Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts
Monday, August 5, 2024
Sunday, May 23, 2021
IRAN,GAZA relations
Iran unveils long range combat drone named it "Gaza" It can carry 500 kgs of pay load with 13 bombs and can fly non stop for 35 hours 2000 kgs
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Human rights situation in Kashmir
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Srinagar, June 02 : In Kashmir, two human rights Groups filed a petition in State Human Rights Commission seeking re-investigation in 2,683 FIRs related to unidentified dead bodies buried in different unmarked graves in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora in North Kashmir.
In the petition filed by International Peoples Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK) and Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), it has been submitted that the HRC should re-investigate these 2,683 FIRs to ascertain how many bodies are buried in the graves as per these FIRS.
“Besides, we have asked that the HRC direct for identifying the places of burial of these unidentified people registered in these 2,683 FIRs registered in 28 different police stations. Ascertain what procedures have been followed for the burial of these unidentified persons and also investigate what identification profile has been maintained for these unidentified persons registered in these 2683 FIRs by the concerned police’, Convener, IPTK, Khurram Parvez, told media men.
He said: “In the report from the inquiry conducted by the Police Investigation Wing of SHRC, the Police have stated that there are only 464 unidentified graves in north Kashmir. However, the records recently acquired through the RTI procedure suggests that there are 2,683 FIRs filed in various Police Stations of Baramulla, Kupwara, and Bandipora.”
It merits mentioning here that, the HRC of Kashmir, which is also hearing a petition related to unmarked mass graves in occupied Kashmir including Poonch and Rajouri on May 28, gave final opportunity to the authorities to file their reports within a month about the presence of such graves in Poonch and Rajouri areas of the Kashmir, failing which the Commission shall order an independent and impartial enquiry into the issue by next date.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Beijing, Islamabad reject reports : Chinese Troops In PaK?
Beijing/Islamabad, Apr 7: China and Pakistan Thursday dismissed as “baseless” reports about the presence of Chinese troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APaK).
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told a media briefing in Beijing that “the reports are baseless and ridiculous.” In Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua told a weekly news briefing that there was no basis for the reports.
“This is the most absurd piece of information I have heard. It is totally baseless,” she said. Janjua was responding to a question about India’s External Affairs Ministry seeking a report from the Defense Ministry about the presence of Chinese soldiers along the LoC.
The media reports had quoted Northern Command chief Lt Gen K T Parnaik as saying that Chinese troops were present along the LoC and posed a military challenge to India. He had also expressed concern over the presence of Chinese military in the region as “too close for comfort”.
Parnaik had said: “Chinese presence in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Northern Areas is increasing steadily.
There are many people who are concerned about the fact that if there was to be hostility between us and Pakistan, what would be the complicity of Chinese.”
“Not only they are in the neighborhood but the fact that they are actually present and stationed along the LoC,” Parnaik said addressing a seminar in Jammu last week.
In New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs has sought a report from Defense Ministry on the issue.
This is not the first time China has dismissed such reports.
Last year, China officially clarified to India that some of its personnel were present in Azad Jammy and Kashmir to render flood relief assistance amid reports in the American media about the presence of large number of Chinese troops in Gilgit-Baltistan areas.
India has also time and again conveyed its concerns over the presence of Chinese personnel working in different projects in AJK as it was a disputed territory.
The issue reportedly figured during the last December visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to New Delhi. Fresh Indian concerns over the issue and the reported observations of the top Indian General comes ahead of the scheduled bi-lateral meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) summit at the Chinese resort of Sanya on April 13-14.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told a media briefing in Beijing that “the reports are baseless and ridiculous.” In Islamabad, Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua told a weekly news briefing that there was no basis for the reports.
“This is the most absurd piece of information I have heard. It is totally baseless,” she said. Janjua was responding to a question about India’s External Affairs Ministry seeking a report from the Defense Ministry about the presence of Chinese soldiers along the LoC.
The media reports had quoted Northern Command chief Lt Gen K T Parnaik as saying that Chinese troops were present along the LoC and posed a military challenge to India. He had also expressed concern over the presence of Chinese military in the region as “too close for comfort”.
Parnaik had said: “Chinese presence in Gilgit-Baltistan and the Northern Areas is increasing steadily.
There are many people who are concerned about the fact that if there was to be hostility between us and Pakistan, what would be the complicity of Chinese.”
“Not only they are in the neighborhood but the fact that they are actually present and stationed along the LoC,” Parnaik said addressing a seminar in Jammu last week.
In New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs has sought a report from Defense Ministry on the issue.
This is not the first time China has dismissed such reports.
Last year, China officially clarified to India that some of its personnel were present in Azad Jammy and Kashmir to render flood relief assistance amid reports in the American media about the presence of large number of Chinese troops in Gilgit-Baltistan areas.
India has also time and again conveyed its concerns over the presence of Chinese personnel working in different projects in AJK as it was a disputed territory.
The issue reportedly figured during the last December visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to New Delhi. Fresh Indian concerns over the issue and the reported observations of the top Indian General comes ahead of the scheduled bi-lateral meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) summit at the Chinese resort of Sanya on April 13-14.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Why America loves Israel and hates Iran
[Photo by www.sodahead.com/]
By announcing fresh sanctions against Iran the UN Security Council
has once again displayed a kind of motivated obstinacy which makes one
suspect that it is not really serious about establishing peace in the
region. But then the UN rarely exudes neutrality. It has always been
subservient to American interests, particularly the pro-Israel US
foreign policy that has kept West Asia on the boil ever since the
creation of the Zionist state.
On the face of it, it may appear strange that the US-controlled
Security Council should let go of the historic opportunity offered by
the Turkish-Brazilian initiative to amicably resolve the Iran imbroglio.
But West Asia watchers know that US response to Iran’s nuclear program
cannot be seen in isolation because it is dictated by the US-Israeli
relationship which again is not a mere political alliance but a
symbiotic bond firmly secured by Judeo-Christian theology.
An analysis of the U.S. political scene would reveal that it is the
Evangelical Right, also known as the Christian Zionists, led by
extremist televangelists such as John Hagee, Jerry Falwell and Pat
Robertson, who, along with the Jewish lobby, call the shots, in so far
as the U.S. Middle East policy is concerned. It must, however, be said
that mainstream Christianity (including the Catholic Church) does not
identify itself with the fanatical beliefs of Evangelical Right such as
those discussed below.
In a recent article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz titled Why
Christian Zionists really support Israel Hagee wrote; “Our support for
Israel starts with God’s promises in the Hebrew Bible, but it does not
end there. Christian Zionists recognize that we owe an enormous debt of
gratitude to the Jewish people. As I have stressed to my Christian
audiences for years: If you take away the Jewish contribution to
Christianity, there would be no Christianity.” (http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/why-christian-zionists-really-suppor...).
By “God’s promises” Hagee is actually referring to the deliberate
misrepresentations of certain biblical verses. One such verse promises
Prophet Abraham and his descendants the land “from the river of Egypt as
far as the great river, the Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18). In another one
God offers to give Abraham and his “seed” after him the entire land of
Canaan (Palestine) “for an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8). It
may be noted here that according to the Old Testament the Arabs and the
Jews are the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael and Isaac
respectively which, hypothetically speaking, makes them the joint owners
of the “promised land.”
But for obvious reasons the Zionists and their Christian supporters
do not recognise Ishmael as the legitimate son of Abraham as he was born
to a “slave woman” named Hagar, the handmaiden of Sarah, the first wife
of Abraham and the mother of Isaac (Genesis 16:1-6). This divide was
further aggravated by St.Paul who advised the Christians saying, “Now
you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son
born in the ordinary way [Ishmael] persecuted the son born by the power
of the Spirit [Isaac]. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture
say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son
will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.’”
(Galatians 4:28-31).
It is therefore the belief of the Christians Zionists that the
occupation of all Arab lands by the Jews (in fulfillment of the prophesy
in Genesis 15:18), after driving out the children of the “slave woman”,
is a prelude to the Second Coming of Christ and Armageddon, the
biblical concept of the last battle between the Good and the Evil before
the day of Judgment (Ezekiel 38-39). It is in this context that the US
attitude to Iran must be seen and understood, and once again John Hagee
personifies this extremist mindset. In his provocative book Jerusalem
Countdown Hagee advocates a war on Iran saying; “The rise of terrorism
in our world and the emerging crisis in the Middle East between Israel
and Iran are part of a much bigger picture – that of God’s plan for the
future of Israel and the entire world. We are going to discover we are
facing a countdown in the Middle East – the Jerusalem Countdown, a
battle such as the world has never seen or will ever see again.”
But what many Israelis are unaware of is that the Zionist Christians
are not exactly honest in their support for their country. They have
their own hidden religious agenda according to which, Jesus in his
second mission will convert all the Jews to Christianity, and therefore,
to hasten this process all must be done to help the Jews take over the
Arab lands between Nile and Euphrates. This belief is based on a
statement in Mathew 23:39 in which Jesus is quoted as saying, “For I
tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord.’” As Jesus was speaking to a Jewish
audience at that time the Zionist Christians interpret this statement as
having one meaning: for Jesus to make a second appearance all Jews must
be converted to Christianity.
No wonder Hagee was forced to clarify in his aforementioned article
that, “I am not at all surprised that many in the Jewish community are
skeptical of Christian support for Israel. Some worry that our efforts
are motivated by a desire to convert Jews. Others posit that our Zionism
is tied to an effort to speed the second coming of Jesus. Both of these
allegations are flat wrong. All we ask of our Jewish friends is that
they get to know us before they judge us harshly on the basis of myths
such as these.”
It is a strange paradox that, on the one hand we have the Christian
Zionists supporting Israel with financial, moral and military aid in the
dogmatic hope of one day converting all the Jews to Christianity, and
on the other, we see the cunning Zionists - who never accepted Jesus as
their Messiah - successfully manipulating the Christian Right using
their own Bible to further their diabolical expansionist agenda. The
ultimate victims of this unholy scheming between two Machiavellian
religious groups are the innocent Palestinians who have been rendered
refugees in their own homeland.
(The author is the Secretary General of Forum for the Promotion of Moderate Thought Among Muslims. He may be reached at faizz@rocketmail.com).
Thursday, December 16, 2010
‘UN indirectly supported terrorist attacks in Tehran’
TEHRAN, Dec 16: - An Iranian official has said that the United Nations has become corrupt and the organization indirectly supported the recent terrorist attacks in Tehran, reports Tehran Times (16/12).
The UN structure has become corrupt, and the UN in some way approved of the recent terrorist attacks in Tehran, and of course, this ignominy will never be forgotten, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the secretary general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, told reporters in Tehran on Monday.
On November 29, two prominent physicists were targeted by terrorists in two separate bombings. Professor Majid Shahriari was killed and Professor Fereydoun Abbasi Davani was injured in the attacks. The two academics were both on their way to work at Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran when they were attacked. The police say that in both incidents, terrorists riding motorcycles attached magnetic bombs to the physicists’ cars.
Larijani said defending terrorists is the most ignoble corruption, but this corrupt practice has pervaded the international organizations that claim to be advocates of human rights.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he stated that some people have received international awards in the area of human rights, even though they have not contributed to the promotion of human rights at all.
For example, Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts to promote democracy and human rights, while she had not made any efforts toward these ends, he noted.
Commenting on the post-election incidents in 2009, Larijani said some reformists tried to stage a coup d’etat in Iran, and the West, under the pretext of defending human rights, supported them.
In 2009, some protests were held in Iran and some of them turned into violent scenes in which 21 police officers and 13 civilians were killed, he stated.
At that time, many countries accused Iran of committing human rights violations, he said. However, over the past few weeks, the British police have harshly cracked down on students protesting against the government’s plans to increase university tuition fees, he pointed out.
Yet no country has criticized the British government for the clampdown, he stated.And the claims that the West has never violated human rights but Iran is a violator of human rights are totally untrue, he added
Monday, November 22, 2010
Kashmiri leaders plan visit to China, IRAN
Srinagar, Nov 21: Encouraged by China and Iran’s
recent stand on Kashmir, both factions of Hurriyat Conference are
planning to visit the two countries to mobilize their ‘permanent’
diplomatic support towards resolution of the Kashmir issue.
As part of the process, the chairmen of the two factions will meet the
envoys of the two countries during their scheduled visits to New Delhi
in coming days.
“A visit to Iran and China will not only strengthen our movement on diplomatic front but will help us to garner more international support for resolution of Kashmir issue. Like Pakistan, we have to garner support from these countries to pressurise India to resolve the Kashmir issue amicably and according to UN resolutions,” Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani told Rising Kashmir.
He said during his planned visit to New Delhi he would be meeting the envoys of China and Iran. “I would meet the ambassadors of the two countries to formulate a proper mechanism for a formal visit,” Geelani said adding, “A permanent support for the implementation of UN resolutions will strengthen our long-pending demand for Right to Self Determination to allow Kashmiris to determine their fate”.
He, however, said any visit to these countries will be subject to the issuance of travel documents by the Indian authorities.
The Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also said that his conglomerate is working on diplomatic front for such a visit. “International support for Kashmir is must and we will surely visit these countries whenever such an opportunity comes. We are working on such things and as a first step we would be meeting the envoys of China and Iran during my scheduled visit to Indian capital in the coming weeks,” Mirwaiz said.
He said China’s stand on Kashmir has always been encouraging and the recent statement by Iranian spiritual leader on Kashmir is a beginning of support building process on international level for resolution of Kashmir issue. “To garner the support permanently, visits to these countries is necessary and must,” he said.
The Hurriyat (M) chairman said the senior conglomerate leader Aga Syed Hassan has been frequently visiting Iran, apprising its leaders about the Kashmir situation and its implications on the peace and stability of the region.
He said he has a standing invitation from a Chinese NGO and plans to visit Iran as well in the near future.
“A visit to Iran and China will not only strengthen our movement on diplomatic front but will help us to garner more international support for resolution of Kashmir issue. Like Pakistan, we have to garner support from these countries to pressurise India to resolve the Kashmir issue amicably and according to UN resolutions,” Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani told Rising Kashmir.
He said during his planned visit to New Delhi he would be meeting the envoys of China and Iran. “I would meet the ambassadors of the two countries to formulate a proper mechanism for a formal visit,” Geelani said adding, “A permanent support for the implementation of UN resolutions will strengthen our long-pending demand for Right to Self Determination to allow Kashmiris to determine their fate”.
He, however, said any visit to these countries will be subject to the issuance of travel documents by the Indian authorities.
The Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also said that his conglomerate is working on diplomatic front for such a visit. “International support for Kashmir is must and we will surely visit these countries whenever such an opportunity comes. We are working on such things and as a first step we would be meeting the envoys of China and Iran during my scheduled visit to Indian capital in the coming weeks,” Mirwaiz said.
He said China’s stand on Kashmir has always been encouraging and the recent statement by Iranian spiritual leader on Kashmir is a beginning of support building process on international level for resolution of Kashmir issue. “To garner the support permanently, visits to these countries is necessary and must,” he said.
The Hurriyat (M) chairman said the senior conglomerate leader Aga Syed Hassan has been frequently visiting Iran, apprising its leaders about the Kashmir situation and its implications on the peace and stability of the region.
He said he has a standing invitation from a Chinese NGO and plans to visit Iran as well in the near future.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Israel is the root cause of global terrorism: Baroness Tonge
Tehran, Nov 16: Liberal Democrat Peer Jenny Tonge says Israel is the cause of global terrorism and problems like Kashmir and Palestine are alienating Muslims all over the world, reports Tehran Times.
Speaking at the Strategic Defense and Security Review on Sunday at the House of Lords in London, she said, “The ill-treatment of Palestinians by Israel is held up as an example of how the West treats Muslims and is at the root cause of terrorism worldwide.”
“Even (the Quartet's Middle East envoy) Tony Blair has now admitted this publicly,” she noted.
Baroness Tonge told the House of Lords that Israel's behavior toward Palestinians goes unchecked, possibly because of “Holocaust guilt” or “the power of the pro-Israel lobby” in the UK and the United States.
Commenting on two unresolved conflicts in the Islamic world, Tonge said, “It is a disgrace to us all that problems such as Kashmir and Palestine are still alienating Muslims all over the world.”
She also attacked Britain’s coalition government for its anti-Iran policies and its close ties with Israel.
She went on say that “cynics might think Britain is at the ready to help Israel attack Iran.”
“Why do we let it continue? Is it Holocaust guilt? We should be guilty -- of course we should. Is it the power of the pro-Israel lobby here and in the USA?”
“Or is it the need, maybe, to have an aircraft carrier called Israel in the Middle East, from which to launch attacks on countries such as Iran? The cynic might think that that is why HMS Ark Royal and the Harriers (fighter jets) can be dispensed with (as part of UK defense cuts) -- (since) we already have a static ‘Ark Royal’ in a strategic position, armed to the teeth and ready to fight, provided that we do not offend Israel,” she said.
Speaking at the Strategic Defense and Security Review on Sunday at the House of Lords in London, she said, “The ill-treatment of Palestinians by Israel is held up as an example of how the West treats Muslims and is at the root cause of terrorism worldwide.”
“Even (the Quartet's Middle East envoy) Tony Blair has now admitted this publicly,” she noted.
Baroness Tonge told the House of Lords that Israel's behavior toward Palestinians goes unchecked, possibly because of “Holocaust guilt” or “the power of the pro-Israel lobby” in the UK and the United States.
Commenting on two unresolved conflicts in the Islamic world, Tonge said, “It is a disgrace to us all that problems such as Kashmir and Palestine are still alienating Muslims all over the world.”
She also attacked Britain’s coalition government for its anti-Iran policies and its close ties with Israel.
She went on say that “cynics might think Britain is at the ready to help Israel attack Iran.”
“Why do we let it continue? Is it Holocaust guilt? We should be guilty -- of course we should. Is it the power of the pro-Israel lobby here and in the USA?”
“Or is it the need, maybe, to have an aircraft carrier called Israel in the Middle East, from which to launch attacks on countries such as Iran? The cynic might think that that is why HMS Ark Royal and the Harriers (fighter jets) can be dispensed with (as part of UK defense cuts) -- (since) we already have a static ‘Ark Royal’ in a strategic position, armed to the teeth and ready to fight, provided that we do not offend Israel,” she said.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Speaking out on Kashmir and Palestine in the US
By :Yasmin Qureshi
Washington, October 10 : The United States has become a battleground for both the struggles of the peoples of Palestine and Kashmir, for freedom from military occupation and for justice. Awareness amongst the US public is broadened as the repression of both struggles grows ever more violent, and meanwhile those wishing to stifle debate on these issues in the US resort to harassment and intimidation.
The same day that renowned activist and writer Arundhati Roy commented that "Kashmir was never an integral part of India," for which her home was later attacked, I was subjected to harassment here in the US while I spoke about the human rights situation in Kashmir. Though not threatened in the way that Roy was, what we both experienced were attempts to silence us. Forces sympathetic to the same right-wing ideology as those who attacked Roy mobilized their ranks by putting out an alert stating: "An Indian Muslim Woman is speaking about azadi [freedom] of Kashmiris and we should protest."
After my presentation at the main public library in San Jose, California last month, I was told by one member of the audience that "You are the very reason why we Hindus hate Muslims," and that comment was followed by many that were worse. I was called an extremist and told "Your presentation is a lie; this is India-bashing." The abuse I received will be familiar to those who have been on the receiving end of the backlash when speaking about the Palestinian cause.
Indeed, a week earlier, Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa was called an extremist by Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz at the Boston Book Festival after she presented well-established facts about Palestine. He resorted to name calling and ad hominem attacks.
Israel and India are often represented in US media as bastions of democracy in the Middle East and South Asia, respectively. Supporters of the policies of both governments delegitimize any resistance or criticism and discourage revelation of the truth through intimidation and personal attacks.
Kashmir is the most militarized zone in the world with close to 700,000 Indian troops. According to Professor Angana Chatterji of the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), between the years of 1989 and 2000, "In Kashmir, 70,000 are dead, over 8,000 have been disappeared and 250,000 have been displaced ... India's military governance penetrates every facet of life. ... The hyper-presence of militarization forms a graphic shroud over Kashmir: detention and interrogation centers, army cantonments, abandoned buildings, bullet holes, bunkers and watchtowers, detour signs, deserted public squares, armed personnel, counter-insurgents and vehicular and electronic espionage" ("Kashmir: A Time For Freedom," Greater Kashmir, 25 September 2010).
Because she has spoken out, Chatterji has become a target of right-wing Hindutva groups -- those espousing an exclusivist Hindu nationalist ideology in India that often denigrates and denies the legitimacy of non-Hindus in India. Hindutva groups in the US and India have attacked her because of her work tracking funding to Hindutva groups from the US after the 2002 pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat and more recently as co-conveyer of the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir. Chatterji told me: "I was threatened with rape by Hindutva groups in 2005. Since announcing the Kashmir Tribunal in April 2008, each time I have entered or left India since, I have been stopped or detained at immigration." Richard Shapiro, her partner and chair and associate professor at CIIS, was banned from entering India on 1 November 2010.
Hindutva groups try to scuttle any broader discussion about human rights violations in Kashmir, the conditional annexation by India in 1947 or right to self-determination by limiting it to the issue of the displacement and killings of the upper caste minority Kashmiri Hindu Pandits in the late 1980s and by insisting that Kashmir is not an international issue.
Similarly, Zionists seeking to draw attention away from Israel's abuses of Palestinians' human rights often focus exclusively on suicide bombings or the rule of Hamas. Their aim is to silence any discussion of the historic Palestinian demands for the implementation of the refugees' right of return, an end to the military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and equality for Palestinian citizens in Israel.
And the front line in the battle to influence US public opinion towards both the Kashmir and Palestine struggles can be found at the university campus.
"There is a well-orchestrated and funded campaign of intimidation and harassment by Zionist and Hindutva groups on campuses to target academics," says Sunaina Maira, Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis campus. Zionist academics tried to pressure the University of California, Berkeley to cancel an event last month titled "What Can American Academia Do to Realize Justice for Palestinians," organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine. In a letter to the school's chancellor, the groups urged him to withdraw official university sponsorship of the event and publicly condemn the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israeli apartheid at the school's campus.
A similar attempt was made in 2006 by Indian American members of AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobby, when they tried to cancel a panel titled "South Asian-Arab solidarity against Israeli apartheid" at Stanford University. The objective was to bring South Asians and Arabs together to take a unified stand against US imperialism and Israeli apartheid and speak up against the Zionist-Hindutva alliances. Despite the attempts by outside groups to stifle free speech, both these events eventually did take place on the campuses and were quite successful.
The attempts to silence those who speak out in the US are not the only thing that Kashmir and Palestine have in common. Both Kashmiris and Palestinians are struggling for justice and freedom against highly-militarized occupations. The recent protests by stone-throwing Kashmiri youth drew comparisons to the first intifada in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
And it is perhaps the linking of these struggles that those who stand in the way of freedom for oppressed peoples fear the most. Notably, Zionists and Hindutva advocates have adopted a similar Islamophobic language and worldview that considers any grievances or struggles by Muslims to be simply a cover for "jihadism" or "wahhabism" and thus justifies treating all such movements for justice -- however they are conducted -- as "terrorist."
While the situations in Kashmir and Palestine are not completely analogous, in recent years India and Israel have fostered political and military links, including arms sales, joint intelligence, trade agreements and cultural exchanges.
Historically India has been supportive of the Palestinian struggle. But in 1992 India established diplomatic relations with Israel and ties were further strengthened in 2000 when India Home Minister L.K. Advani visited Israel; Advani is considered the architect of the rise of the Hindutva movement in the 1980s and '90s. Today India is the largest buyer of Israel's arms and Israel is training Indian military units in "counter-terrorist" tactics and urban warfare to be used against Kashmiris and resistance groups in northeast and central India.
The repressive governments of both India and Israel enjoy a warm relationship with the the US. Bilateral defense ties between US and India -- based on the new strategic realities of Asia -- is one of the objectives of US President Barack Obama's current visit to India, according to the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR), a Washington-based think tank. The US also gives $3 billion in military aid to Israel annually.
Such alliances between states, which aim to perpetuate injustice and maintain regimes that are rejected by those forced to live under them, underscore the need for education and solidarity among supporters of those long denied their freedom, equality and self-determination.
Those in the US who defend the status quo may resort to tactics of intimidation. But just as state repression in Kashmir and Palestine has failed to quell those struggles for freedom, those of us in the US concerned with justice in Palestine and Kashmir -- and the US government's role in each -- will not be intimidated into silence.
The same day that renowned activist and writer Arundhati Roy commented that "Kashmir was never an integral part of India," for which her home was later attacked, I was subjected to harassment here in the US while I spoke about the human rights situation in Kashmir. Though not threatened in the way that Roy was, what we both experienced were attempts to silence us. Forces sympathetic to the same right-wing ideology as those who attacked Roy mobilized their ranks by putting out an alert stating: "An Indian Muslim Woman is speaking about azadi [freedom] of Kashmiris and we should protest."
After my presentation at the main public library in San Jose, California last month, I was told by one member of the audience that "You are the very reason why we Hindus hate Muslims," and that comment was followed by many that were worse. I was called an extremist and told "Your presentation is a lie; this is India-bashing." The abuse I received will be familiar to those who have been on the receiving end of the backlash when speaking about the Palestinian cause.
Indeed, a week earlier, Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa was called an extremist by Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz at the Boston Book Festival after she presented well-established facts about Palestine. He resorted to name calling and ad hominem attacks.
Israel and India are often represented in US media as bastions of democracy in the Middle East and South Asia, respectively. Supporters of the policies of both governments delegitimize any resistance or criticism and discourage revelation of the truth through intimidation and personal attacks.
Kashmir is the most militarized zone in the world with close to 700,000 Indian troops. According to Professor Angana Chatterji of the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), between the years of 1989 and 2000, "In Kashmir, 70,000 are dead, over 8,000 have been disappeared and 250,000 have been displaced ... India's military governance penetrates every facet of life. ... The hyper-presence of militarization forms a graphic shroud over Kashmir: detention and interrogation centers, army cantonments, abandoned buildings, bullet holes, bunkers and watchtowers, detour signs, deserted public squares, armed personnel, counter-insurgents and vehicular and electronic espionage" ("Kashmir: A Time For Freedom," Greater Kashmir, 25 September 2010).
Because she has spoken out, Chatterji has become a target of right-wing Hindutva groups -- those espousing an exclusivist Hindu nationalist ideology in India that often denigrates and denies the legitimacy of non-Hindus in India. Hindutva groups in the US and India have attacked her because of her work tracking funding to Hindutva groups from the US after the 2002 pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat and more recently as co-conveyer of the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir. Chatterji told me: "I was threatened with rape by Hindutva groups in 2005. Since announcing the Kashmir Tribunal in April 2008, each time I have entered or left India since, I have been stopped or detained at immigration." Richard Shapiro, her partner and chair and associate professor at CIIS, was banned from entering India on 1 November 2010.
Hindutva groups try to scuttle any broader discussion about human rights violations in Kashmir, the conditional annexation by India in 1947 or right to self-determination by limiting it to the issue of the displacement and killings of the upper caste minority Kashmiri Hindu Pandits in the late 1980s and by insisting that Kashmir is not an international issue.
Similarly, Zionists seeking to draw attention away from Israel's abuses of Palestinians' human rights often focus exclusively on suicide bombings or the rule of Hamas. Their aim is to silence any discussion of the historic Palestinian demands for the implementation of the refugees' right of return, an end to the military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and equality for Palestinian citizens in Israel.
And the front line in the battle to influence US public opinion towards both the Kashmir and Palestine struggles can be found at the university campus.
"There is a well-orchestrated and funded campaign of intimidation and harassment by Zionist and Hindutva groups on campuses to target academics," says Sunaina Maira, Associate Professor at the University of California, Davis campus. Zionist academics tried to pressure the University of California, Berkeley to cancel an event last month titled "What Can American Academia Do to Realize Justice for Palestinians," organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine. In a letter to the school's chancellor, the groups urged him to withdraw official university sponsorship of the event and publicly condemn the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israeli apartheid at the school's campus.
A similar attempt was made in 2006 by Indian American members of AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobby, when they tried to cancel a panel titled "South Asian-Arab solidarity against Israeli apartheid" at Stanford University. The objective was to bring South Asians and Arabs together to take a unified stand against US imperialism and Israeli apartheid and speak up against the Zionist-Hindutva alliances. Despite the attempts by outside groups to stifle free speech, both these events eventually did take place on the campuses and were quite successful.
The attempts to silence those who speak out in the US are not the only thing that Kashmir and Palestine have in common. Both Kashmiris and Palestinians are struggling for justice and freedom against highly-militarized occupations. The recent protests by stone-throwing Kashmiri youth drew comparisons to the first intifada in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
And it is perhaps the linking of these struggles that those who stand in the way of freedom for oppressed peoples fear the most. Notably, Zionists and Hindutva advocates have adopted a similar Islamophobic language and worldview that considers any grievances or struggles by Muslims to be simply a cover for "jihadism" or "wahhabism" and thus justifies treating all such movements for justice -- however they are conducted -- as "terrorist."
While the situations in Kashmir and Palestine are not completely analogous, in recent years India and Israel have fostered political and military links, including arms sales, joint intelligence, trade agreements and cultural exchanges.
Historically India has been supportive of the Palestinian struggle. But in 1992 India established diplomatic relations with Israel and ties were further strengthened in 2000 when India Home Minister L.K. Advani visited Israel; Advani is considered the architect of the rise of the Hindutva movement in the 1980s and '90s. Today India is the largest buyer of Israel's arms and Israel is training Indian military units in "counter-terrorist" tactics and urban warfare to be used against Kashmiris and resistance groups in northeast and central India.
The repressive governments of both India and Israel enjoy a warm relationship with the the US. Bilateral defense ties between US and India -- based on the new strategic realities of Asia -- is one of the objectives of US President Barack Obama's current visit to India, according to the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR), a Washington-based think tank. The US also gives $3 billion in military aid to Israel annually.
Such alliances between states, which aim to perpetuate injustice and maintain regimes that are rejected by those forced to live under them, underscore the need for education and solidarity among supporters of those long denied their freedom, equality and self-determination.
Those in the US who defend the status quo may resort to tactics of intimidation. But just as state repression in Kashmir and Palestine has failed to quell those struggles for freedom, those of us in the US concerned with justice in Palestine and Kashmir -- and the US government's role in each -- will not be intimidated into silence.
About the Author : Yasmin Qureshi is a San Francisco Bay Area professional and human rights activist involved in social justice movements in South Asia and Palestine. Her article on Kashmir, "Democracy Under the Barrel of a Gun," was published in June 2010 by CounterPunch and ZCommunications.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
IRAN to US: It’s No Pride to Possess 5,000 Bombs!
New York, 23 October: Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again
stole the limelight when he warned that passing tougher UN sanctions
against Iran would shut off all chances for diplomatic engagement
between Iran and the United States and would not prevent Iran from
pursuing its nuclear program. Speaking at a news conference in New York
on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad added that it was “no pride” to the US to
confess of possessing 5000 bombs.
“Experience has proven that sanctions cannot stop the Iranian nation,” Ahmadinejad told reporters at a hotel across from UN headquarters, where a month-long nuclear treaty conference was in its second day. “While we do not welcome sanctions, we do not fear them either,” he said. “It seems to us that the structure of the Security Council is undemocratic and unjust, and is unable to bring about security. ... This Security Council will completely lose its legitimacy.”
Ahmadinejad called the US disclosures Monday about its previously secretive nuclear arsenal “a positive step forward,” but one that still raises questions. “It's no pride to possess 5,000 bombs,” he said. “Now, how can you have the trust of a government that announces 5,000 bombs after 60 years?”
Ahmadinejad argued any new sanctions would mean that US President Barack Obama had given up on his campaign to engage Iran diplomatically.
“We feel that the US government will be damaged, more than us, by those sanctions,” he said. “It's very clear that if the United States starts another sanctions (regime) against Iran, it means that it's the end of Mr. Obama's effort. It means Mr. Obama's submission. It means no change will occur.”
Concerning a possible Israeli attack, Ahmadinejad said that Israel would pay a heavy price if it attacked Lebanon or Syria which he said are capable of bringing the Zionist entity “to its knees.”
“Israel can't do anything against Iran … However, as far as Palestine's Gaza, Lebanon and Syria are concerned, we will fully defend them and support them,” Ahmadinejad said. “Lebanon and Syria are already capable of confronting Israel to bring it to its knees,” he added.
The Iranian president reminded reporters that the Zionist regime was defeated by Hezbollah alone. “It is obvious that it would face the worst defeat if” it attacked Lebanon and Syria. He called Israel a militaristic state imposed on the Middle East by the West and said it would self-destruct if it launched any new wars in the region.
Arab countries sought also to turn attention to Israel on Tuesday as delegates from 189 countries debated how to stem the spread of nuclear weapons. On the second day of the month-long meeting at the United Nations, Arab countries reiterated calls for a nuclear-free Middle East with criticism of Israel's unacknowledged nuclear arsenal and failure to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh expressed frustration at the lack of progress on implementing a nuclear-free Middle East, a goal that was declared in a resolution of a previous meeting of NPT signatories. He said that Israel's failure to sign the NPT and allow international monitoring of its nuclear program "renders the NPT a source of instability in the Middle East."
Egypt has proposed that this 2010 NPT conference back a plan calling for the start of negotiations next year on such a Mideast zone. The proposal may become a major debating point in the month-long session.
However, the Israeli UN mission declined to comment on the specifics of the conference, but told The Associated Press that Israel's stance on nonproliferation continues to be that an accepted political solution for comprehensive peace in the Middle East should first be reached.
“WHERE IS BUSH TODAY AND WHERE ARE WE?”
In an interview with the Boston Globe on Tuesday Ahmadinejad urged Obama to avoid siding with more hawkish voices in the US against Iran. "He should be very careful not to get entrapped in the web laid by radicals around him," he said. "If he can't resolve the impasse with Iran, do you think he can resolve the problems with Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine?" Ahmadinejad asked, adding that sanctions "will mean the end of his opportunity to improve world affairs."
“Mr. Bush used to pass resolutions against us. Where did it go? Where did it take him? Where are we today and where is he today? Iran is still advancing, and he is gone,” Ahmadinejad stated.
Ahmadinejad also told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that he and Barack Obama would have to refrain from "acting too hastily" if the two sides are to reach agreement on the impasse. "For example, the resolution presented to the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] against Iran in the presence of Mr Obama was a very negative, hasty action that had very negative repercussions in Iran," he said. He was referring to a November 2009 resolution adopted by the UN nuclear agency that criticized Iran for defying a UN Security Council ban on nuclear enrichment. The resolution also rebuked Tehran for secretly building a uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom. "The resolution was not based on any legal or lawful framework but surely a politicized act ... It reduced public confidence in the negotiation process in Iran."
The NPT is formally reviewed every five years at a meeting of treaty members — which include all the world's nations except India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, all of which either have confirmed or are believed to have nuclear weapons.
“Experience has proven that sanctions cannot stop the Iranian nation,” Ahmadinejad told reporters at a hotel across from UN headquarters, where a month-long nuclear treaty conference was in its second day. “While we do not welcome sanctions, we do not fear them either,” he said. “It seems to us that the structure of the Security Council is undemocratic and unjust, and is unable to bring about security. ... This Security Council will completely lose its legitimacy.”
Ahmadinejad called the US disclosures Monday about its previously secretive nuclear arsenal “a positive step forward,” but one that still raises questions. “It's no pride to possess 5,000 bombs,” he said. “Now, how can you have the trust of a government that announces 5,000 bombs after 60 years?”
Ahmadinejad argued any new sanctions would mean that US President Barack Obama had given up on his campaign to engage Iran diplomatically.
“We feel that the US government will be damaged, more than us, by those sanctions,” he said. “It's very clear that if the United States starts another sanctions (regime) against Iran, it means that it's the end of Mr. Obama's effort. It means Mr. Obama's submission. It means no change will occur.”
Concerning a possible Israeli attack, Ahmadinejad said that Israel would pay a heavy price if it attacked Lebanon or Syria which he said are capable of bringing the Zionist entity “to its knees.”
“Israel can't do anything against Iran … However, as far as Palestine's Gaza, Lebanon and Syria are concerned, we will fully defend them and support them,” Ahmadinejad said. “Lebanon and Syria are already capable of confronting Israel to bring it to its knees,” he added.
The Iranian president reminded reporters that the Zionist regime was defeated by Hezbollah alone. “It is obvious that it would face the worst defeat if” it attacked Lebanon and Syria. He called Israel a militaristic state imposed on the Middle East by the West and said it would self-destruct if it launched any new wars in the region.
Arab countries sought also to turn attention to Israel on Tuesday as delegates from 189 countries debated how to stem the spread of nuclear weapons. On the second day of the month-long meeting at the United Nations, Arab countries reiterated calls for a nuclear-free Middle East with criticism of Israel's unacknowledged nuclear arsenal and failure to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh expressed frustration at the lack of progress on implementing a nuclear-free Middle East, a goal that was declared in a resolution of a previous meeting of NPT signatories. He said that Israel's failure to sign the NPT and allow international monitoring of its nuclear program "renders the NPT a source of instability in the Middle East."
Egypt has proposed that this 2010 NPT conference back a plan calling for the start of negotiations next year on such a Mideast zone. The proposal may become a major debating point in the month-long session.
However, the Israeli UN mission declined to comment on the specifics of the conference, but told The Associated Press that Israel's stance on nonproliferation continues to be that an accepted political solution for comprehensive peace in the Middle East should first be reached.
“WHERE IS BUSH TODAY AND WHERE ARE WE?”
In an interview with the Boston Globe on Tuesday Ahmadinejad urged Obama to avoid siding with more hawkish voices in the US against Iran. "He should be very careful not to get entrapped in the web laid by radicals around him," he said. "If he can't resolve the impasse with Iran, do you think he can resolve the problems with Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine?" Ahmadinejad asked, adding that sanctions "will mean the end of his opportunity to improve world affairs."
“Mr. Bush used to pass resolutions against us. Where did it go? Where did it take him? Where are we today and where is he today? Iran is still advancing, and he is gone,” Ahmadinejad stated.
Ahmadinejad also told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that he and Barack Obama would have to refrain from "acting too hastily" if the two sides are to reach agreement on the impasse. "For example, the resolution presented to the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] against Iran in the presence of Mr Obama was a very negative, hasty action that had very negative repercussions in Iran," he said. He was referring to a November 2009 resolution adopted by the UN nuclear agency that criticized Iran for defying a UN Security Council ban on nuclear enrichment. The resolution also rebuked Tehran for secretly building a uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom. "The resolution was not based on any legal or lawful framework but surely a politicized act ... It reduced public confidence in the negotiation process in Iran."
The NPT is formally reviewed every five years at a meeting of treaty members — which include all the world's nations except India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, all of which either have confirmed or are believed to have nuclear weapons.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Press TV banned in Kashmir
By: Johan Simith
Srinagar, Sept 14: Indian authorities on Monday banned the Iran based world's famous TV cannel Press TV which had aired a clip about alleged desecration of holy Quran in United States yesterday.
Addressing a news conference here, the Chief Secretary, S S Kapur today said the Government of India as well as State Government had condemned the proposed move of Pastor Terry Jones to desecrate holy Quran. The good sense prevailed with intervention of concerned authorities of United States that Pastor Terry Jones cancelled forever the proposed condemnable action. He quoted news item of Press TV where it was Pastor Terry Jones was quoted saying. However, Chief Secretary said that it was surprising that only this Television Channel “Press TV” based in Iran, one unknown individual was shown without verification or any authenticity desecrating holy Quran, which seems to be deliberate act and conspiracy to instigate innocent sentiments of people.
He said that he verified from Broadcasting Ministry, Government of India, the authenticity of the “Press TV”. He was informed that this channel is not at all listed among registered channels being aired in India.
He said, therefore, the District Magistrate Srinagar has been asked to issue orders for immediate banning of the un-authorized channel. He said that no other reliable channel of world or of India had aired such commendable images of desecration.
He said that even if such act has occurred at any individual level it is an act which is strongly condemnable and provoking the sentiments of innocent people by deliberate telecasting such images are also against the ethics.
Describing the report of the said channel as totally against the public interest, the Chief Secretary said that this unauthorised and unregistered channel (Press TV) has been banned in all other districts of the state forthwith. He said it seems from the reports of the channel that there is a game plan to provoke and incite the sentiments of people to achieve their nefarious designs.
Kapur also appealed the media to extend their cooperation to the administration in arresting such rumours being aired to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the State.
The Chief Secretary further said that as a result of these rumours, a violent mob of people set ablaze a building of the branch of Tyndale Biscoe School at Tangmarg. He said peaceful demonstrations were also held at Kargil and Budgam.
Addressing a news conference here, the Chief Secretary, S S Kapur today said the Government of India as well as State Government had condemned the proposed move of Pastor Terry Jones to desecrate holy Quran. The good sense prevailed with intervention of concerned authorities of United States that Pastor Terry Jones cancelled forever the proposed condemnable action. He quoted news item of Press TV where it was Pastor Terry Jones was quoted saying. However, Chief Secretary said that it was surprising that only this Television Channel “Press TV” based in Iran, one unknown individual was shown without verification or any authenticity desecrating holy Quran, which seems to be deliberate act and conspiracy to instigate innocent sentiments of people.
He said that he verified from Broadcasting Ministry, Government of India, the authenticity of the “Press TV”. He was informed that this channel is not at all listed among registered channels being aired in India.
He said, therefore, the District Magistrate Srinagar has been asked to issue orders for immediate banning of the un-authorized channel. He said that no other reliable channel of world or of India had aired such commendable images of desecration.
He said that even if such act has occurred at any individual level it is an act which is strongly condemnable and provoking the sentiments of innocent people by deliberate telecasting such images are also against the ethics.
Describing the report of the said channel as totally against the public interest, the Chief Secretary said that this unauthorised and unregistered channel (Press TV) has been banned in all other districts of the state forthwith. He said it seems from the reports of the channel that there is a game plan to provoke and incite the sentiments of people to achieve their nefarious designs.
Kapur also appealed the media to extend their cooperation to the administration in arresting such rumours being aired to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the State.
The Chief Secretary further said that as a result of these rumours, a violent mob of people set ablaze a building of the branch of Tyndale Biscoe School at Tangmarg. He said peaceful demonstrations were also held at Kargil and Budgam.
He said that contribution of Biscoe School in Educational arena of the state particularly in the valley has always remained remarkable. Therefore, burning the prestigious institution of Tangmarg imparting education to the people of the area is also an unwarranted act.
The Chief Secretary said that the people of the state are facing tremendous problems as a result of turmoil for last several months, therefore, these incidents should not be allowed to flare up to cause further inconvenience to public at large. He added that miscreants should not take law into their hands.(Writer-South Asia)
The Chief Secretary said that the people of the state are facing tremendous problems as a result of turmoil for last several months, therefore, these incidents should not be allowed to flare up to cause further inconvenience to public at large. He added that miscreants should not take law into their hands.(Writer-South Asia)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Dalit Voice
Dalit Voice
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Monday, September 6, 2010
Death toll 79 : 4 more innocent youth martyred in occupied Kashmir
Srinagar, Sep. 06 :
Indian troops and police personnel in their fresh acts of state
terrorism martyred four more innocent Kashmiri youth in Kupwara and
Pattan areas.
The troops martyred three youth at Afroda in Handwara area of Kupwara
during a siege and search operation, which continued till last reports
came in. A 15-year-old boy was martyred when the police personnel fired
on a group of youth at Palhalan in Pattan.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq in a statement issued in Srinagar urged India to release all
the illegally detained innocent Kashmiris before Eid-ul Fitr. He
appealed to the world human rights organisations to send their teams to
take cognisance of the miserable plight of the detainees at different
jails in and outside the territory.
Senior Hurriyet leaders, Syed Ali Gilani and Agha Syed Hassan
Al-Moosvi, in their separate statements in Srinagar strongly condemning
the recent suicide attacks in Pakistan expressed deep grief and shock at
the loss of life in these attacks and sympathy with the families of the
victims. They said that the suicide bombings were the handiwork of the
forces that wanted to destabilize the country.
The Chairman of JKLF-R, Farooq Ahmed Dar, in his statement said that
India would not be able to suppress Kashmiris’ liberation struggle by
resorting to brute force.
A delegation of Al-Ghani Welfare Educational Trust visited different
hospitals in Srinagar and enquired about the health of the people who
were injured by Indian police and troops during the ongoing uprising in
the territory.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Iran army official: Reconciliation plan is a hypocrisy for nations
TEHRAN, August 4: An Iranian senior army official warned reconciliation plan between Palestine and Zionist regime seeks an after-shock in the World of Islam and Palestine, reports ISNA.
"Reconciliation plan is a superficial action to deceive nations and it is a psychological operation launched by the US and Israel," Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff Major General Hassan Firouzabadi told ISNA.
"The US is seeking Zionists' goals through raising the subject of reconciliation plan, so it can be said to be nothing new," he said.
"Zionists have been after confronting Islam, Islamic Ummah and the Islamic World since occupation of Palestinian lands, they expelled Palestinians from their homes to make a country for themselves."
He then added, "Quds Day protest rally sends the signal that the issue of Palestine is the world's primary subjecct."
"It also represents the message that human rights in Palestine are totally violated, Palestinian men, women, youth and children are killed and their homes have been destroyed."
"Today, Zionist regime is a fake one whose leaders admitted that it will be annihilated," he continued.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Zionist regime's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington on September 2 with the US Secretary State Hillary Rodham Clinton also present.
"Reconciliation plan is a superficial action to deceive nations and it is a psychological operation launched by the US and Israel," Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff Major General Hassan Firouzabadi told ISNA.
"The US is seeking Zionists' goals through raising the subject of reconciliation plan, so it can be said to be nothing new," he said.
"Zionists have been after confronting Islam, Islamic Ummah and the Islamic World since occupation of Palestinian lands, they expelled Palestinians from their homes to make a country for themselves."
He then added, "Quds Day protest rally sends the signal that the issue of Palestine is the world's primary subjecct."
"It also represents the message that human rights in Palestine are totally violated, Palestinian men, women, youth and children are killed and their homes have been destroyed."
"Today, Zionist regime is a fake one whose leaders admitted that it will be annihilated," he continued.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Zionist regime's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington on September 2 with the US Secretary State Hillary Rodham Clinton also present.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Iran Shows Off Unmanned, Long-Range Bomber
Tehran, 22 August: Iran's military has unveiled a new unmanned aircraft, saying the drone is capable of carrying out long-range missions.
Iran's military displayed the drone Sunday at a ceremony attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and shown on live television.
Officials told Iran's state-run Press TV that the drone, named the Karrar, meaning "striker", can carry out long-distance bombing runs against ground targets at high speeds.
The Associated Press quoted Mr. Ahmadinejad as saying the new drone was an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies. The Iranian Students News Agency described the unmanned aircraft as a "stealth bomber drone."
Late Saturday, President Ahmadinejad told a group of academics that Iran aims to send Iranian astronauts into space by 2025.
He said the country's next step is to launch satellites to an altitude of 700 kilometers, and then 1,000 kilometers, in the next three years.
On Friday, Iran test-fired a new surface-to-surface missile called the Qiam-1.
Earlier this month, Iran's navy displayed four new Iranian-built submarines, as part of Tehran's efforts to boost its defense capabilities.
Iranian media said the navy now has 11 Ghadir-class stealth submarines that can operate in the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf (also known as the Arabian Gulf).
Western countries are concerned Tehran's ambitious military and space programs may be developing technology to launch nuclear warheads.
Iran's military displayed the drone Sunday at a ceremony attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and shown on live television.
Officials told Iran's state-run Press TV that the drone, named the Karrar, meaning "striker", can carry out long-distance bombing runs against ground targets at high speeds.
The Associated Press quoted Mr. Ahmadinejad as saying the new drone was an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies. The Iranian Students News Agency described the unmanned aircraft as a "stealth bomber drone."
Late Saturday, President Ahmadinejad told a group of academics that Iran aims to send Iranian astronauts into space by 2025.
He said the country's next step is to launch satellites to an altitude of 700 kilometers, and then 1,000 kilometers, in the next three years.
On Friday, Iran test-fired a new surface-to-surface missile called the Qiam-1.
Earlier this month, Iran's navy displayed four new Iranian-built submarines, as part of Tehran's efforts to boost its defense capabilities.
Iranian media said the navy now has 11 Ghadir-class stealth submarines that can operate in the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf (also known as the Arabian Gulf).
Western countries are concerned Tehran's ambitious military and space programs may be developing technology to launch nuclear warheads.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Ceratonia siliqua seeds/plants for sale
Botanical name: Ceratonia siliqua
Family: Fabaceae (pea)
Common names
(Kashmirian) : Wozuj Hemb
Family: Fabaceae (pea)
Common names
(Kashmirian) : Wozuj Hemb
(Arabic) : kharrub
(Catalan) : garrofer, garrover
(English) : carob bean, carob tree, locust bean, St. John’s bread
(French) : caroubier
(German) : johannisbrotbaum, karubenbaum
(Greek) : charaoupi
(Italian) : carrubo
(Malay) : gelenggang
(Mandarin) : chiao-tou-shu
(Portuguese) : alfarrobeira
(Spanish) : algarrobo, garrover
(Thai) : chum het tai
Cultivation details: Requires a very sunny position in any well-drained moderately fertile soil. Does well in calcareous, gravelly or rocky soils. Tolerates salt laden air. Tolerates a pH in the range 6.2 to 8.6. The tree is very drought resistant, thriving even under arid conditions, the roots penetrating deep into the soil to find moisture. This species is not very hardy in Britain but it succeeds outdoors in favoured areas of S. Cornwall, tolerating temperatures down to about -5°c when in a suitable position. The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning sun. The carob is frequently cultivated in warm temperate zones for its edible seed and seed pods. Mature trees in a suitable environment can yield up to 400 kilos of seedpods annually. There are named varieties with thicker pods. Seeds are unlikely to be produced in Britain since the tree is so near (if not beyond) the limits of its cultivation. The seed is very uniform in size and weight, it was the original 'carat' weight of jewellers. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.
(Catalan) : garrofer, garrover
(English) : carob bean, carob tree, locust bean, St. John’s bread
(French) : caroubier
(German) : johannisbrotbaum, karubenbaum
(Greek) : charaoupi
(Italian) : carrubo
(Malay) : gelenggang
(Mandarin) : chiao-tou-shu
(Portuguese) : alfarrobeira
(Spanish) : algarrobo, garrover
(Thai) : chum het tai
Cultivation details: Requires a very sunny position in any well-drained moderately fertile soil. Does well in calcareous, gravelly or rocky soils. Tolerates salt laden air. Tolerates a pH in the range 6.2 to 8.6. The tree is very drought resistant, thriving even under arid conditions, the roots penetrating deep into the soil to find moisture. This species is not very hardy in Britain but it succeeds outdoors in favoured areas of S. Cornwall, tolerating temperatures down to about -5°c when in a suitable position. The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning sun. The carob is frequently cultivated in warm temperate zones for its edible seed and seed pods. Mature trees in a suitable environment can yield up to 400 kilos of seedpods annually. There are named varieties with thicker pods. Seeds are unlikely to be produced in Britain since the tree is so near (if not beyond) the limits of its cultivation. The seed is very uniform in size and weight, it was the original 'carat' weight of jewellers. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.
Propagation: Seed - pre-soak for 24 hours in warm water prior to sowing. If the seed has not swollen then give it another soaking in warm water until it does swell up. Sow in a greenhouse in April. Germination should take place within 2 months. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual deep pots and grow them on in a greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Give them some protection from the cold for their first few winters outdoors.
Quality seed & planting materials availabe for SALE!!!
For further details please write to:
Chenab Industries
Ist Street, Shaheed-e-Azeemat Road, Nambalbal, Pampore PPR J&K 192121
Mailing address: PO Box 667 Srinagar SGR J&K- 190001
Ph: 01933-223705
Call us: 09858986794
e.mail: iirc@rediffmail.com
web: http://chenabindustries.blogspot.com
For further details please write to:
Chenab Industries
Ist Street, Shaheed-e-Azeemat Road, Nambalbal, Pampore PPR J&K 192121
Mailing address: PO Box 667 Srinagar SGR J&K- 190001
Ph: 01933-223705
Call us: 09858986794
e.mail: iirc@rediffmail.com
web: http://chenabindustries.blogspot.com
About our products : Pure
Saffron Bulbs, Crocus sativus Linn, Crataegus oxyacantha Linn berries,
Colchicum, Salvia sclarea, ,Celosia Linn, Pyrethrum,Chilies, Malus
communis, Prunus armeniaca, Prunus serotina, Cedrus deodar, Aeaxulus
indica Colebr, Capsicum annum, Ginkgo biloba Seeds,Wild Cherry, Sweet
Cherry, Pomengranate cuttings, Sweet Appricort, Apple, Kewi, Plum,Lukat,
Peach, Almond, Walnut Grapes, Sweet Chestnut, Ginkgo biloba plants,
Althaea officinalis, cypress cashmiriana seeds, Dioscorea
deltoidea,Sorbus cashmiriana, Beldona seeds etc. etc.
Monday, August 2, 2010
IRAN NEXT SUPER POWER
by Pyotr Goncharov
Srinagar: There are reasons to suspect that Iran's nuclear program is neither peaceful nor civilian. Its Natanz (pictured) facility will have 54,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, and it has already put into operation two cascades with 164 centrifuges each. Iran intends to turn on all of the 54,000 centrifuges.
There are reasons to suspect that Iran's nuclear program is neither peaceful nor civilian. Its Natanz (pictured) facility will have 54,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, and it has already put into operation two cascades with 164 centrifuges each. Iran intends to turn on all of the 54,000 centrifuges. What for? Photo courtesy AFP.
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Dec 29, 2006
Iran may become one of the top 10 features of the outgoing year for a number of reasons, including its nuclear dossier and the Holocaust conference, as well as the anti-Israeli rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In short, Iran has made others view it as a regional superpower and the key player in the Middle East.
Its nuclear program remains the top issue, with good reason, because it threatens the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
If Iran implements its nuclear program in the proclaimed format, namely on the basis of its own uranium enrichment technologies, this will deal a death blow to the NPT. Iran's program will trigger the domino effect, encouraging Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to follow suit.
The bomb is not the issue, as Iran will most likely decide against creating it. But it will hover merely one step away from it, forcing Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to cover the same distance. Tehran promises to share its nuclear technology with Kuwait and Syria, which, taken together with Israel's 200 nuclear charges, will turn the region into a nuclear powder keg.
There are reasons to suspect that Iran's nuclear program is neither peaceful nor civilian. Its Natanz facility will have 54,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, and it has already put into operation two cascades with 164 centrifuges each. Iran intends to turn on all of the 54,000 centrifuges. What for?
Russian nuclear experts say this number will allow Iran to produce its own nuclear fuel for 20 nuclear power units. So far, Iran plans to turn on only one unit, at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russia's technical assistance. The unit is expected to be put into operation in September 2007 and start generating electricity in November. The construction of the other 19 units is not planned so far.
On the other hand, the same experts say, given the political will, the 54,000 centrifuges can be used to create five to seven nuclear charges within two weeks at the most.
Therefore, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cannot issue guarantees of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, although it cannot prove its military goals either. The IAEA has questions to Tehran which it has refused to answer so far, keeping the world on nuclear tenterhooks.
The talks on Iran's nuclear program, as well as endless debates by experts, political analysts and other specialists, have turned into a cliffhanger compounded by Iran's intricate diplomatic embroidery. More than three months have passed since the UN's August 31 deadline, by which Tehran should have stopped work on its first cascade of 164 uranium enrichment centrifuges. Since then, Iran has put into operation a second cascade and announced the intention to increase the number of working centrifuges to 3,000 by March 2007.
It is certainly bluffing, as it does not have the necessary capacity for this. Yet it has played a joke on the UN Security Council no other country has dared to play before.
Ahmadinejad's statements to the effect that "Iran has made a crucial decision and is moving honorably along its chosen path," and that Tehran would consider any Security Council resolution on sanctions as a hostile move are most likely just verbal bravado, which the world has learned to regard calmly.
Tehran fears sanctions, or else why did Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, rush to Moscow shortly before the planned stopover in Moscow by U.S. President George W. Bush? Tehran thought President Bush and Vladimir Putin would discuss the Iranian nuclear dossier, and feared that Bush would convince Putin to vote for harsh sanctions against Iran. Tehran needed Russia's support, and Larijani received it. But nothing lasts forever.
Putin later said that Russia's support to Tehran was aimed at encouraging it to maintain relations with the IAEA so as to clarify the nuclear watchdog's questions and restore the world's trust in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programs. But it appears that Tehran is not willing to resume talks, at least not now.
On December 23, the UN Security Council voted on the Iranian resolution. The permanent members of the council, who form, together with Germany, a six-country group on Iran, have coordinated sanctions against Iran. The resolution proposed by the European Trio, which is negotiating with Iran on behalf of the European Union, differed radically from Russia's stand.
Moscow argued that the sanctions should cover only the areas that worry the IAEA - enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and work on all heavy water-related projects, and the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.
The Security Council heeded the Kremlin's arguments, but future developments are almost impossible to predict, especially considering the "Persian motifs" in Tehran's foreign policy. One way or another, Russia's neighbor, Iran, will continue to play a key role in the region, and this is the main result of the story with its nuclear dossier.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board. Source: RIA Novosti
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Dec 29, 2006
Iran may become one of the top 10 features of the outgoing year for a number of reasons, including its nuclear dossier and the Holocaust conference, as well as the anti-Israeli rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In short, Iran has made others view it as a regional superpower and the key player in the Middle East.
Its nuclear program remains the top issue, with good reason, because it threatens the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
If Iran implements its nuclear program in the proclaimed format, namely on the basis of its own uranium enrichment technologies, this will deal a death blow to the NPT. Iran's program will trigger the domino effect, encouraging Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to follow suit.
The bomb is not the issue, as Iran will most likely decide against creating it. But it will hover merely one step away from it, forcing Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to cover the same distance. Tehran promises to share its nuclear technology with Kuwait and Syria, which, taken together with Israel's 200 nuclear charges, will turn the region into a nuclear powder keg.
There are reasons to suspect that Iran's nuclear program is neither peaceful nor civilian. Its Natanz facility will have 54,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, and it has already put into operation two cascades with 164 centrifuges each. Iran intends to turn on all of the 54,000 centrifuges. What for?
Russian nuclear experts say this number will allow Iran to produce its own nuclear fuel for 20 nuclear power units. So far, Iran plans to turn on only one unit, at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russia's technical assistance. The unit is expected to be put into operation in September 2007 and start generating electricity in November. The construction of the other 19 units is not planned so far.
On the other hand, the same experts say, given the political will, the 54,000 centrifuges can be used to create five to seven nuclear charges within two weeks at the most.
Therefore, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cannot issue guarantees of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, although it cannot prove its military goals either. The IAEA has questions to Tehran which it has refused to answer so far, keeping the world on nuclear tenterhooks.
The talks on Iran's nuclear program, as well as endless debates by experts, political analysts and other specialists, have turned into a cliffhanger compounded by Iran's intricate diplomatic embroidery. More than three months have passed since the UN's August 31 deadline, by which Tehran should have stopped work on its first cascade of 164 uranium enrichment centrifuges. Since then, Iran has put into operation a second cascade and announced the intention to increase the number of working centrifuges to 3,000 by March 2007.
It is certainly bluffing, as it does not have the necessary capacity for this. Yet it has played a joke on the UN Security Council no other country has dared to play before.
Ahmadinejad's statements to the effect that "Iran has made a crucial decision and is moving honorably along its chosen path," and that Tehran would consider any Security Council resolution on sanctions as a hostile move are most likely just verbal bravado, which the world has learned to regard calmly.
Tehran fears sanctions, or else why did Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, rush to Moscow shortly before the planned stopover in Moscow by U.S. President George W. Bush? Tehran thought President Bush and Vladimir Putin would discuss the Iranian nuclear dossier, and feared that Bush would convince Putin to vote for harsh sanctions against Iran. Tehran needed Russia's support, and Larijani received it. But nothing lasts forever.
Putin later said that Russia's support to Tehran was aimed at encouraging it to maintain relations with the IAEA so as to clarify the nuclear watchdog's questions and restore the world's trust in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programs. But it appears that Tehran is not willing to resume talks, at least not now.
On December 23, the UN Security Council voted on the Iranian resolution. The permanent members of the council, who form, together with Germany, a six-country group on Iran, have coordinated sanctions against Iran. The resolution proposed by the European Trio, which is negotiating with Iran on behalf of the European Union, differed radically from Russia's stand.
Moscow argued that the sanctions should cover only the areas that worry the IAEA - enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and work on all heavy water-related projects, and the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.
The Security Council heeded the Kremlin's arguments, but future developments are almost impossible to predict, especially considering the "Persian motifs" in Tehran's foreign policy. One way or another, Russia's neighbor, Iran, will continue to play a key role in the region, and this is the main result of the story with its nuclear dossier.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board. Source: RIA Novosti
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Iran: Kashmir to imbibe concept of revolution from (Son of Kashmir) Ayatollah Khomeini
Srinagar, June 29: To venerate the 19th anniversary of the Grand Ayatollah Imam Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, various functions are being held across disputed state of Kashmir.
Various functions include the seminars, symposiums, recitation competitions and work shops to aware the people about the life of Ayatollah Imam Khomeini especially the concept of revolution.
Different religious organization including Jammu Kashmir Shai Federation, Anjumani Sharee Shian, Ithadul Muslimeen, Idara Nashre Uloome Ahlul-Bayt are busy with the arrangements to observe the 19th anniversary this week.
Various functions include the seminars, symposiums, recitation competitions and work shops to aware the people about the life of Ayatollah Imam Khomeini especially the concept of revolution.
Different religious organization including Jammu Kashmir Shai Federation, Anjumani Sharee Shian, Ithadul Muslimeen, Idara Nashre Uloome Ahlul-Bayt are busy with the arrangements to observe the 19th anniversary this week.
In Srinagar, streets can be seen with the posters of Imam Khomeini of various religious organizations about the date and venue of their functions.
Imam Khomeini memorial lectures will be organized at different local colleges in which number of people including New Delhi-based Cultural Councilor of the Iranian Embassy Najaffi will be the chief guest.
"It is now 19 years since the departure of Imam Khomeini, but his spiritual presence is very much alive and growing around the world", said one of the organizer.
Front ranking freedom organisation All parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is organizing a seminar to highlight the different aspects of the Imam Khomeini (R.A) and the concept of revolution in srinagar.
Similar functions are being held in Baramulla district and Central district of Budgam besides in Kargil.
Khomeini was the main force behind the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and initiator of an Islamic system which has turned into a major political challenge for the West.
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