US will support India’s rise and regional leadership: Joe Biden
The US will support India’s “continued rise and regional leadership” as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy to firmly anchor Washington in the region facing China’s “harmful behaviour”, the Joe Biden administration announced on Friday.
This is part of the administration’s strategic vision for the region that the US believes will shape the trajectory of the 21st century.
Of the view that the prosperity of everyday Americans is linked to the region, the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States document says that “American interests can only be advanced if we firmly anchor the United States in the Indo-Pacific and strengthen the region itself, alongside our closest allies and partners”.
The document added that the intensifying focus was due in part to the challenges posed by China.
“The PRC (People’s Republic of China) is combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might as it pursues a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world’s most influential power. The PRC’s coercion and aggression spans the globe, but it is most acute in the Indo-Pacific.
“From the economic coercion of Australia to the conflict along the Line of Actual Control with India to the growing pressure on Taiwan and bullying of neighbours in the East and South China Seas, our allies and partners in the region bear much of the cost of the PRC’s harmful behaviour,” the strategy document says.
Elaborating on how the US plans to support India’s continued rise and regional leadership, the document states: “We will continue to build a strategic partnership in which the United States and India work together and through regional groupings to promote stability in South Asia; collaborate in new domains, such as health, space, and cyber space; deepen our economic and technology cooperation; and contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“We recognise that India is a like-minded partner and leader in South Asia and the Indian Ocean, active in and connected to Southeast Asia, a driving force of the Quad and other regional fora, and an engine for regional growth and development.”
The Quad is an axis formed by India, the US, Australia and Japan.
Briefing journalists on the new strategic document, a senior US administration official acknowledged India’s role in the Quad and maintained that it was in a “very different place” compared to the other members. The official had been asked specifically about the possibility of an AUKUS-like defence pact with India. AUKUS is a trilateral security agreement between Australia, the UK and the US.
“India is in a very different place, in many ways, than Australia, than other countries. But India faces very significant challenges. And I think that, you know, China’s behaviour in the Line of Actual Control has had a galvanising impact on India,” the official said.
Underscoring the importance of the partnership with India, which has bipartisan support in the US Congress, the official said: “We see tremendous opportunities in working with another democracy, with a country that has a maritime tradition that understands the importance of the global commons to advance critical issues in the region.”
Hijab ban in Indian state violates religious freedom: US official
US ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom slams hijab ban by the southern Indian state, drawing a sharp response from India.
A US official has voiced concerns about the controversial banning of the headscarf at schools and colleges in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, prompting a strongly worded rebuttal from New Delhi.
Rashad Hussain, the US ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, said in a tweet on Friday that the hijab ban would stigmatise and marginalise women and girls.
“Religious freedom includes the ability to choose one’s religious attire,” Hussain tweeted.
“The Indian state of Karnataka should not determine permissibility of religious clothing. Hijab bans in schools violate religious freedom and stigmatize and marginalize women and girls.”
On Saturday, India’s external affairs ministry hit back at what it called “motivated comments” on its internal issues, adding that the case was under judicial examination.
“Our constitutional framework and mechanisms, as well as our democratic ethos and polity, are the context in which issues are considered and resolved. … Motivated comments on our internal issues are not welcome,” said ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi.
The dispute erupted last month, when a group of Muslim students protested after they were barred from entering their college because they were wearing hijab – a headscarf that many Muslim women wear. Since then several other colleges have seen protests both for and against the hijab ban, with Hindu right-wing groups wearing saffron shawls holding protests against hijab.
International reaction
On Tuesday a hijab-wearing Muslim student was heckled by a Hindu far-right mob at a college in Karnataka state, causing outrage.
The news prompted Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai to urge Indian leaders to stop the marginalisation of Muslim women. “College is forcing us to choose between studies and the hijab,” she tweeted on Tuesday.
Manchester United and French international Paul Pogba also expressed concern for Muslim women in Karnataka, sharing a video on Instagram with the caption “Hindutva mobs continue to harass Muslim girls wearing hijab to college in India”. Hindutva is the Hindu supremacist ideology that inspires the governing BJP in India.
Last February, New Delhi reacted sharply to tweets by singer Rihanna and climate change activist Greta Thunberg in solidarity with protesting farmers, saying the celebrities needed “a proper understanding of the issues”. The farmers’ protests lasted for a year until the Modi government repealed three farm laws – the main demands of farmers.
On February 5, the southern state government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) banned clothes that “disturb equality, integrity and public order”.
The Karnataka high court on Thursday deferred its decision in response to a petition filed by a group of Muslim women against the hijab ban.
A three-judge panel will hear the case again on Monday to decide if schools and colleges can order students not to wear the hijab in classrooms. The court, meanwhile, has asked students not to wear hijab in colleges.
Activists have said the hijab ban is part of the BJP’s anti-Muslim agenda and contravened India’s constitution, which guarantees the right to religion to every citizen. Since Modi came to power, attacks against minorities, particularly Muslims, have gone up.
Muslim students earlier told Al Jazeera that the college decision was shocking as they were allowed to attend colleges with their hijab until very recently. They argued the constitution allowed Indians to wear clothes of their choice and display religious symbols.
Activists and opposition leaders have also criticised the Karnataka state for passing anti-conversion law and anti-cow slaughter law last year, which they say is aimed at targeting Christians and Muslims.
By Sunil Kataria
02/12/22 AT 3:37 AM
Ayesha Imthiaz, a devout Indian Muslim who considers wearing a hijab an expression of devotion to the Prophet Mohammad, says a move by her college to expel hijab-wearing girls is an insult that will force her to choose between religion and education.
"The humiliation of being asked to leave my classroom for wearing a head scarf by college officials has shaken my core belief," said the 21-year-old student from southern Karnataka's Udupi district, where protests over the head covering ban began.
"My religion has been questioned and insulted by a place which I had considered as a temple of education," she told Reuters.
"It is more like telling us you chose between your religion or education, that's a wrong thing," she said after studying for five years at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial college in Udupi.
Several Muslim girls who protested the ban had received threatening calls and were forced to stay indoors, she added.
College officials say students are allowed to wear the hijab on campus and only asked them to take it off inside the classroom.
Udupi is one of three districts in Karnataka's religiously sensitive coastal region, which is a stronghold of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The stand-off has increased fear and anger among minority Muslims, who say the country's constitution grants them the freedom to wear what they want. Protests over the ban have escalated, with hundreds demonstrating this month in Kolkata and Chennai.
Last week, a judge at the state's high court referred petitions challenging the ban to a larger panel.
The issue is being closely watched internationally as a test of religious freedom guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.
The U.S. Office of International Religious Freedom (IRF) on Friday said the hijab bans "violate religious freedom and stigmatize and marginalize women and girls."
In response, India's foreign ministry on Saturday said outside comments over internal issues were not welcome and the matter was under judicial review.
Imthiaz and six other Muslim girls protesting the ban say they are determined to fight for their religious freedom in the face of some hardline Hindu students and even some of their friends.
"It is really hurtful to see our own friends going against us and telling 'I have a problem with you wearing the hijab'...its affected our bonds and mental health," Imthiaz said.
(Writing by Rupam Jain; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
February 14, 2022
Mr. Manoj Sinha
Lieutenant Governor, Jammu and Kashmir
rajbhawan@jk.gov.in
adsecy.rb-jk@nic.in
ps.rb-jk@nic.in
Sent via email
Dear Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha,
We, the undersigned 58 press freedom organizations, human rights organizations, and publications write to request your urgent intervention to secure the immediate release of Fahad Shah, editor of the online news portal The Kashmir Walla, from jail, and the withdrawal of all police investigations launched into his journalistic work.
On February 4, authorities arrested Shah at the Pulwama police station, where he had been summoned earlier that day for questioning. The first information report states that Shah is being investigated for alleged sedition and making statements causing public mischief, and unlawful activities under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Prior to his arrest, police had questioned Shah regarding The Kashmir Walla’s coverage of a gunfight between government forces and militants.
Shah is well known to many in South Asia and around the world as a journalist of high integrity. His writing for The Nation magazine was recognized at the 2021 Human Rights Press Awards. His reporting on events in Jammu and Kashmir is a public service, not a crime, and should be protected under Indian law.
We also urge you to arrange the immediate release of other detained Kashmiri journalists– Sajad Gul, Aasif Sultan, and Manan Gulzar Dar – all of whom, like Shah, have been jailed under anti-terror or preventative detention laws in apparent retaliation for their work.
Since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s political autonomy in August 2019, press freedom and rights groups have documented numerous incidents of detentions and threats to journalists in the region. In view of this, the release of Fahad Shah and other arbitrarily detained journalists is a critical step to prevent further criminalization of the profession in Jammu and Kashmir.
We urge you to ensure that authorities drop their retaliatory investigations into all four journalists, withdraw any unwarranted charges brought against them, and allow Kashmiri members of the press to work freely without facing detention, harassment, and other forms of government reprisal.
Signed:
Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia
Ambedkar King Study Circle
Ambedkar International Center
Aotearoa Alliance of Progressive Indians
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha
Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC)
Committee Against Assault on Journalists (CAAJ)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Council on Minority Rights in India (CMRI)
C19 People’s Coalition
Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
Digipub News India Foundation
Forum Against Oppression of Women, Mumbai
Foundation The London Story
Free Press Unlimited
Free Speech Collective
Friends of India, Texas
German Indian Alliance for Peace
Global South Against Xenophobia
Himal Southasian
Hindus for Human Rights
Human Rights Law Network
Human Rights Watch
The Humanism Project
India Solidarity Germany
Indian American Muslim Council
Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ)
Indian Journalists Union (IJU)
Insider, Inc.
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
International Press Institute
International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India)
Jammu and Kashmir Journalists Association (JAKJA)
Jacobin
Journalist Federation of Kashmir (JFK)
Justice for All, Canada
Justice for All, USA
Kashmir Working Journalists Association
The Nation
Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI)
Overseas Press Club of America
PEN America
People Against Apartheid and Fascism (PAAF)
Press Club of India
Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI)
Pulitzer Center
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Rural Indigenous Health, Boston
Scottish Indians for Justice
Semillas Collective
Sikh Human Rights Group
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA)
South Asia Media Defenders Network (SAMDEN)
South Asia Peace Action Network (SAPAN)
South Asia Solidarity Group
Turbine Bagh
SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for HINDUISM IS FASCISM
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