Henry Kissinger heckled at New York University speech
New York,Oct 19: New York University students heckled and disrupted an appearance by Henry Kissinger on Tuesday, accusing the former US Secretary of State of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Kissinger, now 95, was wheeled into NYU’s Stern School of Business on Tuesday evening, where he appeared as part of the school’s speaker series ‘In Conversation with Mervyn King.’
Meanwhile, protesters – some of them members of the International Socialist Organization – gathered outside to denounce Kissinger’s checkered history of bloody foreign policy positions, including his support for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s, under whom some 80,000 political opponents were jailed and at least 3,000 executed.
Inside, Kissinger was repeatedly interrupted by left-wing protesters, with the first shouting “Henry Kissinger, on behalf of the International Criminal Court, you are a war criminal, you have committed genocide against the people of the world!”before being escorted out by security.
Comrades at NYU disrupting Henry Kissinger’s talk at the Stern School of Business. #NoWarCriminalsAtNYU pic.twitter.com/FbgkmXGbY3
— Esor? (@EsorFas) October 16, 2018
“Henry Kissinger, you have blood on your hands,” another protester piped up. “What about the people of Chile? LIve with the results of what you’ve done.” Like the first interruptor, the second was removed, as the crowd’s boos and jeers became louder. The same thing happened when a third protester spoke up.
“You deserve to answer to war crimes!” another shouted, before telling the venerable statesman “You deserve to go to jail and then rot in hell!” Heckling and chanting continued as Kissinger departed the event later that evening.
Throughout Kissinger’s long diplomatic career, he was lauded for easing US relations with the Soviet Union and China, as well as negotiating the end of the Vietnam War. However, he has also been criticized for orchestrating a US-sponsored coup in Chile, giving the Argentinian junta free rein to commit mass murder and human rights abuses after the 1976 coup, and supporting Pakistan’s genocide against Bangladesh in 1971.
Kissinger also oversaw the escalation of the Vietnam War into Laos and Cambodia, which devolved into a four-year bombing campaign that killed as many as 100,000 civilians. Worse, it cleared the way for Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge to take power in Cambodia’s ensuing power vacuum, and commit genocide of an estimated 1.5 million people.
Several student groups had called on NYU to cancel the invite-only event, writing: “When this man is publicly celebrated as a wise sage of diplomacy, national security, and foreign affairs, his despicable hawkishness is implicitly endorsed.”
The university responded that “The free exchange of diverse ideas and viewpoints is a fundamental value at NYU. As such, an invited speaker should be able to be heard without disruption.”
courtesy : rt.com
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Karnataka Congress MLA Gaviyappa wants CM to stop some poll guarantees, draws DK Shivakumar's ire
Bengaluru/Vijayanagara, Nov 26: Karnataka Congress MLA H R Gaviyappa on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to drop some poll guarantees, citing lack of funds, which drew sharp response from Deputy CM D K Shivakumar.
The ruling party MLA from Vijayanagara suggested that the election guarantees have made it difficult to provide houses to the poor in the state.
“Because of guarantee schemes, there is difficulty in providing houses to poor. We are also asking the Chief Minister to drop two or three schemes, which are not needed. Let’s see what the Chief Minister says,” Gaviyappa said in a public meeting in Vijayanagara.
He, however, maintained that he would stand by the decision taken by the Chief Minister.
ALSO READ: Eligible families won't be inconvenienced with BPL card revision: Karnataka minister KH Muniyappa
According to the Congress MLA, the CM raised Rs 40,000 crore this year keeping development in mind.
The legislator's statement irked Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar.
“This is Congress party. I am going to issue him a showcause notice. He can’t do that. No question of closing any guarantee. We have committed to the people of Karnataka. No one can raise their voice (against the guarantees),” the Deputy CM, who is also the Congress state president told media in Bengaluru.
He said a Congress MLA cannot speak against the guarantees.
Those who are ineligible will not get the benefit, Shivakumar said adding the same policy has been adopted in the recent revision of BPL cards.
The Karnataka government has decided to remove the government employees and income tax payees from the list of BPL card holders as per the Central government norms.
