After 3 years, Kejriwal back to 'dharna' politics
New Delhi, June 13: After a hiatus of three years, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is back in 'dharna' mode with two sit-ins in the last 30 days.
With the latest protest in the office room of Lt Governor Anil Baijal's residence, the rift between the IAS officials and the Aam Aadmi Party government, which started in February this year after an alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, has flared up again.
The activist-turned-politician launched his party in 2012 and became the Chief Minister of Delhi in December next year with the support of the Congress as his party won 28 seats in the Assembly elections.
Soon after becoming the Chief Minister, he along with his cabinet launched a protest in January 2014 when Kejriwal protested on the road outside the Rail Bhawan close to Parliament House, over the issue of control over Delhi Police, which is with the Centre.
After staying in power for 49 days, he resigned and proposed fresh elections as he failed in introducing the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill due to lack of majority in the Assembly.
In 2015, when Assembly elections were held in Delhi, the AAP won a massive majority securing 67 of the total 70 seats.
After that, as Chief Minister Kejriwal never protested over anything until last month when he along with all his MLAs sat on a 'dharna' on the road near the Lt Governor's office urging him "not to stall" the CCTV project under "pressure from the BJP".
Kejriwal and the MLAs went to meet the Lt Governor on May 14. But when the police did not allow them to enter, they squatted on the road. They protested for around three hours sitting on the road and chanting slogans against the LG and the BJP.
The protest was called off with the party deciding that it will reach out to the people to tell them that the "BJP and the LG are disrupting the installation of CCTV cameras in the city".
The latest round of dramatic protest began at the LG's house by Kejriwal with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and cabinet ministers Satyendar Jain and Gopal Rai in the Raj Niwas, the official accommodation-cum-office of Lt. Governor Anil Baijal, since Monday evening. Sisodia and Jain have now launched an indefinite hunger strike.
The reason for the novel protest is the face-off between IAS officials and the AAP government after the alleged assault on the Chief Secretary.
On February 20, the Chief Secretary alleged that he was assaulted by two Aam Aadmi Party MLAs Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal in the presence of Kejriwal at the Chief Minister's residence.
Following this, IAS officers in Delhi were not attending routine meetings called by the Ministers and the Chief Minister as "they (the Ministers) have failed to give any assurance till date regarding safety, security, dignity and respect to the officers including women officers," IAS Association secretary Manisha Saxena had said.
The four went to the LG's office on Monday at 5.30 p.m. to press their three demands, including a direction to IAS officers to end their "strike" and to take action against officers who have struck work for "four months".
The Chief Minister also demanded approval to his government's proposal to deliver rations to the poor at their homes.
Kejriwal said he and his colleagues would not leave Baijal's office until their demands were met. As of now, there seems to be no end to the protest with Bailjal not responding to their sit in.
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
