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‘I begged them to kill me’: Uighur Muslim woman describes her torture in Chinese concentration camp

Speaking to reporters at the National Press Club at Washington, Mihrigul Tursun, a member of the Uighur Muslim community in China, described her torture at the hands of the communist government. The Chinese authorities are believed to have detained over a million Uighurs in concentration camps.

Tursun said that authorities interrogated her for four consecutive days without sleep, her hair was shaved and she was subjected to intrusive medical examination following her second arrest in 2017. The treatment grew worse when she was arrested the third time.

“I thought that I would rather die than go through this torture and begged them to kill me,” Tursun said. “The authorities put a helmet-like thing on my head, and each time I was electrocuted, my whole body would shake violently and I would feel the pain in my veins,” she said in a statement read by a translator. “I don’t remember the rest. White foam came out of my mouth, and I began to lose consciousness,” Tursun added. “The last word I heard them saying is that you being a Uighur is a crime.”

On Monday, 270 scholars from 26 countries issued a statement on what they call “mass human rights abuses and deliberate attacks on indigenous cultures” taking place in China. “In the camps, these detainees, most of whom are Uighur, are subjected to deeply invasive forms of surveillance and psychological stress as they are forced to abandon their native language, religious beliefs and cultural practices,” the statement said. “Outside of the camps, more than 10 million Turkic Muslim minorities in the region are subjected to a dense network of surveillance systems, checkpoints, and interpersonal monitoring which severely limit all forms of personal freedom.”

“The United States will continue to call on China to end these counterproductive policies and free all those arbitrarily detained,” the State Department said. “We are committed to promoting accountability for those who commit human rights violations and abuses, including by considering targeted measures against Xinjiang officials.”

We have reported earlier on the cruel treatment meted out to Uighurs in China. Despite its terrible human rights violations, the Chinese have attracted very little retribution from the international community. Even Islamic countries, most notably Pakistan, appears to have no qualms with associating themselves with the Chinese regime.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has led to recovery of Rs. 3 lakh crores of stressed assets in 2 years

In a big boost to Narendra Modi government’s ruthless efforts to revive stressed assets, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) seems to be delivering results as it has helped resolve stressed assets worth Rs 3 lakh crore in the last two years, a senior government official said on Saturday.

According to reports, more than 9,000 cases have come for redressal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) after it became fully operational in December 2016. More than 85% of the cases were reportedly resolved prior to admission in the National Company Law Tribunal on the joint request of debtor and creditor.

Speaking at an event hosted by industry body FICCI, Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas said that more than 3,500 cases have been resolved at the pre-admission stage and has resulted in claims worth ₹1.2 lakh crore getting settled.

Srinivas further said the Insolvency law has disposed of about  4,400 cases of the 9,000-odd cases that it received in the last two years, including those transferred from the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

Out of the 1300 cases that are admitted, in about 400 cases, corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) has already completed. In another 60 cases, resolution plan has been approved and for 240 cases liquidation orders have been issued. Further 126 cases are in appeal stage and all the resolution of cases have resulted in Rs.71,000 crore of recovery till now, said Injeti Srinivas.

The cases which are at a mature stage of the resolution under the Code, he said the amount would be another Rs 50,000 crore. Further, he added that 1.2 lakh crore coming through resolutions and another Rs 1.2 lakh crore from pre-admission settlements will lead to recoveries of Rs 2.4 lakh crore in the coming months.

The Corporate Affairs Secretary noted that there are non-standard NPA accounts that have been converted to standard accounts by virtue of borrowers paying back the overdue amount and that figure would be around Rs 45,000 to 50,000 crore. Together, the amount will be close to Rs 3 lakh crore in terms of stressed assets that have been directly and indirectly impacted by the Code, he added.

“So, that takes you close to Rs 3 lakh crore, direct and indirect impact of the IBC, which is a huge amount,” said Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016, a bankruptcy law in India brought by the Narendra Modi led NDA government seeking to consolidate the existing framework by creating a single Law for Insolvency and Bankruptcy. The Code provides a time-bound process for resolving insolvency in companies and among individuals resulting in much-needed impetus to solving the problem of stressed assets and NPAs in the financial sector of the country.

Mizoram: After taking an anti-BJP stand, Church denies involvement in election process

In poll-bound Mizoram, days after taking an anti-BJP stand, the Church has denied any involvement in the electoral process. Claiming that it is an apolitical body, the Church has clarified that it has not tried to influence voters.

The Church had earlier reportedly urged the congregation to abstain from voting for the BJP. The Church has issued a guidelines booklet asking the voters to keep the interests of the community in mind while casting their vote.

Earlier, the Nagaland Church had also taken a similar stand before Nagaland elections earlier this year. The Mizoram Church has questioned BJP’s decision of observing Christmas Day as the Good Governance Day. The Church feels that if BJP is voted to power the religious freedom will be under threat and the interests of Christians will be ignored.

The Church has now clarified that it does not interfere in the election process and it is only the people of the state who choose the government.

Meanwhile, Church-backed NGOs are on the campaign trail to ‘ensure‘ fair elections. Mizoram People’s Forum, a Church-backed local election ‘watchdog’ has taken upon itself to supervise the election campaign and ensure that money power does not come to play in the elections.

Mizoram goes to elections tomorrow, 28th November, along with Madhya Pradesh and as many as 209 candidates are in the fray for the 40-seat Assembly. Mizoram is the only Northeastern state that still has a Congress government. The result for the elections will be declared on 11th December.

‘They were trying to fix me’, Pon Manickavel tells Court, State govt directed to not take adverse action without permission

Head of the Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu Police, Pon Manickavel claimed in Madras High Court that authorities in the state government were trying to ‘fix him’. He told the Court, “They were conducting some probe behind my back and trying to fix me in some sort of allegation.”

Taking his statement into consideration, the Bench comprised of justices R Mahadevan and P D Audikesavalu directed the state government not to take any adverse actions against him or his team without its permission.

The Court made the oral orders while hearing the anticipatory bail applications of four people including TVS group chairman Venu Srinivasan and Tamil Nadu chief “sthapathy” M Muthiah. The anticipatory bails were sought in connection with cases of alleged idol theft. The bench has reserved its order on all the applications.

The state government and Pon Manickavel have been at loggerheads with each other for a while. The government had tried to transfer all cases of the idol wing to the CBI citing the IG’s unsatisfactory performance. The CBI has already stated that they cannot investigate the cases due to a shortage of manpower. The Court recently directed the Center to file its reply on the Tamil Nadu state government’s proposal to have the idol theft cases probed by the CBI.

We have previously published a comprehensive report on the accomplishments of Pon Manickavel. Known for his no-nonsense attitude and emphasis on discipline, the recovery of two 1000-year old idols of Rajaraja Chola and his wife, Lokamadevi, remain the crowning jewel of Pon Manickavel’s illustrious career.

The live bullet found in possession of Muslim cleric who went to meet Kejriwal was ‘donated’ to a mosque

A man was arrested after a live bullet was recovered from his possession during a security check-up when he went to visit Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday for the Janta-Darbar. The man identified as Imran has been booked under Arms Act.

The man was reportedly one of the clerics who had gone to visit the CM with a request to increase the salary of clerics of the Waqf Board staff.


Imran told the police that he had found the bullet in the donation box of a mosque, kept it in his wallet and forgot about it. “He has claimed he found the bullet in a donation box two-three months ago and he intended to throw it in the Yamuna, but since he was yet to do it, he had kept it in his purse,” Singh said.

According to additional deputy commissioner of police (north), Harendra Singh, the .32 bore live cartridge was recovered from his purse during the search and frisking by the security staff at the CM’s residence. The officer also said that Imran is a resident of Loni in Ghaziabad and works as the caretaker (Muezzin) of the Masjid Bawli Wali in Karol Bagh.

Only last Thursday a man identified as Anil Kumar Sharma was arrested for throwing chilli powder at Kejriwal as he was leaving his offices at the Delhi Secretariat. The Aam Admi Party had compared the incident with Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and had called a special session of the Assembly to discuss the ‘chilli powder attack’.

Governance is executive’s domain, all should appreciate the ‘Lakshman Rekha’: Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

Exerting their right over the ‘executive’ domain, the Union Law Minister on Monday in the presence of the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi pointed out the ‘over-reach’ of the country’s judiciary into the executive domain of the elected government. Law Minister Prasad made these observations at the Constitution Day function organised by the Supreme Court on Monday.

According to reports, Ravi Shankar Prasad asserted the rights of the government against the recent judicial interventions regarding governance and policy issues, he said that judiciary has to decide ‘how far’ it can go in taking over power on issues of governance as he stressed the need for all organs to appreciate the proverbial ‘Lakshman Rekha’.

“Governance is a highly complicated exercise, maybe there is a need to reflect within as to how far the judiciary needs to go. That is for the judiciary to decide,” he said. Prasad further said that there are lots of “competing interests, a lot of complicated claims, a lot of other vested interests” that needs to be understood when running a government.

“Yes, I understand the temptation with the greatest respect. But mere temptation should not lead to taking over of the power that leads to a larger narrative of some reflection,” he said.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad speaking on ‘separation of powers’ between the legislature, he said that the Constitutional morality must be defined with clarity and that it cannot change from judge to judge. Speaking at the event, he said, “We hear about Constitutional morality, we appreciate innovations but nuances of Constitutional morality should be outlined with clarity and should not differ from judge to judge and there must be a consensus.”

Taking a strong note on the misuse of PIL in the guise of the activism, Prasad said that the time has come to restate more clearly the noble narrative of PIL. He also added that Public Interest Litigations were originally intended to allow the marginalised and deprived to be heard.

Law Minister Prasad has often spoken regarding the over-reach by the judiciary, saying law-making must be left within the realm of those elected to make the law. Referring to the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, an alternative to the existing collegium, which was struck down by the Supreme Court, Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government accepted the judgment despite having certain reservations on some of the reasons given when it was struck down.

Ravi Shankar Prasad’s statements come amidst the ongoing show of strength by the country’s judiciary with excessive interventions into both legislative and executive domains of the state. Augmenting this overreach, the judiciary of the country has been facing severe criticism across the country for the delay in hearing certain important cases while delivering some controversial judgements interfering with age-old religious customs.

From the stables of Indian Express: After ‘They hanged Yakub’, here is another gem

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Indian Express’ string of bad headlines and shoddy spins continue. In the midst of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor controversy, Indian Express has reported that some Congress leaders have expressed happiness about Captain Amarinder’s stand of not visiting Pakistan for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Except, Indian Express chose to point out their religious identity.

Indian Express headline specifying religion of leaders.

In the article, Indian Express again points out religious identity of the leaders who have, on condition of anonymity, expressed their displeasure at Captain Amarinder’s decision, calling it a move to appease ‘Hindu vote-bank’.

Indian Express identifying leaders on basis of their religion.

Indian Express mentions how Captain Amarinder got support from “Hindu leaders” but “Sikh leaders” have expressed displeasure.

Captain Amarinder has maintained that as a Sikh himself, he understands the importance of the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib, the holy shrine in Pakistan, but as chief minister of a border state, Punjab, it is his responsibility to maintain law and order in his state. He says that owing to the cross-border terrorism which has claimed lives of security forces and civilians, he, in good conscience, could not visit the land which sponsors such acts of terrorism.

One wonders how this headline or spin is any different from Indian Express’ “and they hanged Yakub” headline. For decades, the media has been assigning national security issues to religious identities and playing a dangerous game. When Yakub or Kasab were handed the death penalty for their unspeakable crimes, often, the narrative was of Muslims being under attacked and not being given their fair share in India. Here, while the degree is different, the narrative is no different.

Captain Amarinder Singh made a decision which upholds the interest of the nation above even his own religious identity. For the Indian Express to divide support from his decision as “Hindu leaders” supporting him is playing a dangerous game of communal rhetoric where national interest is concerned.

Per the likes of Indian Express, it seems national interest will always be reduced to a “pro Hindu”, “anti Muslim” rhetoric. Where upholding national interest in their mind is appeasing Hindus.

Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrests another accused of the 2002 Akshardham temple attack

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On Monday evening, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch finally apprehended Mohammad Farooq Shaikh from the Ahmedabad Airport. Mohammad Farooq was one of the accused in planning and plotting the attacks on Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar in 2002.


According to the news reports, Farooq was absconding since last 16 years. He was reportedly staying in Dubai in this period and had come to Ahmedabad to meet his relatives.

On September 24, 2002, two terrorists allegedly belonging to the Pakistan based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) had attacked the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar. About 30 people lost their lives and 80 were injured in the attack. Ajmeri Abdul Rashid, a key accused in the case was arrested by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch from the city airport as he was returning from Riyadh in 2017.

The POTA court had convicted all six people previously arrested by the Gujrat police, sentenced three to death and sentenced another one to life imprisonment. The Gujarat High Court maintained this judgment of the lower court, but in May 2014 the Supreme Court had acquitted all the accused. Reprimanding the investigating agency for negligence of the case, the apex court had said that there is not enough evidence to convict the accused.

Leftist Pride Marches with their anti-Hindu rhetoric do not represent the entire LGBT community

Disturbing scenes were observed during the Delhi Pride March where members of the LGBT community were seen holding placards that appeared to spread hatred against the Hindu faith.


People who attended the parade also appeared to target an organization which happens to be the mother of the political party that did not oppose the decriminalization of homosexuality at all.


This is not something new that is observed in Pride marches. Attendees at such events are known to target Hinduism. They also appear to hold a deep grudge against the colour saffron. These events appear to be more concerned with propagating Leftist ideology than actually promoting the welfare of the LGBT community.

More importantly, such events give the impression that the LGBT community is one great monolith when everything suggests that is definitely not the case. The Kinnar Akhara was actually invited by the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti (ABSS) for its two-day event at New Delhi. And Acharya Mahamandleshwar Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, head of the Kinnar akhara, supported the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

She told Indian Express, “The Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti invited the Kinnar akhara for the first time… This shows the openness of the vedic sanatan dharma and that it is open to the transgender community. Today (Monday), it was clearly said…jo Ram ka hai, woh hamara hai (he who belong to Ram, is ours too).” Tripathi also rued the fact that Hindu religious institutions were administrated by the government. She said, “It is against the constitution of this country and still we are quiet… Ram mandir has to happen and it will happen.”

How did the ‘LGBT community’ that attends and organizes pride marches respond to Tripathi’s invite to an event organized by a Hindu religious organization and her comments supporting the construction of Ram Mandir? They condemned her. Instead, the Leftists focused on her caste and accused her of doing so for political gains. They issued a statement which said, “Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, a dominant-caste brahmin trans woman, has been appealing to Hindutva ideology and justifying the existence of the caste system in India ever since she began aspiring for a political position within the current ruling party. Her position negates the politics of communal harmony that is espoused by Hijras and Kinnars, who have historically maintained a syncretic faith of belonging to both Hinduism and Islam. Laxmi Narayan Tripathi’s position idealises a mythical past of the Sanatan Dharam and supports the right-wing politics of communal hatred in the guise of ‘we were always accepted’.”

The statement further says, “The establishment of the Ram Temple has been a favourite electioneering agenda that the current government has repeatedly used to mobilize votes and stir anti-Muslim sentiments among Hindu masses. Consequently, Muslims in India are facing widespread violence and persecution, and yet the State remains consistently silent through this violence. In this context, we find the statements by the Kinnar Akhara appalling and dangerous, and as members of the trans and gender-diverse communities in India we strongly condemn these statements.”

The monolithic image of the LGBT community is entirely a media creation and there’s not a shred of it on the ground. And the mainstream media appointed spokespersons for the LGBT community throw transgenders who support Hinduism under the bus. Under such circumstances, it becomes apparent that the people who appear at Pride marches are more concerned about their leftist politics than they are with the welfare of the LGBT community.

A good friend of mine, a devout Hindu who happens to be homosexual, despises Pride Marches. He tells me:

“They are unnecessary at best and those organizations sponsoring them are all anti-Hindu in animus. My loyalty is to my deity and all the dharma He (Narasimha) is an embodiment of, not to these people.”

He adds about the ‘LGBT community’:

“It’s a completely political organization relying on a deep sense of oppression and using the rhetoric of oppression which leads it to ally with leftist parties. It has inherited the same American dynamic.”

Like my friend here, I do not have any problems with the decriminalization of homosexuality as well and do not especially care about what people choose to do in their personal spaces. However, there is a certain decorum that needs to be maintained in public and the decorum to be maintained is the same for the LGBT community as it is for the heterosexual community.

The mainstream media, if it was indeed neutral, would have portrayed the divisions within the LGBT community accurately. Instead, its reportage of events gives one the impression that the LGBT community is a monolith. In the long run, it is harmful to the LGBT community. If the entire community is perceived to have a political agenda with an anti-Hindu slant, then they will make an enemy of a community the overwhelming majority of which does not bear any animosity towards them and in fact, supports them.

The LGBT community will be better served if their mainstream media appointed spokespersons to focus on the insanely high rates of HIV and psychological problems among them instead of alienating ordinary people with their anti-Hindu rhetoric. And more importantly, the media needs to understand that they do not represent the entire LGBT community but only those of a leftist political disposition.

Urban Naxals’ arrest: Special Court grants Pune police 90 days extension to file chargesheet in Elgaar Parishad case

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A special court on Monday granted the Pune Police an extension of 90 days to file the charge sheet against four alleged ‘Urban Naxals‘ in the Elgaar Parishad case. The Pune sessions court granted further time to investigate the four accused Sudha Bharadwaj, P Varavara Rao, Arun Ferriera and Vernon Gonsalves in connection with their role in Bhima-Koregaon violence.

According to reports, the Pune Police had filed an application in the Pune Sessions Court on November 23 asking a 90-day extension to file charge sheet against the four. The Pune Police in a nation-wide crackdown had arrested these four ‘Urban Naxals’ along with Delhi-based Gautam Navlakha on August 28 under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and IPC in the Elgaar Parishad case, alleging that they were part of a larger conspiracy of the banned CPI-Maoist to overthrow the Indian government.

Reportedly, the Pune Police were supposed to file the chargesheet within 90 days from their arrest before November 25. Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivaji Pawar submitted an application to the court, saying that because of the orders of the SC and HC, the investigating officer did not get sufficient period for custodial interrogation and urged that the period of house arrest, which is not in accordance with provisions of CrPC should be excluded from 90 days.

Ujwala Pawar representing Pune Police said, “The case pertains to national security and integrity of India. There is a huge amount of electronic data that still needs to be analysed. The investigation officers has been running from pillar to post and was kept engaged attending court hearings before the SC, Bombay and Delhi HC as well as Telangana HC.”

The Pune city police had earlier filed a charge sheet against alleged ten ‘Urban Naxals’ arrested this year for their alleged Maoist links and in connection with their alleged involvement in a plot to kill Prime Minister Modi. Addition to the above five self-proclaimed activists, five others– Nagpur-based lawyer Surendra Gadling, Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale of Republican Panthers, were also arrested on June 6 by the Pune police.

Historian Romila Thapar had filed a plea in the Supreme Court against the arrest of five ‘Urban Naxals’ but the top court headed by the then Chief Justice of India Deepak Mishra on September 28 had refused to interfere with arrests of these five ‘Urban Naxals’.

The Pune Sessions Court on October 26th rejected bail plea of Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira and Sudha Bhardwaj, who were arrested in August for their alleged involvement in Elgaar Parishad and also in the Bhima Koregaon violence. The Pune Court had ordered all the three accused to be taken into the police custody.

A special court on Monday sent poet-activist P. Varavara Rao to 14-days judicial custody for alleged links with Maoists, after he was arrested from Hyderabad on November 17 for his role in the ‘Elgaar Parishad’ and subsequent Bhima-Koregaon clashes.

Meanwhile, the Pune police had earlier informed a special court that the accused in the Elgaar Parishad case were in contact with Central Committee members of the banned CPI-Maoist, and they had discussed routing funds for Maoist activities through hawala transactions.