Cambodian PM now full fledged military dictator: Report
Phnom Penh, June 28 : Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has become a "fully fledged military dictator", according to a new Human Rights Watch report released on Thursday.
The report titled "Cambodia's Dirty Dozen", names the 12 military personnel who have been the "backbone" of Hun Sen's "abusive and authoritarian political regime", which he has led since 1985, reports The Guardian.
Many of this group of 12 have served in the Khmer Rouge military -- the Communist regime which saw the execution, starvation, and disease of an estimated 1.2 to 2.8 million Cambodians (between 13 and 30% of the population) between 1975 and 1979.
According to the report, Hun Sen has "remained in power by creating a cadre of ruthless members of the security forces to implement his vision and orders".
While Hun Sen has always been notorious for his autocratic rule and his use of force against anyone who defied him, his crackdown on the opposition, the media and civil society has escalated in the past year.
Hun Sen has dissolved the opposition party, the CNRP, shut down the Cambodia Daily newspaper, Radio Free Asia and dozens of local radio stations.
Journalists, opposition politicians and civil society leaders are now in jail and an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship has gripped the country, the report said.
"Hun Sen really has become a fully-fledged military dictator, a fact that he hopes to hide behind the fig-leaf of a national election in July that will be neither free nor fair," said Phil Roberton, deputy director of Human Rights Asia.
"At each step of the way in his years in power, Hun Sen has sought to centralise control over the military and police under his direct command, aided by this group of dangerous men," the Guardian quoted Robertson as saying.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Devendra Fadnavis plays video of Islamic scholar at Pune rally, harps on 'vote jihad'
Pune, Nov 16: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis continued to raise the pitch on "vote jihad" by playing a video of Islamic scholar Sajjad Nomani at a poll rally in Pune's Bhosari area on Saturday.
It is being said that a person who votes for the BJP must be ostracised, Fadnavis claimed.
"If these people are trying to do vote jihad, if they are saying they will destabilise the government through vote jihad, then you will also have to do dharmayudh of votes," Fadnavis said.
"If these people dream that they will come to power with the help of votes from one community in the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, then you will also have to come to the battlefield," he said in a swipe at the MVA.
