Elgar Parishad event: Arrests undermine basics of democracy, says former CJI RM Lodha
AUGUST 30 : Former jurists, including former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha, have come out strongly against the arrest of five civil rights activists and lawyers by police probing an alleged Maoist link to the Elgaar Parishad meeting in Pune a day ahead of the January 1 violence in Bhima Koregaon.
Justice Lodha told The Indian Express that the government’s actions are “an attempt to suppress the dissenting voice”
He said the arrests were “an attack on freedom of speech… and an act to undermine the fundamentals of Constitutional democracy”.Justice P B Sawant, former judge of the Supreme Court and one of the organisers of the Elgaar Parishad meeting on December 31, 2017, said: “I don’t know why these persons have been arrested. The police are alleging they are connected to the Naxalite movement and are also organisers of the Elgaar conference on December 31 last year. Did they realise this after eight months? I have never seen them. Only one of them, a lady advocate, visited me earlier for some legal advice some time back…. when some other arrests were made, the police had then said that nothing was found to connect them to Naxalites. Now, they are organising another spate of arrests.”
“What can we infer from all this except that the police are acting at the instance of the government. So is there law in the country? Is there democracy or the Constitution prevailing in this country? How do we evaluate this? The state, and I have no doubt the central government is urging them on… They have become desperate and want to divert from all other news in the country,” he said.
On Elgaar Parishad meetings, Justice Sawant said: “We are going to organise more such conferences all over the country, more so because the government and police are after us.”.
Courtesy: indianexpress.com
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.
Israel's military says it has fully disabled Yemen's main airport with airstrikes
Jerusalem, May 6 (AP): Israel's military said Tuesday it launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, fully disabling the country's international airport in the capital, Sanaa, and striking several power plants.
The strikes, the second in two days, came after Israel launched airstrikes in retaliation for a Houthi missile strike the previous day on Israel's international airport.
The Houthis' satellite news channel al-Masirah reported the strikes, confirming the airport had been hit.
Footage aired on Israeli television showed thick black plumes of smoke rising above the skyline of Sanaa. Social media video purported to show multiple strikes around Sanaa, with black smoke rising as the thumps of the blast echoed against the surrounding mountains.
There was no immediate information on any casualties.
Tuesday's strike came shortly after the military issued a warning on social media for people to evacuate the area of Yemen's international airport.
“We urge you to immediately evacuate the area of the airport and to warn anyone nearby to distance themselves immediately,” spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on social media, attaching a map of Sanaa International Airport. “Failure to evacuate the area endangers your lives.”
On Monday night, Israel targeted the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen's Red Sea province of Hodeida, killing at least one person and wounding 35.
The rebels' media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port. Others hit a cement factory in the district of Bajil, 55 kilometres northeast of Hodeida, the rebels said. The Houthi-run Health Ministry said the strikes killed at least four people and wounded 39 others.
The Houthis on Sunday launched a missile that struck an access road near Israel's main airport near Tel Aviv, briefly halting flights and commuter traffic. Four people were lightly injured.
It was the first time a missile struck the grounds of Israel's main airport, Ben Gurion, since the October 2023 start of the war in Gaza. It prompted a flurry of flight cancellations. While most missiles launched by the Houthis have been intercepted, some have penetrated Israel's missile defence systems, causing damage.
The Houthis have targeted Israel throughout the war in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, raising their profile as the last member of Iran's self-described “Axis of Resistance” capable of launching regular attacks on Israel.
The US military under President Donald Trump has launched an intensified campaign of airstrikes targeting the Houthis since March 15.
Israel has repeatedly struck against the rebels in Yemen. It struck Hodeida and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv.
In September, Israel struck Hodeida again, killing at least four people after a missile targeted Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was returning to the country. In December, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in Hodeida.
