India trashes Pakistan's claim of denial of overflight to send aid to Sri Lanka
New Delhi (PTI): India on Tuesday trashed as "ridiculous" Pakistan's claim that its request for using Indian airspace to send humanitarian aid to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka was denied by New Delhi.
"We reject the ridiculous statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, which is yet another attempt of spreading anti-India misinformation," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
The request for overflight clearance for a Pakistani aircraft carrying humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka was received by the Indian high commission in Islamabad at around 1 pm on Monday, he said.
"Given the urgency of humanitarian assistance, the government of India processed the request expeditiously the same day and granted the overflight permission as per the itinerary proposed at 5:30 pm on December 1," Jaiswal added.
"India remains committed to assisting the people of Sri Lanka in these challenging times through all available means," he said in response to media queries on the issue.
Jaiswal's remarks came hours after Pakistan alleged that its relief operations for cyclone-hit Sri Lanka were being "hampered by lack of cooperation" by India as it delayed permission to use its airspace.
"India continues to block humanitarian assistance from Pakistan to Sri Lanka. The special aircraft carrying Pakistan's humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka continues to face delays for over 60 hours now awaiting flight clearance from India," the Pakistan Foreign Office alleged.
Sri Lanka has been reeling under flooding, landslides and infrastructure collapse triggered by a cyclone.
India has launched Operation Sagar Bandhu to help the island nation recover from the devastation.
At least 410 people were killed and 336 missing till Tuesday morning in the catastrophic floods and landslides, according to Sri Lankan authorities.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
