Jamaat condemns arrest of Jamiat Ulema leader at Delhi airport

Updated 27 March 2014
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Jamaat condemns arrest of Jamiat Ulema leader at Delhi airport

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has strongly condemned the arrest of Maulana Abdul Qavi, vice president of Jamiat Ulema in Hyderabad, at the Delhi airport while he was on way to Deoband.
Jamaat has termed it as the worst example of state terror as well as the injustices and violation of human rights being suffered by Muslims for last several years. Jamaat demanded the government to end such anti-Muslim atrocities.
Nusrat Ali, secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said “leaders of Muslim organizations have been demanding the Central government to stop detention and arrest of Muslims, especially the educated among them, and release the arrested persons and award them proper compensation.”
Police have been continuing the arrest of more and more Muslims, only to terrorize the entire community, ignoring the instructions of Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. The arrest of Maulana Abdul Qavi and some Muslim youths two days earlier in Rajasthan and Delhi was latest example of the continuing state terror against Muslims.
Jamaat’s Secretary General wondered why the government is not trying to understand that this undemocratic and unjustified attitude will only harm the country and its image and will cause shame for the country in the entire world.
He demanded immediate release of Abdul Qavi, legal action against the guilty police officers and full compensation for sullying the image of a Muslim organization and its leader.
He also asked Muslims to collectively protest against the ongoing injustices in the country, not to become victim of fear psychology and counter the conspiracy against the country and community through effective use of laws of the land.
He also advised Muslims to use the collective power of vote in the Lok Sabha elections to defeat those people who have caused problems for the community.


Venezuela to debate historic amnesty bill for political prisoners

Updated 3 sec ago
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Venezuela to debate historic amnesty bill for political prisoners

  • Venezuela could pass a landmark bill on Thursday granting amnesty to political prisoners, marking an early milestone in the transition from the rule of toppled leader Nicolas Maduro
CARACAS:Venezuela could pass a landmark bill on Thursday granting amnesty to political prisoners, marking an early milestone in the transition from the rule of toppled leader Nicolas Maduro.
The legislation, which covers charges used to lock up dissidents under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez, aims to turn the page on nearly three decades of state repression.
It was spearheaded by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who replaced Maduro after he was captured by US forces in Caracas last month and flown to New York to face trial.
Rodriguez took Maduro’s place with the consent of US President Donald Trump, provided she does Washington’s bidding on access to Venezuelan oil and expanding democratic freedoms.
She has already started releasing political prisoners ahead of the pending amnesty. More than 400 people have been released so far, according to rights group Foro Penal, but many more are still behind bars.
Rodriguez also ordered the closure of the notorious Helicoide prison in Caracas, which has been denounced as a torture center by the opposition and activists.
Lawmakers voted last week in favor of the amnesty bill in the first of two debates.
The second debate on Thursday coincides with Youth Day in Venezuela, which is traditionally marked by protests.
Students from the Central University of Venezuela, one of the country’s largest schools and home to criticism of Chavismo, called for a rally on campus.
Venezuela’s ruling party also announced a march in the capital Caracas.
’We deserve peace’
Venezuela’s attorney general said Wednesday that the amnesty — which is meant to clear the rap sheets of hundreds of people jailed for challenging the Maduro regime — must apply to both opposition and government figures.
He urged the United States to release Maduro and his wife, both in detention in New York.
“We deserve peace, and everything should be debated through dialogue,” Attorney General Tarek William Saab told AFP in an interview.
Delcy Rodriguez’s brother Jorge Rodriguez, who presides over the National Assembly, said last week that the law’s approval would trigger the release of all political prisoners.
“Once this law is approved, they will all be released the very same day,” he told prisoners’ families outside the notorious Zona 7 detention center in Caracas.
’We are all afraid’
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa was one of the detainees granted early release.
But he was re-arrested less than 12 hours later and put under house arrest.
Authorities accused him of violating his parole after calling for elections during a visit to Helicoide prison, where he joined a demonstration with the families of political prisoners.
Guanipa is a close ally of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was in hiding for over a year before she fled the country to travel to Oslo to receive the award.
“We are all afraid, but we have to keep fighting so we can speak and live in peace,” Guanipa’s son told reporters outside his home in Maracaibo.