Politics over Hyderabad: Amit Shah leads ‘Liberation Day’ as KCR leads ‘National Integration Day’

News Network
September 17, 2022

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New Delhi, Sept 17: Hyderabad today celebrates, depending one's political persuasion, the state's 'integration' to the Indian Union or 'liberation' from the rule of the Nizam. While Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR celebrates 'Telangana National Integration Day', a few kilometers away Union Home Minister Amit Shah is celebrating the same historical event but under a slightly different name: 'Hyderabad Liberation Day'.

A day that marks the integration of Hyderabad state to the Indian Union in 1948 bears witness to what a combative KCR calls the BJP's "divisive agenda". The BJP's political ambitions are not lost on anyone: with a weakened Congress unable to challenge the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the BJP sees a glimmering opportunity in Telangana.

Instances of the Centre and state not seeing eye-to-eye have become more common in recent months, however, today's events are significant. While Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao raised the national flag in Public Gardens, Nampally celebrating 'Telangana National Integration Day', 7 km away from him at Secunderabad, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also unfurl the national flag marking 'Hyderabad Liberation Day'.

KCR, who declined an invite to Amit Shah's event today, asked why the BJP was not celebrating the integration of Gujarat's Junagadh to India on November 9 and only "wants to focus on Hyderabad".

BJP's attempts at outdoing KCR are apparent as they one-up the TRS's three-day festival with a year-long celebration of Hyderabad's integration, which has been tagged alongside the central government's ongoing "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav".

This aggressive competitive politics being played out today as the two leaders address separate public rallies and carry out independent celebrations.

KCR's three-day celebration of Telangana National Integration Day, which began yesterday with rallies being taken out by students, women and youth groups in constituency headquarters, has included him unfurling the national flag at the Central Lawns in Nampally's Public Gardens today. Simultaneously, ministers also unfurled the national flag and took salute at all district headquarters.

There will also be a rally taken out displaying Girijan and Adivasi artifacts which will culminate in a public meeting. Tomorrow, cultural programmes will be organised, and freedom fighters and artists will be facilitated.

On the other hand, Amit Shah's day-long visit for 'Hyderabad Liberation Day includes floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the first Home Minister of India who had unfurled the national flag after Hyderabad acceded to India.

Amit Shah was joined by the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Both states include parts that ceded from the former Hyderabad state. Another important aspect that the two states share is that they are governed by the BJP.

A cultural programme follows Mr Shah's unfurling of the national flag at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad. Additionally, at 2 pm, Mr Shah will distribute "free divyang aids, appliances ... and mechanised sanitation equipment to schools" at Classic Gardens, Secunderabad to mark Narendra Modi's birthday.

This is not the first time that the BJP has weaponised Hyderabad Liberation Day against the TRS. They have for years accused KCR's party of not celebrating the day, alleging that it was engaging in "vote-bank politics".

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News Network
November 10,2024

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The media office in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war since last October, says as many as 188 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the onset of the brutal military onslaught.

The office provided the figure on Saturday, naming four journalists as the most recent victims of the onslaught.

It identified the foursome as Zahraa Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Ahmad Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Mustafa Khadr Bahar, and Abdel Rahman Khadr Bahar.

The office said it “strongly condemns the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation and holds it fully responsible for committing this heinous crime.”

“We call on the international community, international organizations, and those involved in journalistic work worldwide to take action against the occupation, pursue it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and pressure it to halt the genocide and the targeted killings of Palestinian journalists,” it said.

Earlier in the day, the office said the Israeli regime had bombed the tents sheltering journalists and displaced persons at the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the ninth consecutive time.

The atrocity that claimed the lives of two people and injured 26 others came as part of “the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army against hospitals, civilians, and displaced persons,” it said.

The media office held the regime and the United States, its biggest ally, as well as other countries aiding the genocide fully responsible for such systematic crimes.

At least 43,552 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 102,765 others wounded since the launch of the war that followed a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

The fatalities include 44 people, who were killed across the coastal sliver, in the most recent phase of the military onslaught.

As many as 24 of the victims were killed in the northern part of the territory, where the regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks for weeks.

They included an eight-year-old child and a five-year-old one, who lost their lives after Israeli warplanes targeted a group of minors filling up jerry cans with water alongside their mother at the Jabalia Refugee camp.

Gaza’s heath ministry, meanwhile, said a number of victims remained under the rubble and in the streets following Israeli airstrikes, saying ambulances and civil defense teams could not reach them due to the sheer extent of the destruction caused by the raids and obstruction caused by the regime.

Also on Saturday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, a United Nations-backed assessment, warned that famine was looming in northern Gaza amid escalated Israeli aggression and the regime’s near-total siege of the targeted areas.

The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip."

On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing "catastrophic" food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.

The IPC report classified that figure as Phase 5 -- a situation when "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident."

The Israeli military, however, questioned the report's credibility.

"To date, all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground," the army said in a statement, denouncing "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests."

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News Network
November 21,2024

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Hamas says the Israeli regime’s sole objective lies in “erasing” the entirety of the Palestinian population from across the Palestinian territories.

Khalil al-Hayya, a ranking official with the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement, made the remarks to the Palestinian al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

“The occupation targets everyone—it strikes hospitals, civil defense, women, children, and the elderly,” he said, adding that the regime sought to “empty Gaza of its residents, and displace the Palestinian people to fulfill its dreams of building a Zionist Jewish state across all of Palestine.”

The remarks came amid the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide on the coastal sliver that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“This unprecedented aggression in modern times evokes scenes from the dark ages of human history, having crossed all red lines and exceeded every expectation of brutality in the modern era,” the Palestinian official lamented.

He also regretted that the regime had added “systematic and dangerous starvation to its aggression, falsely claiming before the world that it allows 250 [aid] trucks into Gaza daily. In reality, the number of trucks is far fewer.”

Hayya, meanwhile, regretted that “scenes of children torn apart, women screaming over their children, and heart-wrenching destruction have failed to stir enough humanity to stop these crimes.”

He decried the United States for vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that are aimed at bringing about a potential ceasefire in the war, saying this indicated Washington’s “partnership in the aggression” and a simultaneous siege that the Israeli regime has been enforcing on Gaza.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official asserted that, despite what the Israeli official is after, Hamas would not hand over the regime’s captives “without [the regime’s] stopping the war.”

He called Netanyahu “the main obstacle” in the way of cessation of the aggression, saying the Israeli premier “blocks any progress for political reasons,” and citing his preventing conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in July.

Hayya also warned that the regime sought to expand the war beyond Gaza, but asserted that its goals are “impossible and will never happen.”

“Today, the enemy exposes its true intentions of extermination and displacement, but it will fail,” he stressed.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and will not surrender, as they believe in their humanitarian and political cause. The enemy and its allies will not succeed in achieving their goals. This steadfast people will endure, and the occupation will not prevail against them.”

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News Network
November 10,2024

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Mangaluru: A tragic accident took place on Saturday at Chembugudde near Thokkottu, claiming the life of a 47-year-old woman after a tanker lorry ran over her. The victim, identified as Rahmat H Rashid, was riding pillion with her husband, Abdul Rashid G, on their scooter. 

The couple was traveling from Yenepoya Hospital to Bajpe when the scooter skidded on the poorly maintained road. Rahmat fell onto the road and was fatally struck by a tanker lorry that was coming from behind. Despite being rushed to the hospital, doctors declared her dead upon arrival.

The incident prompted a swift response from the DYFI Ullal Taluk Committee, which staged a protest on Saturday night, condemning the unsafe condition of the road. Nithin Kuthar, president of the committee, criticized MLA and Legislative Assembly Speaker UT Khader for failing to ensure safe infrastructure, despite touting the road as toll-free. 

Kuthar demanded immediate repairs, warning that the committee would march to the MLA’s office with black flags if the road is not fixed within a week.

Former DYFI State President Sunil Kumar Bajal also voiced frustration over the deteriorating condition of Thokkottu market, highlighting the struggles people face while crossing roads riddled with dangerous potholes. In response to public outcry, temporary repairs were made to the road at Chembugudde on Sunday, though locals remain wary and demand a more permanent solution. 

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