiti across Caracas ahead of a key hearing Friday on his alleged role in bribing Venezuelan officials.

Stenciled graffiti of Saab’s face and pleas for his freedom started to appear on Caracas’ main avenues before a court hearing in Cape Verde, where he has been detained since June pending a U.S. extradition request. The mysterious scribbles reading “The people are with Alex Saab” and “Freedom for Venezuela’s diplomat, fighter and compatriot,” -- when most Venezuelans do not know who Saab is -- suggest the government considers the case important enough to try to drum up popular support.

The Maduro administration admitted Saab was a “Venezuelan agent” and said the U.S. was trying to interfere with the nation’s business after his arrest. Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza warned him of his duty to maintain confidentiality of his dealings on behalf of the country if he were to be extradited to the U.S. in a letter filed in court. The graffiti could be a strategy by Saab’s team to turn the case into one of political persecution via grassroots support.

Saab was arrested on the West African island while making a fuel stop on a private plane and later indicted by a U.S. federal court in Florida on federal money-laundering charges. According to the accusations, he has been bribing Venezuelan government officials and funneling more than $350 million to overseas accounts. In 2019 Saab was sanctioned by the U.S. for corruptly helping Maduro’s regime and others make hundreds of millions of dollars from a food-distribution network intended to serve the hungry, charges his lawyers deny.

A legal representative for Saab argued his client holds “diplomatic immunity” appealing a U.S. extradition request during a Feb. 5 hearing at the West African court of Justice.

Saab’s secretive relationship with the Venezuelan government made him one of the Andean region’s most powerful men. In 2018, as Venezuela’s shortage of foreign exchange became acute, Saab worked with members of the government to sell Venezuelan gold to Turkey, the U.S. has said.

“’People’s savior?’,” asked Yanira Rodriguez, whose street kiosk near Caracas’ Petare slum is now in front of one the newly drawn messages. “I don’t even know who he is.”

(Updates with Feb. 5 hearing at West African court of Justice in the 5th paragraph)

INDIA

Nationwide ‘Chakka Jam’ Proved Farmers Are United Against Law: SKM

The Quint
Fri., February 5, 2021,



As the nationwide ‘chakka jam’ called by the farmers, protesting against the government’s new laws, came to an end on Saturday, 6 February, Bharat Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said, as quoted by ANI, “We have given time to the government till 2nd October to repeal the laws. After this, we will do further planning. We won't hold discussions with the government under pressure.”

Farmers in different parts of the country, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra, had blocked national and state highways for three hours.


Some protesters, who had gathered at Delhi’s Shaheed Park to show solidarity with the farmers’ agitation were detained by the police who had beefed up security in the city on Saturday.

On Friday, farmer unions had announced that no ‘chakka jam’ will take place in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.


The nationwide call from 12 pm to 3 pm was given by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee


The Congress on Friday extended support to the ‘chakka jam’


Farmers’ unions have appealed to all the stakeholders to be peaceful


Emergency and essential services like ambulance, school bus, etc., will not be stopped, as per the guidelines issued by the farmers’ unions

Security personnel stand near barricades as BKU spokesperson

 Rakesh Tikait gestures during the proposed chakka jam by farmers at Ghazipur border.

Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) protest during the proposed chakka jam by farmer unions, in solidarity with their ongoing agitation against Centres farm reform laws, in Ranchi

Farmers protest during the proposed chakka jam by farmer unions, in solidarity with their ongoing agitation against Centres farm reform laws, in Patiala

Police detain protesters at Shaheed Park in New Delhi.

Police detain protesters at Shaheed Park in New Delhi.

Police detain protesters at Shaheed Park in New Delhi.

Nationwide ‘Chakka Jam’ Proved Farmers Are United Against Law: SKM

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha said in a press note that the call for ‘chakka jam’ got huge support across the country.

“Yesterday, in the Parliament, the Minister of Agriculture insulted the struggle of farmers of India by saying that only one state's farmers are opposing the agricultural laws. But today's nationwide Chakka Jam once again proved that farmers across the country are united against these laws,” SKM said in a press release.

The police detained the protesters who were taking part in the “chakka jam” against the farm laws as part of the countrywide call by farmer unions on Saturday.

MHA Orders Suspension of Internet at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri

The Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered the suspension of internet services at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders of Delhi, where farmers have been protesting against the new farm laws, for 24 hours till Saturday night in wake of their 'chakka jam' call, news agency PTI reported quoting officials.
No Incidents Took Place in Delhi: Delhi Police PRO

Delhi police PRO Chinmoy Biswal said that the “chakka jam” call wasn't for Delhi heavy security arrangements were made because of the violence that took place on 26 January during the tractor rally. Speaking to news agency ANI, Biswal said that that the security was further tightened at Delhi's border areas.

“No incidents took place in Delhi. Traffic movement is normal and the life is going on as usual here,” Biswal added.
Entry/Exit Gates of All Metro Stations Open

Delhi Metro authorities said that that the entry and exit gates of all metro stations have now been opened and normal services have resumed. Some metro stations were shut earlier in the day because of the ‘chakka jam’ called by protesting farmers.
Won't Hold Discussions With Govt Under Pressure: BKU Leader Rakesh Tikait

According to ANI, Bharat Kisan Union Leader Rakesh Tikait said, “We have given time to the government till 2nd October to repeal the laws. After this, we will do further planning. We won't hold discussions with the government under pressure.”
Farmers Hold Agitation in Rajasthan

Farmers protesting against Centre's new agricultural laws and other issues block roads at several places in Rajasthan.
Situation at Singhu Border Peaceful, Internet Suspended

The situation at the Singhu border protest site in Delhi was peaceful even as internet connectivity was suspended as a precautionary measure on Saturday, reported IANS.
Farmers in Haryana, Punjab Block Highways

Farmers in Haryana and Punjab blocked roads on the national and state highways as part of the 3-hour ‘chakka jam’ on 6 February.

Eastern Peripheral Expressway

Eastern Peripheral Expressway

Eastern Peripheral Expressway

Location: Rohtak
Police Detain Several Protesters in Bengaluru

The police detained the protesters who were agitating outside the Yelahanka Police Station in Bengaluru, against the farm laws as part of the countrywide 'chakka jam' called by farmers on Saturday, reported ANI.

Come to the Streets and Join 'Dharna': Digvijiaya Singh Appeals to Protesting Farmers

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, said, as quoted by ANI, “I appeal to all those protesting against farm laws to come to the streets and join today's 'dharna' between 12 pm and 3 pm.”
Barricading Done to Avoid Any Intrusion: Delhi Police Joint Commissioner

Alok Kumar, Joint CP, Delhi Police, told ANI, “Police personnel are deployed at strategic locations such as Road number 56, NH-24, Vikas Marg, GT Road, Jirabad Road, since it's a call for nation-wide 'chakka-jam'. Barricading has been done in a way that there is no intrusion in Delhi.”
Several Metro Stations Shut Ahead of Chakka Jam

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said entry and exit gates of Mandi House, ITO, Vishwavidyalaya, Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Janpath, Central Secretariat and Delhi Gate have been closed in view of the ‘chakka jam’, despite farmer unions announcing that there will be no ‘bandh’ in Delhi.
Drone Cameras, 50K Security Personnel Deployed in Delhi-NCR

Drone cameras at Tikri border and around 50,000 police-paramilitary forces have been deployed around Delhi-NCR ahead of the ‘chakka jam’ called by protesting farmers.
Heavy Barricading, Water Cannons Deployed at Ghazipur Border

Extensive barricading measures have been undertaken at the Ghazipur Border with the deployment of water cannon vehicles, as a pre-emptive measure to deal with possible disturbances resulting from 'Chakka Jaam' called by farmer unions protesting against the farm laws, reported ANI.
No Chakka Jam in UP, Uttarakhand: Rakesh Tikait

Ahead of Saturday’s 'chakka jam’, Bharat Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, on Friday, 5 February, announced that the countrywide road blockade would not be carried out in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand because the unions “have evidence that few people would have attempted to spread violence at these places.” reported ANI.

"“We have evidence that a few people would attempt to spread violence at these places. So we have decided to not block roads in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand,”" - Rakesh Tikait, according to ANI
Congress Extends Support to ‘Chakka Jam’

The Congress party on Friday extended support to the ‘chakka jam’ called by farmer unions across the country on Saturday.

The party, according to media reports, has said that its workers will stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers in the protest. Further, the Congress expressed disappointment with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar for defending the farm laws in the Parliament and for attacking the Opposition.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha Releases Guidelines Ahead of March

Samyukt Kisan Morcha Chief Darshan Pal shared a set of guidelines that have been issued regarding the ‘chakka jam’. “We appeal to the public in India to kindly cooperate,” he said.

1. Only national and state highways across the country will be jammed from 12 noon to 3 pm.

2. Emergency and essential services like ambulance or school bus will not be stopped.

3. The 'chakka jam’ will remain completely peaceful and non-violent. Protesters are asked to not to indulge in any conflict with government officials or ordinary citizens.

4. There will be no ‘chakka jam’ programme in Delhi NCR, except the protest sites that are already in a ‘chakka jam’ mode. All roads entering Delhi will remain open except where farmers' protest sites are already located.

5. The ‘chakka jam’ programme will conclude at 3 pm by indicating the unity of farmers, by blowing the vehicle horn continuously for 1 minute. We also appeal to the public to join in, at 3 pm to express their support and solidarity with our annadatas.
Maximum Forces, Social Media Monitored: Delhi Police 'Makes Arrangements' Ahead of Chakka Jam

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police Commissioner held a meeting with senior police officials over the proposed ‘chakka jam’ by agitating farmers on Saturday, 6 February.

According to Delhi Police, it has made adequate arrangements to prevent the entry of miscreants and will also be monitoring social media posts, news agency ANI reported on Friday.

Haryana ADGP (law & order) also issued directives to SPs and Commissioners in view of the ‘chakka jam’.

"Maximum force shall be pulled out from non-operational duties. Intelligence network should be geared up and necessary preventive action may be taken," it reads.

In view of the violence that happened on 26 January, the Delhi Police have made adequate security arrangements at the borders so that miscreants cannot enter the national capital, Chinmoy Biswal, Delhi Police PRO told ANI.

“We are monitoring content on social media to make sure rumours are not spread against police or other things. The protesters are camping at the borders of Delhi. We are in touch with police force of other states too,” said Chinmoy Biswal, Delhi Police PRO.

. Read more on India by The Quint.Nationwide ‘Chakka Jam’ Proved Farmers Are United Against Law: SKMMunawar Faruqui Not Released From Jail Despite SC’s Interim Bail . Read more on India by The Quint.

#KASHMIR IS #INDIA'S #GAZA

Pakistani PM urges Kashmir referendum, 

talks with India

MUNIR AHMED
Fri., February 5, 2021,

1/4
Pakistan Kashmir
Supporters of the Pakistani religious group Jamaat-e-Islami chant anti India slogans during a rally to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Pakistan's political and military leadership on Friday marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir, vowing to continue political support for those living in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and for a solution to the disputed region's status in accordance with U.N. resolutions. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

2/4

Pakistan Kashmir
Supporters of the Pakistani religious group Jamaat-e-Islami participate in a rally to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Pakistan's political and military leadership on Friday marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir, vowing to continue political support for those living in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and for a solution to the disputed region's status in accordance with U.N. resolutions. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

3/4

Pakistan Kashmir
Children participate in a rally organized by a Pakistani religious group Jamaat-e-Islami to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Pakistan's political and military leadership on Friday marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir, vowing to continue political support for those living in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and for a solution to the disputed region's status in accordance with U.N. resolutions. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)



4/4

Pakistan Kashmir
Supporters of the Pakistani religious group Jamaat-e-Islami participate in a rally to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Pakistan's political and military leadership on Friday marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir, vowing to continue political support for those living in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir and for a solution to the disputed region's status in accordance with U.N. resolutions. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)



ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan will allow people in the Pakistan-administered section of divided Kashmir to decide whether they wanted to join Pakistan or prefer to remain independent in a future referendum on the disputed Himalayan region, the prime minister said Friday.

Imran Khan spoke at a rally in the town of Kotli in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir as the country marked the annual Day of Solidarity with Kashmir.

“God willing, Pakistan will give the right to Kashmiri people to decide whether they want to remain independent or become part of Pakistan," Khan said.

Khan expressed readiness to talk to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, if he reverses steps taken by New Delhi in 2019 by changing the special status of Kashmir, which is split between Pakistan and India and claimed by both in its entirety.

At the time, relation between Pakistan and India were strained over New Delhi's move to divide the Indian-administered part of the Muslim-majority Kashmir into two federally governed territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh — touching off anger on both sides of the frontier.

Khan assailed India's Hindu nationalist government over the action, calling India a state sponsor of hatred and prejudice against Islam. Since then, Pakistan has refused to hold talks with India, saying Modi must first restore the original status of the Indian-administered Kashmir.

Earlier, Shibli Faraz, Pakistan’s information minister, told The Associated Press that Islamabad would resume talks with India when Modi's government agrees to a Kashmir referendum in accordance with U.N. resolutions.

In southwestern Pakistan, at least 16 people were wounded when an unknown assailant threw a hand grenade at people standing along a road minutes after a pro-Kashmir rally passed through the area, local police chief Wazir Ali Marri said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the district of Sibi in Baluchistan province. The restive province has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists demanding a greater share of local natural gas and mineral resources.

Also in Baluchistan, later Friday, a bomb went off near a government office in the city of Quetta, the provincial capital, killing at least two people and wounding five, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, which took place near the office of the deputy commissioner.

In Kashmir, Pakistan has long pushed for the right to self-determination under a U.N. resolution passed in 1948, which called for a referendum on whether Kashmiris wanted to merge with Pakistan or India.

The future of Muslim-majority Kashmir was left unresolved at the end of British colonial rule in 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was divided into predominantly Hindu India and mainly Muslim Pakistan.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from British rule in 1947. In 2019, a car bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed 40 Indian soldiers and brought the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of war.

India has an estimated 700,000 soldiers in its part of Kashmir, fighting nearly a dozen rebel groups since 1989. In many areas, the region has the feel of an occupied country, with soldiers in full combat gear patrolling streets and frisking civilians. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

Also Friday, the Pakistani military took foreign media on a tour of a border village in Pakistan-administered Kashmir to demonstrate damage by Indian fire. Residents in the area accuse India of deliberately targeting civilians, a charge India denies.

The two sides regularly trade fire in violation of the 2003 cease-fire agreement across the Line of Control, which separates the two sectors of Kashmir. Civilians are often caught in the crossfire, with dozens killed every year in the violence.

Most of the people who live along the boundary line have either lost family members or relatives in recent decades.

___

Associated Press writers Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, and Muhammad Yousaf from Bhimber, Pakistan, contributed to this report.