'I asked him why were he and other writers being targeted.' 'I saw his point of view, that he and others being writers, their work was popular and well-appreciated by people, especially the youth.' 'This made the State fear them.'
At 70, going by hospital records made public, most age and health-related arguments put out against super-star Rajinikanth's entry into politics, before he withdrew citing a 2016 kidney-transplant, hold good for Sasikala, too, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Will Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who gets his orders from New Delhi, call the shots or allow a democratically elected government to independently govern, questions Ramesh Menon.
Over 250 people participated in a rally to support 82-year-old California resident Surat Singh Khalsa, who has been on a hunger strike in India demanding the release of political prisoners. Ritu Jha/Rediff.com reports from California.
His spine, his heart, his pancreas -- one by one, all his organs have weakened, given the lack of medical treatment in jail, where he is kept in the notorious Anda cell. Continuous pain, frequent fainting spells, urinary problems, have all become part of his life.
Gorbachev was the last leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
BJP leader Amit Shah in a poll rally last month had asked people of Ludhiana to send Ravneet Singh Bittu to Parliament, promising them that he will make him a 'bada aadmi' (a big man).
'Go around and ask what Amritpal has done for the village and nearby areas.'
Released by secretary of state Antony Blinken, the annual human rights reports of the state department is a mandatory requirement of the US Congress giving details of human rights status in countries across the world.
A murder case has been filed against Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six others over the death of a grocery shop owner during last month's violent clashes that led to the fall of her government, media reports said on Tuesday.
An independent legislator, Engineer Abdul Rashid on Wednesday said that he will press for the release of all political prisoners and return of the mortal remains of Parliament attack convict, Afzal Guru in the upcoming budget session of the state assembly.
Plans for a 500-car road show were abandoned after the controversy surrounding his release.
An ethnic Indian activist on Sunday launched a new multi-racial political party to champion the rights of marginalised sections, two months after his release from detention under Malaysia's draconian internal security law.
'I was put in an anda cell. No window, light or air. Only grills.' 'During the monsoon, water would seep. There were rats running around all the time.' 'We were forced to sleep under bright lights all the time. Those bright lights are never switched off.'
Nobel laureate Prof Mohammad Yunus, the designated head of Bangladesh's interim government, on Wednesday fervently appealed everybody 'to stay calm' and 'refrain from all kinds of violence' as the country witnessed a major reshuffle in the security establishment after the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government.
The BJP's strategy seem to be to wean away allies from the Congress, in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, and maybe later in UP, Bihar and elsewhere, though in slow doses, but without wooing them into a new alliance. The idea seems to be only to weaken the INDIA bloc from within -- and leaving it at that, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Yunus, 84, was administered the oath of office by President Mohammed Shahabuddin at a ceremony at the presidential palace 'Bangabhaban'.
Bangladesh descended into chaos on Monday as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina surreptitiously resigned and fled the country in a military aircraft while the Army stepped in to fill the power vacuum.
'He was directly involved in the rarest of rare crimes -- the killing of an IAS officer.'
The callousness with which these political dissidents are being treated goes against the Supreme Court's directive, given right at the beginning of the lockdown. The apex court had directed states to release prisoners to decongest jails, which had become hotspots of the coronavirus.
India in the past rejected similar reports.
'The victory is an expression of agrarian distress and social turmoil.'
The deportation of Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney from India could delay the release of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Lahore, Singh's sister said on Saturday and asked Indian politicians not to play "dirty politics".
'All PoWs recounted that one of the worst aspects of their captivity in Tibet was the constant attempt at brainwashing by Chinese Communist propaganda,' reveals Claude Arpi.
The couple was arrested on April 23 by the Mumbai police following their public declaration of reciting the Hanuman Chalisa outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's private residence 'Matoshree' in Bandra.
During a war, there are just four possibilities a soldier faces. One: Victorious and safe. Two: Wounded. Three: Killed in action. Four: Prisoner of War. It was my fate to face the fourth, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) on the year spent as a prisoner of war in Pakistan during the 1971 War.
The website will, however, not release this material during the court martial of its source, US Army Private Bradley Manning, according to a report by The Age on Tuesday.
Student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha walked out of Tihar prison on Thursday, hours after a court here ordered their immediate release in the north-east Delhi riots 'conspiracy' case.
On the occasion of World Human Rights Day, Tibetan refugees in the northeast under the banner of Tibetan Solidarity Committee, North East India today took out a candle light procession and staged protest here calling for sustained help from the global community to end the spree self-immolation protest in Tibet by giving genuine autonomy to Tibetans.
A photograph of Omar Abdullah surfaced on Twitter on January 25 in which he seemed almost unrecognisable sporting a salt and pepper beard, triggering reactions of awe and anger from netizens, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Accusing the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon of "failing" to release the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners in Myanmar, a rights group has dubbed his recent trip a "complete failure."
'China will do everything to hamper our ability to be a competitor.' 'China wants every country in the region to be subservient and we are the biggest stumbling block.'
CIDCA is headed by Luo Zhaohui, the former vice foreign minister and ex-ambassador to India.
If she cannot recast the party, bring together the factions opposed to her, and present herself as her brother's true challenger, there will be little left for her in politics, notes Aditi Phadnis.
After deciding to release 52 political prisoners, the West Bengal government will now withdraw cases filed by the Left Front regime against those who took part in Singur and Nandigram movements, and at Netai, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Thursday.
As the Israeli military is all set to launch a ground invasion in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Tuesday identified the organisational hierarchy of Hamas and vowed to destroy and dismantle the group by targeting its top brass, who were 'responsible' for the attacks against Israeli civilians.
The reference to CRPP as a Maoist front organisation came in a written reply in Rajya Sabha by Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Home Affairs.
The People's Democratic Party on Sunday pledged 'absolute support to create an atmosphere conducive to initiate a serious effort for the resolution of Kashmir problem'.Addressing a public meeting in Jammu, PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed spelled out four conditions 'for creation of a conducive atmosphere'. "Release of political prisoners as well as hundreds of innocent youth languishing in different jails is a must," he said.
The six accused in the Prof H S Sabharwal murder case, who were acquitted by a local court, have been released from the Central Prison in Nagpur.
"I am free... Hope others political leaders would be released soon. Thank all parliamentarians who fought for my freedom. Will be able to take decision on future only after other leaders are released," Abdullah, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, told reporters from the terrace of his residence in Srinagar.
