Arrest of Kejriwal to divert attention from electoral bonds scam: Kerala CM Vijayan
Kannur (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the electoral bonds scam is the biggest corruption ever witnessed in India and added the BJP government at the Centre arrested his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal to divert attention from the same.
Addressing the third consecutive rally organised here by the CPI(M) against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Sunday, Vijayan alleged the BJP-led Central government and the Sangh Parivar give scant regard to the rule of the law in the country.
He alleged that the Sangh Parivar was trying to take control of the Constitutional institutions and even threatening the country's judiciary.
"The Union government, BJP, Sangh Parivar, they all very well know that the Supreme Court order on the electoral bond scam was harmful to them. They wanted to divert the attention from this topic and for that they have arrested Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal," Vijayan said.
The chief minister said when the idea of electoral bonds was floated, the CPI(M) had opposed it as it was a tool for corruption and moved the Supreme Court against it.
"The electoral bonds scam is the biggest corruption ever witnessed in India. How did they get the courage to engage in such blatant corruption? They (BJP) thought they would never be questioned," he added.
With the arrest of Kejriwal, Vijayan said the Sangh Parivar was trying to send a message that they are above the law of the land and will do anything to implement their agenda.
Talking about the anti-CAA protests of 2019 and the subsequent violence and riot in Delhi, the chief minister referred to the inflammatory slogans of Union Minister Anurag Thakur and said it was the CPI(M) which went on to file a case against him.
Vijayan also attacked the Congress over its stand on the CAA.
He alleged that at a time when the whole country was protesting against the contentious Act, the Congress MPs were participating in a feast organised by the party president.
"During the protests, none of the Congress leaders were present. Rahul Gandhi was abroad. It was the Left leaders who were arrested by the Delhi Police. At that time we had only one MP, A M Arif from Alappuzha who spoke against the CAA. Now, the Congress leaders are saying that they had opposed the Act technically," Vijayan said.
The chief minister alleged that the Sangh Parivar unleashed violence upon the ant-CAA protesters in Delhi and the BJP government at the Centre gave silent permission to the rioters.
"Around 53 people were killed, many went missing, over hundreds were injured in the riots. The houses, shops, establishments of numerous Muslims were attacked in the violence orchestrated by the Sangh Parivar," he said.
Vijayan said the CAA was an RSS agenda being implemented by the BJP government.
The Left party is organising massive anti-CAA rallies at five places in the state. The first rally was held in Kozhikode on March 22. A rally was held in Kasaragod district on Saturday. Two more rallies will be held in the coming days in Malappuram and Kollam.
The CAA was passed in December 2019 and it subsequently got the President's assent, but there were protests in several parts of the country against it, with many opposition parties speaking out against
the law, calling it "discriminatory".
The CAA aims to expedite citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
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Trump administration says its war in Iran has been 'terminated' before 60-day deadline
Washington (AP): The Trump administration is arguing that the war in Iran has already ended because of the ceasefire that began in early April, an interpretation that would allow the White House to avoid the need to seek congressional approval.
The statement furthers an argument laid out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during testimony in the Senate earlier Thursday, when he said the ceasefire effectively paused the war. Under that rationale, the administration has not yet met the requirement mandated by a 1973 law to seek formal approval from Congress for military action that extends beyond 60 days.
A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's position, said for purposes of that law, “the hostilities that began on Saturday, Feb 28 have terminated.” The official said the US military and Iran have not exchanged fire since the two-week ceasefire that began April 7.
While the ceasefire has since been extended, Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and the US Navy is maintaining a blockade to prevent Iran's oil tankers from getting out to sea.
Under the War Powers Resolution, the law that sought to constrain a president's military powers, President Donald Trump had until Friday to seek congressional authorisation or cease fighting. The law also allows an administration to extend that deadline by 30 days.
Democrats have pushed the administration for formal approval of the Iran war, and the 60-day mark would likely have been a turning point for a swath of Republican lawmakers who backed temporary action against Tehran but insisted on congressional input for something longer.
“That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” said Sen Susan Collins, R-Maine, who voted Thursday in favour of a measure that would end military action in Iran since Congress hadn't given its approval. She added that “further military action against Iran must have a clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing the conflict to a close."
Richard Goldberg, who served as director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction for the National Security Council during Trump's first term, said he has recommended to administration officials to simply transition to a new operation, which he suggested could be called “Epic Passage,” a sequel to Operation Epic Fury.
That new mission, he said, “would inherently be a mission of self-defence focused on reopening the strait while reserving the right to offensive action in support of restoring freedom of navigation.”
“That to me solves it all,” added Goldberg, who is now a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank.
During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Hegseth said it was the administration's “understanding” that the 60-day clock was on pause while the two countries were in a ceasefire.
Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel at the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program and an expert on war powers, said that interpretation would be a “sizeable extension of previous legal gamesmanship” related to the 1973 law.
“To be very, very clear and unambiguous, nothing in the text or design of the War Powers Resolution suggests that the 60-day clock can be paused or terminated,” she said.
Other presidents have argued that the military action they've taken was not intense enough or was too intermittent to qualify under the War Powers Resolution. But Trump's war in Iran would certainly not be such a case, Ebright said, adding that lawmakers need to push back against the administration on that kind of argument.
