SRINAGAR: Indian and Pakistani soldiers shelled military outposts and villages along their highly militarized frontier in disputed Kashmir on Wednesday, in an outbreak of new violence despite stepped-up diplomatic efforts by the rival countries to ease tensions.
The two armies accused each other of initiating the artillery and mortar fire and small-arms gunfire. No casualties were immediately reported.
Tensions have been high since Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistan last week, carrying out what India called a pre-emptive strike against militants blamed for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops.
Pakistan retaliated, shooting down two Indian planes and capturing a pilot, who was later returned to India in a peace gesture. The two countries have also resumed bus and train services that were stopped following the escalation of tensions, the most serious in the long-simmering conflict since 1999, when Pakistan’s military sent a ground force into Indian-controlled Kashmir.
In another effort aimed at easing tension with India, Pakistan on Tuesday arrested dozens of people including the brother of the leader of the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, which claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Kashmir.
Among the detainees were Mufti Abdul Rauf and Hammad Azhar, two prominent members of the group who were on a list of suspects given by India to Pakistan over the weekend.
Pakistan on Wednesday continued a crackdown on seminaries, mosques and hospitals belonging to outlawed groups, saying the actions were part of its efforts to fight terrorism, extremism and militancy. In Islamabad, authorities also took control of a mosque and dispensary run by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a charity run by an anti-India cleric, Hafiz Saeed, that is widely believed to serve as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group blamed for attacks in Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people.
In Pakistan, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan’s ambassador to India was returning to New Delhi and a Pakistani delegation will also travel to India on March 14 for talks on opening the first visa-free border crossing between the nations, a corridor that will allow Sikh pilgrims to easily visit their shrines on each side of the border.
“Tension has eased because of our successful diplomacy,” said Qureshi, who led diplomatic efforts in recent weeks to muster the support of the international community to prevent a possible war with India. He said Washington, Beijing, Moscow and several Muslim countries played a significant role in easing tensions.
“We appreciate the role of the United States in de-escalating the situation,” he told reporters in the capital, Islamabad.
There was no immediate comment from Indian officials.
However, border tensions continued.
The new violence flared up at several places along the Line of Control that divides the Himalayan territory of Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Both of the nuclear-armed rivals claim the entire territory.
Both sides accused the other of violating a 2003-cease-fire accord and said their soldiers retaliated “befittingly and effectively.”
Tens of thousands of people live in rugged, mountainous and lush green-forested areas along the frontier on both sides of divided Kashmir despite a climate of constant fear. Each year cycles of border violence break out between the two countries. Hundreds of civilians have died in the skirmishes, which have also killed livestock and damaged property.
The high tensions last week displaced hundreds of villagers on both sides. Many are still living in government-run shelters or with relatives and friends in safer places.
Sitting outside one shelter in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, Mohammad Lateef, 42, said he had to leave his village near the Line of Control when Indian mortar shells began landing. “Our homes were destroyed in a 2005 earthquake and since then we have been living in tin-roof sheds,” he said. “We are poor people. We don’t have enough money to run our kitchen. How can we build bunkers to protect ourselves from Indian firing?“
Another resident, Rubina Bibi, 32, said she wants peace “so that we can live without leaving our own villages” in Kashmir. “Give us peace and we will want nothing else,” she said.
In Indian-administered Kashmir, the situation was no different.
“We have seen these cycles of violence. They grab each other to kill and then they grab each other to hug,” said Shafaat Ali, a resident of the Poonch frontier area. “Even if tensions between the two countries ease and they resume all relations as normal, our lives still remain under stress.”
Nusrat Bano, a resident of the Mendhar area who has taken shelter with her relatives for about two weeks, said border residents know the real meaning of peace. “Peace is good, very good. Who would say it’s not. But let there be peace in our lives too, in our homes too.”
India accuses Pakistan of training, arming and sheltering rebels who began fighting Indian forces in 1989. Pakistan denies the allegation, saying it only offers moral support to Kashmiris seeking the right to self-determination for the entire territory.
India, Pakistan again target army posts, villages in Kashmir
India, Pakistan again target army posts, villages in Kashmir
- Both militaries accuse the other of starting the attacks
- No casualties were reported so far
UK opposition suffers major Muslim vote losses in local elections
- Shadow home secretary: ‘Many people feel really strongly’ about Gaza ‘and rightly’
- Labour MP: ‘It’s not just Muslims. On our doorknocks, we’ve had a lot of middle-class white voters raise it as well’
LONDON: A series of local election victories by the UK’s opposition Labour Party has been overshadowed by a major fall in support among Muslim voters, leading to concern within the party ahead of a general election later this year.
After local elections were held across the country on Thursday, Labour suffered key losses in areas with high Muslim populations due to controversies over the party’s stance on the Gaza war.
Labour must do some “searching” in response to “questions” over its performance, one MP said.
The potential loss of Labour candidate Richard Parker in the West Midlands mayoralty election led to a racism row after an unnamed party source blamed “the Middle East” on deciding the race.
In total, the party gained more than 140 council seats during the elections, The Guardian reported.
But those gains are overshadowed by the potential West Midlands defeat and the Conservative candidate for mayor of London, Susan Hall, running a closer race against incumbent Sadiq Khan than previously expected.
Labour have “trouble brewing on their left flank” after focusing on traditionally rural and whiter areas, said Rob Ford, a politics professor at the University of Manchester.
“There has been a substantial loss of support in heavily Muslim areas and they are going backwards a bit in progressive areas and areas with students. It is progress at a price,” he added.
By offsetting urban losses with gains among rural voters, Labour would win about 34 percent of votes at a general election compared to 25 percent for the Conservatives, the BBC reported.
Yet fear of bleeding urban voters, including Muslims, is driving anxiety in the party ahead of the general election, sources told The Guardian.
“The polls (which predicted a 20-point lead for Khan) were completely wrong, this is going to be much closer than expected,” one source said.
A source in Birmingham, where independent candidate Akhmed Yakoob stood as a spoiler to Labour, said: “Yakoob is picking up over 50 percent in some inner-city wards, so the Gaza impact may be bigger than first estimated.”
Labour also suffered a shock loss in Oldham, losing control of the council after a number of seats were taken by pro-Palestinian independent candidates.
In Manchester, the party lost its deputy leader to a candidate from MP George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain.
Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, told the “Electoral Dysfunction” podcast in the wake of the vote that the party will have to “wake up and face” the issues that led to losses against independent and Workers Party of Britain candidates.
“I very much expect, as the mayoral votes come in, that in places like Birmingham, Bradford, places with high Muslim populations, as we’ve seen overnight in Oldham, that the Labour Party will have some questions that they have, and some searching to do themselves,” she added, according to Sky News.
Areas with a proportion of Muslim voters higher than 20 percent recorded average losses of 17.9 points for Labour.
The comments by a party source concerning the West Midlands race have led to a post-election race row.
“It’s the Middle East, not West Midlands that will have won (Conservative Mayor Andy) Street the mayoralty. Once again Hamas are the real villains,” the Labour source reportedly told the BBC.
The remarks were condemned by figures including Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the Daily Telegraph reported.
“This is a disgusting way to talk about Muslim voters, conflating them with Hamas and treating them as a monolith,” she said. “It reeks of racism and entitlement. Such comments should have no place in the Labour Party.”
According to The Times, MP Zarah Sultana said: “Once again, I’m deeply disturbed by Islamophobic quotes given to the media by ‘Labour sources.’
"When politicians are confronted with racist bile, it should be immediately condemned. As a party we need to listen to and acknowledge concerns, not hold British Muslims in contempt.”
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, conceded that the party’s stance on a Gaza ceasefire was “partly” a factor in the surprise defeats.
“Many people feel really strongly about this — and rightly, because tens of thousands of people have been killed, including the majority of them women and children,” she said.
Muslim vote organizers hailed the success of the elections in sending a message to Labour leader Keir Starmer.
Party sources warned that Labour must work overtime to regain the trust of Muslim voters ahead of a general election expected later this year.
“People use local elections to send the government — and sometimes the opposition — a message,” a senior Labour source told The Times.
“The damage is done and even though our position is much better now, if Israel pushes into Rafah people will say we didn’t do enough to urge restraint right at the start.”
A Labour MP added: “It’s terminal with a lot of people, and it’s not just Muslims. On our doorknocks, we’ve had a lot of middle-class white voters raise it as well.”
KFC stores in Malaysia shutter amid anti-Israel boycott
- KFC is not on Malaysian boycott movement’s list, but consumers see it as linked to Israel
- Franchise operator cites ‘challenging economic conditions’ as reason for closures
KUALA LUMPUR: Scores of KFC outlets have closed in Malaysia amid calls to boycott the chain and other brands accused of links with Israel.
Since the outbreak of Israel’s deadly attacks on Gaza in October, many Malaysian citizens have backed a growing refusal to buy products from the Western companies seen as having relations with Tel Aviv.
KFC is among a number of brands that have been reeling from falling revenues, as those who join the boycott movement see them facilitating the Israeli strikes, which have already killed nearly 35,000 people in the Palestinian territory, mostly women and children.
The US-origin fast-food chain has closed more than 100 outlets across Malaysia since October, according to local media estimates.
KFC Malaysia operator QSR Brands Holdings admitted in a statement earlier this week to a temporary closure to “manage increasing business costs,” which it attributed to “challenging economic conditions.”
QSR Brands did not say how many outlets had been closed or if the action was due to a loss in sales caused by the boycott.
The company, which runs over 600 KFC restaurants across the Southeast Asian nation, said staff from affected outlets were given the opportunity to “relocate to busier” stores.
Major companies with international brand names in Malaysia have in recent months reported losses due to the boycott, even if they were not original targets of the action.
In February, the parent company of the US-origin coffee chain Starbucks in Malaysia said the snub by customers led to a near 40 percent drop in revenue. The news followed an earlier claimed loss of profits and job cuts by the country’s McDonald’s franchise.
The anti-Israel boycott in Malaysia has been spearheaded by the local chapter of the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. Besides McDonald’s, other popular brands it listed included Burger King, Puma, Airbnb and Pizza Hut.
BDS Malaysia Chairman Mohd. Nazari Ismail told Arab News that KFC was not on the group’s boycott list, but it might be targeted because of its US origins.
“Many Malaysians perceive any American fast-food operator to be related to Israel including KFC,” he said.
“KFC is not on our list because BDS’s strategy is to focus on a limited number of companies to maximize the impact of our efforts. But it is on the list of other organizations that call for boycott of all companies that are related to Israel.”
Many Malaysians who reacted on social media to the news of the outlets closing commented “alhamdulillah,” or “thank God,” with some singling out KFC’s parent company in the US, the American fast-food multinational Yum Brands.
“KFC’s parent company, Yum Brands, invests in Israeli startups,” said X.com user meraungkesepian.
Others targeted the chain’s quality, saying it had fallen off the mark, leading to their shunning of the brand.
“Many have boycotted KFC not 100 percent because of Israel. But because KFC doesn’t have any quality,” said X.com user tonnychua9988 in Malay.
The boycott of KFC was expected, according to Syaza Farhana Mohamad Shukri, associate professor of political science at the International Islamic University Malaysia.
“I think the KFC boycott was inevitable because what is more American than Kentucky Fried Chicken?” she said.
“It is all based on sentiment ... companies that appear to be American-based get the brunt of the people’s anger.”
More than 60 percent of Malaysia’s 33 million people are Muslim, and the country has been fiercely supportive of the Palestinian struggle for decades.
It has no formal relations with Israel and bars Israeli nationals from entering its territory.
In December, Malaysia also barred Israeli and Israel-bound ships from docking at its ports.
Hectoliters of purple ink mark voters in India’s colossal poll
- Ink started to be used in 1962, during India’s 3rd general election
- 2.65m vials of ink produced for the 2024 parliamentary vote
NEW DELHI: Every election in India leaves a mark on its people, not only in political terms, but also literally, in the form of purple stains on their index fingers.
As voters register in booths and have their ID verified to cast ballots, election officers paint a streak of ink across the top of their left index finger, leaving a dark purple stain that usually stays on the skin for more than two weeks.
The exercise started in 1962, during India’s third general election, to prevent fraud and duplicate votes, after the country’s first two polls were marred by complaints of voter impersonation.
One manufacturer was chosen to supply the ink and, as the country’s 18th parliamentary vote is underway, it is still the same one: Mysore Paints and Varnish, from Mysore city in the southern state of Karnataka.
The company was founded in 1937 by the then ruler of Mysore, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, and became a public sector company after India gained independence from British rule in 1947.
Operated by the Karnataka state government, it is the only company authorized to produce the voter ink.
“From 1962, we have been the exclusive supplier of ink to the election commission of India,” K. Mohammed Irfan, the company’s managing director, told Arab News.
“At that time, Sukumar Sen was the chief election commissioner, and the inventor of the ink is by the name of Dr. Mathur.”
The inventor worked at the National Physical Laboratory, one of India’s earliest national laboratories, and the manufacturing process is based on a guarded chemical formula that has never changed.
“This ink cannot be erased easily,” Irfan said. “It is made of silver nitrate. Once the ink comes into the light it forms bluish and brownish stains, which remain from three days to more than one month.”
More than 968 million people are registered to vote in the world’s biggest election, which started on April 19 and will run in six phases until June 1. The Election Commission has ordered hectoliters of the indelible ink as part of the process.
“For this parliamentary election, we have taken around 80 days to manufacture 2.65 million bottles of ink,” Irfan said, adding that each vial is 10 ml.
“The total cost of manufacturing is 55 crore rupees ($6.6 million).”
Inked fingers are flashed by all those who cast their vote — from Bollywood stars and politicians to common citizens who take pride in being part of elections, which the Indian government usually refer to as “the festival of democracy.”
Shashank Aggarwal, 19, a first-time voter from Noida city, went to the polls on April 26 in the second phase of the vote.
“When the ink got marked on the finger, I felt that I had become part of the festival,” he said. “It felt nice.”
Kapil Sharma, who also voted last week, said that the purple pigment was still clear on his skin.
“The mark is still fresh and has not disappeared,” he said. “I proudly display my inked finger. I don’t mind if it sticks with me for the next five years. It’s a symbol and color of our democracy.”
Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years: weather agency
- Pakistan received more than twice as much rain as usual for the month
- Pakistan is increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable weather, as well as often destructive monsoon rains that usually arrive in July
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan experienced its “wettest April since 1961,” receiving more than twice as much rain as usual for the month, the country’s weather agency said in a report.
April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, “excessively above” the normal average of 22.5 millimeters, Pakistan’s metrology department said late Friday in its monthly climate report.
There were at least 144 deaths in thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in what the report said was the “wettest April since 1961.”
Pakistan is increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable weather, as well as often destructive monsoon rains that usually arrive in July.
In the summer of 2022, a third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains that displaced millions of people and cost the country $30 billion in damage and economic losses, according to a World Bank estimate.
“Climate change is a major factor that is influencing the erratic weather patterns in our region,” Zaheer Ahmad Babar, spokesperson for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said while commenting on the report.
While much of Asia is sweltering dure to heat waves, Pakistan’s national monthly temperature for April was 23.67 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit) 0.87 degrees lower than the average of 24.54, the report noted.
Students erect pro-Palestinian camp at Ireland’s Trinity College
DUBLIN: Students at Trinity College Dublin protesting Israel’s war in Gaza have built an encampment that forced the university to restrict campus access on Saturday and close the Book of Kells exhibition, one of Ireland’s top tourist attractions.
The camp was set up late on Friday after Trinity College’s students’ union said it had been fined 214,000 euros ($230,000) by the university for financial losses incurred due to protests in recent months not exclusively regarding the war in Gaza.
Students’ union President Laszlo Molnarfia posted a photograph of benches piled up in front of the entrance to the building where the Book of Kells is housed on the X social media platform on Friday. The illuminated manuscript book was created by Celtic monks in about 800 A.D..
“The Book of Kells is now closed indefinitely,” he said in the post.
Trinity College said it had restricted access to the campus to students, staff and residents to ensure safety and that the Book of Kells exhibition would be closed on Saturday.
Similar to the student occupations sweeping US campuses, protesters at Trinity College are demanding that Ireland’s oldest university cut ties with Israeli universities and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Protests at universities elsewhere have included Australia and Canada.
In a statement last week, the head of the university, Linda Doyle, said Trinity College’s was reviewing its investments in a portfolio of companies and that decisions on whether to work with Israeli institutions rested with individual academics.
More than
34,600 Palestinians
have been killed in Israel’s seven-month-old assault on the Gaza Strip, say health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Ireland has long been a champion of Palestinian rights, and the government has pledged to formally recognize Palestine as a state soon.
($1 = 0.9295 euros)
