Two feared dead, 17 hurt after Japan mass stabbing
Kawasaki (Japan): Two people, including a child, were feared dead Tuesday in a mass stabbing attack that also injured 17 people in Japan, emergency services said.
The rampage was a rare attack in a country with one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the developed world and there was no immediate detail on the motive of the knifeman.
The attack occurred during the busy early morning commute as workers headed to their offices and children to school in Kawasaki, a city south of Tokyo.
"One man and one female child are showing no vital signs," said fire department official Yuji Sekizawa, employing a phrase commonly used in Japan to mean the victims have died but the death has not yet been certified by an official medical professional.
The fire department said 17 others were injured in the attack, among them several children. "A man stabbed them," another spokesman for the department, Dai Nagase, earlier told AFP.
"We received an emergency call at 7:44 am, which said four elementary school children were stabbed." Footage broadcast on local TV stations showed multiple police cars, ambulances and fire engines at the scene. Emergency medical tents were put up to treat the wounded.
Police said one suspect, a man, had been detained. Local media said he had stabbed himself, suffering a serious wound.
"I saw a man holding a knife... I couldn't see clearly, but he apparently stabbed himself in the neck," one eyewitness told NHK.
The broadcaster said two knives were spotted at the scene, but there was no immediate confirmation from officials.
How the attack unfolded was not immediately clear, with some initial reports saying it occurred in a park, but subsequent accounts describing it as taking place at a nearby bus stop.
"I heard the sound of lots of ambulances and I saw a man lying near a bus stop bleeding," a male eyewitness, who was not identified, told NHK.
"There is another bus stop near the elementary school and I also saw elementary school children lying on the ground... It's a quiet neighbourhood, it's scary to see this kind of thing happen," he added.
"It is a very harrowing incident," government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters, referring all further questions on the attack to police.
The attack comes as Japan hosts US President Donald Trump on a state visit, which wraps up Tuesday with the US leader visiting an American military base outside of Tokyo.
With such a low crime rate, visitors to Japan are often surprised to see very young children travelling unaccompanied to school.
However, in 2018, a man was arrested in central Japan after stabbing one person to death and injuring two others aboard a bullet train, an attack that prompted new security measures on the famed rail service.
And in 2016, a man stabbed 19 people to death in a disability centre south of Tokyo in what he described as a mission to rid the world of people with mental illness. (AFP)
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
