Rajdeep Sardesai, the anchor with India Today TV, lost his cool during his Prime Time show. BJP National Spokesperson Dr Sambit Patra cornered him over giving space to Fawad Chaudhary after which Sardesai abruptly interrupted him and said he ‘does not need certificate’ for his patriotism.
During the conversation with Sambit Patra, Sardesai said that Farooq Abdullah should be treated fairly. Patra questioned him why his Prime Time show gives space to people like Fawad Chaudhry from Pakistan to clarify his stand. He said, “You told me right now that we have to be fair with Farooq Abdullah. Why is it that this show at 9 PM on your channel with you as the host always gives a chance to Fawad Chaudhry from Pakistan to come and clarify his stand? Why you give a chance to Farooq Abdullah to prove he is a nationalist”.
Sardesai got irked by Patra’s statement and interrupted him. He questioned if he should not let Farooq Abdullah speak. When Patra said that the methods in journalism used by Sardesai and his likes are known to the country, Sardesai got even more agitated. He said, “I do not need a certificate of patriotism from you, Dr Patra. I am a patriotic Indian. I am not a political stooge like you.”
Rajdeep Sardesai has an ‘adventurous’ career
This is not the first time Sardesai has been cornered by someone for his way of journalism. When PM Modi was contesting Lok Sabha elections for the first time, Sardesai got into a fight with NRIs and got slapped by one of them. Over the past six years, on several occasions, Sardesai has been wrong in choosing the right side. In October, he gave space to Fawad Chaudhry from Pakistan to clarify his statement on Pulwama for which Sardesai was criticised heavily.
During an interview, he admitted that he was happy when Parliament was attacked as he was getting good content. In an interview, Business tycoon Mukesh Ambani told Sardesai that he does not take him seriously. Former President Pranab Mukherjee once scolded him during an interview as Sardesai interrupted him. Later, Saurav Ganguly mocked him for getting scolded by the former President.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday slammed Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government over the deteriorating coronavirus situation in the national capital.
A Delhi High Court bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad severely criticised the Kejriwal-led government for the rising number of cases in Delhi and asked whether it could explain to people who have lost their relatives to the pandemic in the last 18 days as to why the administration did not take steps when cases were increasing in the city.
The High Court also asked the Delhi government why it waited till the court intervened to take steps such as reducing the number of people attending weddings to 50 to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“You (Delhi government) saw from November 1 which way the wind was blowing. But you turn turtle now because we asked you some questions. The bell should have rung loud and clear when the numbers were spiralling. Why did you not wake up when you saw the situation was deteriorating? Why did we have to shake out of your slumber on November 11? What did you do from November 1 till November 11? Why did you wait 18 days (till November 18) to take a decision? Do you know how many lives were lost during this period? Can you explain it to those who lost their near and dear ones,” the bench slammed the Delhi government.
Delhi HC expresses displeasure over monitoring in the national capital
The court also expressed its displeasure over the Delhi government’s apparent failure to enforce social distancing norms, prevention of spitting and mandating masks.
The bench said that the fines imposed by the Delhi government are not working either as they seem to have failed to set a deterrent. The court said that there was a gap in monitoring and imposition of fines in certain localities as compared to others.
“What kind of monitoring and marshalling are you doing? Look at the situation seriously with a magnifying glass. You have crossed cities like New York and Sao Paolo,” the court said.
The Delhi High Court was hearing a PIL by Rakesh Malhotra, who had sought court’s intervention amidst the rising number of coronavirus cases in the national capital.
On Wednesday, Delhi recorded 7,486 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the total tally in the national capital to over 5 lakh. Delhi saw 131 new fatalities, the highest single-day death count till date, pushing the death toll to 7,943.
‘Delhi could be the corona capital of the country’: Delhi HC
This is not the first time that the Delhi HC has criticised AAP government’s inaction in the national capital. A few weeks back, the Delhi High Court had rebuked the Arvind Kejriwal government over the rising cases of COVID-19 in the national capital. It had stated that the city could soon become ‘corona capital of the country’.
Observing that the Delhi government has gone completely “haywire” on the pandemic, the two-judge bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad pulled up the AAP govt for taking the health of the citizens for a ride. It said that it would deal with this issue separately.
The high court said the Delhi government made many claims that they are topping charts in testing but the number of cases has overshot. “The city could soon become Corona capital of the country. Thanks to the number of cases shooting up,” the bench said and added, “We are going to take it very seriously.”
Centre intervenes to control pandemic in Delhi
Following the failure of Delhi government to control the pandemic in the national capital, the Union government has now again stepped in into pull out Delhi and it’s public from the mess created by the Kejriwal government. The central government has now announced a slew of measures including arranging 300 additional ICU beds, doubling the RT-PCR tests daily, and a house-to-house survey to check the rising cases in the national capital.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that some of the hospitals under the municipal corporations will be converted into dedicated COVID hospitals. Also, doctors and paramedical staff have been called in to increase the manpower.
West Bengal goes to polls in the year 2021, where Mamata Banerjee and her party, TMC, will be challenged by BJP. With several dissenters like Suvendu Adhikari of the TMC preparing to exit the party ahead of the crucial polls, by all accounts, Mamata Banerjee seems to be on weak-footing. Realising the AIMIM, led by Owaisi, has the potential to dent her prospects further, Mamata had attacked Owaisi earlier by claiming that some ‘outsiders’ will threaten and scare voters.
Mamata, taking a dig at Owaisi had claimed that the people of Bengal need to be careful of ‘these outsiders’.
However, unphased by this attack, Owaisi has now reportedly proposed a pre-poll alliance to Mamata Banerjee.
According to reports, Owaisi has told Mamata Banerjee, the current Chief Minister of Bengal, that if she agrees to a pre-poll alliance with Owaisi, he will held her defeat BJP, which is now making massive headway in the state.
Interestingly, emboldened after winning five seats in Seemanchal region, a confident Owaisi announced that his party would contest Bengal assembly polls.
As BJP makes strides in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has reason to be extremely worried about her own prospects, especially, after Owaisi announced his decision to contest the Bengal elections. Essentially, this move by Owaisi could translate into the Muslim votes in the state being divided between TMC and AIMIM, while the Hindus votes would consolidate behind the saffron party, BJP.
The Owaisi conundrum for Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal
In July 2019, it was reported that the AIMIM had announced their decision to contest the Assembly Elections in the state scheduled to be held in 2021. “It is true that we are fewer in number, but do not dare touch us. We are atom bombs. Didi, we welcome your friendship and enmity as well. You have to decide whether you consider us friends or foes,” AIMIM national spokesperson and Bengal observer, Asim Waqar, had stated sometime back.
The AIMIM had also organized a meeting at Dharmatala in Kolkata where the former MLA from Maharashtra Waris Pathan was also present. Consequently, in November, the Chief Minister of Bengal had warned the citizenry about the radicalism of the Owaisis. She did not name them but it was quite obvious who her comments were directed at. “I am watching that there are some extremists among minorities,” she told her party workers in Coochbehar, “They have their base in Hyderabad. Don’t listen to them.”
On the 8th of December, AIMIM leader Zameerul Hasan accused the Mamata Government of targeting his party. “Across the state, police officers are abusing our leaders, threatening them not to take up political programmes. This has happened after the Chief Minister indicated to the police to ensure that we don’t hold meetings and processions,” he told IANS. Hasan also announced that the party will organize a mega rally in Kolkata where Asaduddin Owaisi will be the main speaker.
Thus, things are not looking very good for Mamata Banerjee. She has spent too much of her political capital on her Muslim vote bank to be able to win without complete Muslim consolidation in her favour. In the course of the said appeasement, she has alienated significant sections of the Hindu community which have then consolidated in favour of the BJP. This is what we saw happen in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections where the saffron party massively increased its seat tally.
Mamata Banerjee faces a situation where Asaduddin Owaisi is threatening to capture her Muslim vote bank while the Hindus have consolidated behind the BJP due to her continuous Muslim appeasement.
Bihar-based YouTuber Rashid Siddiqui who had reportedly earned Rs 15 lakh in past 4 months spreading fake news regarding Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has now been slapped with a defamation suit of Rs 500 crore by actor Akshay Kumar. As per reports, 25-year-old Siddiqui is a civil engineer from Bihar who owns the YouTube channel ‘FF News’ which has over 3 lakh 70 thousand subscribers.
Siddiqui’s channel is full of dubious claims including the one that Akshay Kumar ‘helped’ Rhea Chakravarty, Sushant Singh Rajput’s girlfriend ‘escape’ to Canada. He also interacts with other YouTubers and who have made equally bizarre conspiracy theories regarding Sushant’s death.
As reported by MidDay, police officers say that Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has been used as an opportunity by many YouTubers to earn money by spreading fake news and conspiracy theories. For Akshay Kumar, he had claimed that he was unhappy about Sushant playing a role in MS Dhoni’s biopic. He also accused Akshay of having secret meetings with Mumbai police and Aaditya Thackeray regarding Sushant’s death, and having helped Rhea Chakraborty escape to Canada.
Other than Akshay Kumar, Advocate Dharmendra Mishra from Shiv Sena’s legal cell filed a case against Siddiqui. A case has been filed on charges of defamation, public mischief and intentional insult. He was granted anticipatory bail and the court has asked him to cooperate in the probe.
As per police, his posts on Sushant Singh Rajput were widely viewed and he earned approximately Rs 6.5 lakh in September alone.
Prior to this, Delhi-based lawyer Vibhor Anand was also arrested for posting videos related to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death as well as verbally abusing Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray. He later blamed Arnab Goswami and Republic for his tweets on Sushant. Vibhor used to earlier claim that his inputs were based on his ‘highly placed’ sources. However, during his hearing he tried to pin the blame on Arnab and Republic.
Sushant Singh Rajput death
34-year-old Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his apartment on 14th June this year. While initially reported as suicide, his family has later claimed foul play in his death. His death also opened the pandora box in Bollywood and brought out the drug abuse angle to light. Currently, the CBI is investigating his death and NCB is probing the drug abuse.
Gyan Prakash Shukla, National President of All India Rural Bar Association, has filed a civil suit against former United States President Barack Obama for ‘insulting’ Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. In his latest book ‘The Promise land’, Obama has shared his views on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The lawyer has requested the court to order an FIR against Obama as he has insulted the leaders and pained their ‘millions of followers’ as per a report in India Today.
A resident of Pratapgarh, Shukla has alleged that Obama has said humiliating things against Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. He also said that such attacks on national leaders are an attack on the sovereignty of the country.
Shukla said that the followers of the leaders are hurt by the remarks made by Obama in his book. They may take their protest to streets that may cause chaos. Thus an FIR should be registered against the former US President. In case FIR is not registered, he has warned that he will sit on a fast outside the US embassy. The case is scheduled for hearing on 1st December.
Obama’s remarks on Manmohan and Rahul
In his memoir, Obama said that Sonia Gandhi chose Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister only because he posed no threat to her son Rahul Gandhi’s succession. He remembered Singh as a “man with uncommon wisdom”. While talking about Rahul, he said, “Rahul Gandhi has a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who’d done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject.”
His book has irked several fans of Rahul Gandhi including leaders of the Congress party. Famous Congress Dalit leader Dr Udit Raj had attacked Obama in a strong-worded tweet and said, “Mr Obama no one can know the personality of any person in 5 to 10 minute. Sometimes it takes years. You are wrong to judge the personality of Rahul Gandhi Ji. You will bite the dust just wait for some time.”
Mr Obama no one can know the personality of any person in 5 to 10 minute . Some times it takes years . You are wrong to judge the personality of Rahul Gandhi ji . You will bite the dust just wait for some time .@INCIndia
An owner of a sweets shop named Karachi Sweets in Mumbai had to hide his shop’s name with newspapers after a Shiv Sena leader named Nitin Nandgaokar threatened him to change it and use some other name in Marathi.
Mumbai: Video of Shiv Sena leader Nitin Nandgaokar goes viral, where he’s allegedly asking Karachi Sweets shop owner in Bandra West to change the name ‘Karachi’.
“You have to do it, we’re giving you time. Change ‘Karachi’ to something in Marathi,” says Nitin Nandgaokar in video. pic.twitter.com/PfmM4B65ac
In a viral video of the incident, Nandgaokar can be seen asking the owner of the Karachi Sweets shop located in Bandra West to change the name of his shop to something in Marathi. He said that he hated the name of the shop and that he would give him time to change the name. As per the conversation in the video, the forefathers of the shop’s owner used to live in Karachi before partition which is currently located in Pakistan. They moved to India after partition and named their shop as Karachi Sweets in memory of their former homeland.
Talking to the Karachi sweets owner Nandgaokar said, “Aap yaha dhanda karo lekin Karachi naam se mat karo. Karachi naam se hamey bahut takleef hai. (You can carry on your business but don’t use the name Karachi on your shop. We have a problem with that name.)”. “Registered bhi jo hai naam use aap cancel karo. (You need to cancel the registration of the shop in that name.)”, he added.
Nandgaokar said that Pakistan was a country of terrorists and he did not want anyone to use the name Karachi to run a business in India. When the shop owner tried to reason with him and clarified that the name had nothing to do Pakistan, the Shiva Sena leader told him flat out, “Karachi nahi chahiye. ( I do not want the shop to be named Karachi )”. He insisted the name to be changed. “Kar sakte hain, karna padega. (You can do it. You have to do it.)”, he told the shop owner.
Leaving the shop owner with no option but to change the name of the shop, Nandmgaokar said that he would give him time to do that. He told the shop owner that he he would come to eat at his shop after he changed the name of the shop.
Mumbai: The ‘Karachi Sweets’ shop in Bandra West – the owner of which was allegedly asked by Shiv Sena leader Nitin Nandgaokar to omit the word ‘Karachi’ from its name – now has the name covered with newspaper. https://t.co/yksVJcEvaypic.twitter.com/Ckedbi9SbA
After the threat of the Shiv Sena leader, the shop owner covered the name Karachi Sweets mentioned in the signage of the shop at the entrance of the shop with newspapers.
On 17th November, Rashid, resident of village Jhura of Jaithra area in district Eta, Uttar Pradesh beat up three children and one woman for bursting crackers. The woman sustained severe injuries after which her relatives rushed her to the hospital. She was declared dead at the hospital. The son of the deceased woman has filed a case against Rashid who is currently on the run.
Rashid got irked by children bursting crackers
As per the report published in Hindi daily Amar Ujala, Karan, younger son of the deceased Meena Devi, was bursting crackers with two boys from the village at around 8.30 PM on Monday. There is a shop run by one Rashid, son of Lal Muhammad, in front of the place where the boys were bursting firecrackers. He was not happy with the fireworks being bursted in front of him.
While the kids were enjoying, Rashid arrived at the spot and started beating the children for bursting fireworks. When 45-years-old Meena Devi, wife of Malikhan Singh, saw Rashid beating the children, she rushed to rescue them. When she tried to stop Rashid, he started beating her. He choked her and left her unconscious on the floor.
The villagers gathered as Karan had started crying. They rushed Meena Devi to Zaithra Primary Health Centre where she was declared dead. Police station in-charge Vinay Kumar Sharma said that the incident took place over bursting firecrackers. The woman died due to severe injuries sustained due to beating.
A case against Rashid has been registered after a complaint was filed by Meena Devi’s elder son Nepal Singh, and police are looking for him. The body of the deceased has been handed over to the family after post mortem.
Ahead of hearing on Sudarshan News’ program “Bindas Bol – UPSC Jihad” case in Supreme Court, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has submitted an affidavit in the apex court calling the program “not in good taste.” The ministry has however allowed the News Channel to broadcast remaining four episodes but after moderating it in accordance with the Programme Code.
BREAKING: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has filed an Affidavit stating that the “#BindasBol – #UPSCJihad” programme of #SudarshanNews is against good taste and decency, attacks religious communities and contains defamatory, deliberate and obscene half truths. pic.twitter.com/ImQ2iCKefz
In its affidavit, the ministry has said that the news channel has to be cautious about its content in the future. “After examining all the facts and circumstances of the case and balancing the fundamental rights of the broadcaster, hereby “CAUTIONS” Sudarshan TV Channel Ltd. to be careful in the future. It is further directed that if any violation of the Programme Code is found in future, stricter penal action would be taken.”
The ministry has asked the channel to moderate the show in a way that there is no violation of the Programme Code. It should not contain an attack on religions or communities or visuals or words contemptuous of religious groups which promote communal attitudes. The ministry asked the channel to remove anything that is obscene, defamatory, false, and suggestive from the show.
Earlier, the ministry had sent the channel a notice over complaints of violation of the Programme Code under the Cable TV Network Regulation Act. The decision of the ministry is subject to the decision of Supreme Court which will hear the case today. A bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud will continue the hearing.
The case against Sudarshan TV over program “UPSC Jihad”
In September, Sudarshan TV broadcasted a few episodes of its program “Bindas Bol” where it alleged there are groups that are training Muslim youth to take up civil services. Calling it “UPSC Jihad” the channel showed many pieces of evidence to strengthen the claim. The program was seen as a threat by some Muslim organisations and a case against the channel was filed to restrict the channel from broadcasting remaining episodes.
During the hearing, Justice Chandrachud had said that those who do not like the show could switch off the TV. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was asked to examine if there was a violation of the Programme Code. During the hearing, Sudarshan TV presented shows by news channels like NDTV where Hindus were shown in a bad light.
OpIndia’s intervention in the case
On 21st September, OpIndia, Indic Collective Trust and UpWord filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court to become a party in the case. “Given the conspectus of issues which have arisen for consideration before this Hon’ble Court and the manifest implications of the outcome on free speech advocates and in particular on organizations which disseminate content for public consumption, it is humbly submitted that the Applicants have the requisite locus to be arrayed as parties to the proceedings to put forth their position on the said issues,” their application read.
The Left has been up-in-arms about ‘poet’ Varavara Rao, who happens to be 81-years-old, not getting bail from the High Court. Rao has been lodged in jail for his role in the violence that followed the inflammatory speeches at the Elgar Parishad conclave held at Shaniwar Wada in Pune on December 31, 2017. He was arrested in August 2018. Further, he was charged by Karnataka police in July 2019 in connection with a 2005 Maoist attack case registered at Tirumani and was later sent to Mumbai prison.
In July this year, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) had accused Rao of attempting to take undue advantage of the Coronavirus outbreak after he applied for bail on grounds of health. In the reply filed in response to Rao’s bail plea before the Supreme Court, the NIA said, “The appellant-accused Varavara Rao under the garb of the current situation on account of global pandemic Covid-19 and his old age, is trying to take an undue benefit in the aforesaid situation in seeking bail on the grounds mentioned in his application.”
Since the bail was rejected by the High Court, the Left ecosystem has been outraging about how the judiciary is failing an 80-year-old man who is also a ‘veteran poet’. The entire media establishment has attempted to paint him as an innocent poet-activist who has been wronged by the state for his harmless views of dissent.
Sample some of these headlines:
Article by The Wire
Post by The Wire
Article by Mumbai Live
Article by The Logical Indian
Article by NDTV
You see how, every media house that leans to the left, from NDTV to The Wire calls Varavara Rao an ‘activist’? Not just an ‘activist’, some even call him a ‘human rights activist’.
But who is Varavara Rao really and what are his views as a ‘Human Rights Activists’? Well, his views are pretty simple. Only the lives of Maoists matter and them killing police officials is fair game.
A video that has now gone viral on the internet gives us a window into exactly what kind of a ‘Human Rights Activist’ and ‘Rebel Poet’ Varavara Rao really is.
The “81 year old Poet” who defends massacres without batting an eyelid. VaraVara Rao. pic.twitter.com/jZLi6rQDcw
In the video, the interviewer asks Varavara Rao why he is calling the Malkangiri Massacre a ‘one-sided massacre’. Essentially, this question implies that Varavara Rao believed that the Maoists did not really do much to deserve to be encountered by the police. To the question, Rao says that the 18 Maoists were killed during their ‘rollcall’. The interviewer then asks, how he can call it ‘one-sided’ after the Balimela massacre where Maoists had killed 38 greyhounds.
What Varavara Rao says next is rather shocking. He says that there is a difference between the two. “Greyhounds were travelling in a boat. Maoists saw and opportunity and killed them. It is not one-sided. The difference is Maoists don’t believe in the constitution, laws, the very existence of police, greyhounds there is unlawful”, he says. On being probed further, he said the police should not go there and questions the need of the presence in areas where Maoists are there.
The shocking rant by the “human rights activist” does not end there. He says that if they (the greyhounds) put their hand in an anthill, they will bite. “Snakes are trying to occupy the anthill, won’t they retaliate?”, the “poet” says justifying the massacre of police personnel. He asserts then that the Maoists killed the policemen as a part of the “People’s War”. He then justified the killing of 74 CRPF Jawans in Chhattisgarh asking why they were there in the first place.
Quoting ‘anthropologist’ Roy Burman, Varavara Rao then says, “Why were they there in the first place”, talking about an NMDC security guard who was murdered by Maoists.
From the interview of Varavara Rao, it is clear that this “human rights activists” endorses the killing of police officials and CRPF jawans as a part of the “people’s war” that Communists, Maoists are fighting. It is interesting to note that the media, that is hands in gloves with the Left wing terrorists are trying to gloss over these details and paint him as an activists, almost tacitly justifying the murder of police officials too.
Who is Varavara Rao
Rao is a communist, ‘activist’, ‘poet’, ‘journalist’, ‘literary critic’, public speaker and a Maoist ideologue who has been arrested several times in the past. He was jailed in 1980 for two years for waging a war and conspiring against the state. Varavara Rao shouted “long live revolution” as he was detained. He was later acquitted.
As per an interview with Countercurrents.org, he visited Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai in 2014 for a talk titled “Raging war against India: Deconstructing the notion of India”. In the interview, he talks freely about Maoism and what he envisions the future to be for Maoism.
The email exchanges between Varavara Rao and Maoist leaders
In 2018, the prosecution submitted ‘intercepted email communications’ exchanged between top CPI (Maoist) fugitive leader Ganapathy aka Chandrasekhar and Varavara Rao.
As told by the prosecution to the court, the emails were exchanged after the five Urban Naxals Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale were arrested on June 6.
Public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar, arguing before Sessions Judge K D Vadane opposing the bail applications of the accused persons at the time had told the court that the email communication reveals that the top leaders in CPI (Maoist) Central Committee (CC) were concerned after the arrest of the five and Chandrashekhar alias Ganapathy, who she claimed was the general secretary of CPI (Maoist), had asked Rao how the letters were leaked.
Quoting the content of an email written to Varavara Rao by Ganapathy on July 4, Pawar said, “The CC has received a news-clip of some communication that was leaked immediately after the arrests. The point of great concern is how exactly the letters were leaked and how the letters got in the hands of the police. We need to put efforts to understand the full scale of this breach and the methods of the intelligence agencies.”
“Please ensure the confidentiality of this communication channel and any report or message sent outside of the secured network through the microchip must be encrypted with a password,” said Pawar, quoting the mail.
Ganapathy in the mail told Rao that the committee is seeking a report from him as quoted by Pawar, “It is better to use multiple keys for the future correspondence. The CC also expects your report on the assessment of the damage caused by the police action.”
Further quoting the content of the email Pawar said that Ganapathy told Rao that after the recent arrests from Delhi and Maharashtra, CC is concerned and said that the “urban movement” is facing a lot of difficulties for last several years.”In the backdrop of all these events, the CC wants your suggestions to formulate a short and long-term action plan,” Pawar quoted.
Quoting the email conversation, Pawar said, “The five arrests have caused a lot of damage to the movement and some urgent steps are needed to boost the morale of the cadre”. Responding to defence’s claim that these seized letters are fabricated, Pawar said, “This email communication of banned outfit showing concerns about the actions proves that the seized letters are genuine”.
The United Arab Emirates has suspended the issuance of visa to people from Turkey, Pakistan and ten other countries until further notice. Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, Spokesperson, Foreign office, Pakistan confirmed it on Wednesday. Chaudhri said that it is possible that the decision was based on the possible second wave of Covid-19 in these countries.
There is no official confirmation from the UAE authorities yet. The visas that had already been issued will be valid.
We have learnt that the UAE has temporarily suspended the issuance of new visit visas until further announcement for 12 countries, including Pakistan. The suspension is not applicable on already issued visas: Pak Frgn Office Spox @Zhchaudhri
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez said those who have iqama, transit and work visas would be allowed to enter UAE. There are several visa categories in UAE such as business, tourist, transit, student, etc., and it is unclear which amongst of them will be affected by the decision.
UAE had banned travellers from Pakistan in June and August amid Covid-19 spread
In June, UAE’s Emirates Airlines had suspended passenger services from Pakistan till 3rd July stating Covid-19 spread. The decision was taken after 30 Pakistani passengers who arrived in Hong Kong on an Emirates flight were tested positive for coronavirus. Later in August, Kuwait had announced a ban on commercial flights to 31 countries that included Pakistan.
Rising cases in Pakistan and Turkey
In the last few weeks, both Turkey and Pakistan have witnessed a spike in the Covid-19 cases. Over the last six days, Pakistan has reported over 2,000 daily cases. Majority of the patients were found in cities like Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Hyderabad etc.
On the other hand, Turkey had recorded over 4,200 cases yesterday. The number of cases in Turkey was at the peak in April when it crossed 5,000 cases-per-day mark. Later in July, it came down to 900+ instances per day but cases began to rise slowly in August. Over the last week, the daily new cases have almost doubled.
