I have been in favour of doves in West Asia or other conflicts: Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): The damage being done to the combatants, the neighbourhood, and the wider region, including to India, due to the West Asia conflict has "crossed all acceptable limits" and it must be made to stop, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said.
Interacting with reporters on the sidelines of an event here on Friday, Tharoor said that he's been someone who has always been "in favour of the doves" in this particular conflict and most of the conflicts.
He was asked to comment on the hawkish remarks emanation from both sides when it comes to the West Asia conflict which began three weeks ago, with no end in sight.
"This is a serious issue. This is not a small matter, it's affecting the ordinary lives of Indians and of others everywhere. I think that we should be part of (efforts), and ideally we should lead an international effort to bring this war to an end. There are many countries that will join us. No one wants to see this war continue," he said.
Tharoor said the conflict was "hurting a lot of us" who have nothing to do with it.
"And I think the time has come now to get both sides to climb down from their positions. They need our help, they need our encouragement and that of other countries. I hope we will play our part," the former Union minister of state for external affairs said.
He said there was a need to see this conflict end.
"If you saw the appeal from the Omani foreign minister, very, very important gesture. I think many, many countries are saying that we absolutely have to bring this war to a close. It is doing far too much damage and it's not clear at all what good it's doing to anybody," he underlined.
He was also asked if in this environment of "hawks", there was a need for some "doves" who want to see de-escalation.
"I've been obviously somebody who has been in favour of doves, in this particular conflict and in most conflicts. War is a futile activity. In fact, I spent a lot of years in peacekeeping at the UN, and I can tell you soldiers are the last ones who want to see wars. They know how much horror, how much suffering, how much true loss is involved. No one wants to see wars continue," he asserted.
When you talk to soldiers who have lived through fighting and killing, they will share with you the anguish it means, the Congress MP said.
"I think that it's one thing to be forced to defend your country. It's something else to go on prosecuting a war in which people are dying every day, innocents are dying, school children have been killed, all sorts of innocent people are losing their lives for frankly, for what," he asked.
"I think at this point the damage being done everywhere, both to the combatants, to the neighbourhood, and then to the wider region including to India, has crossed all acceptable limits. It must be made to stop," Tharoor said.
The conflict is affecting India, it's affecting many other countries in the region and beyond because now, as oil prices go up and gas supplies go down, you're looking at problems facing everybody, he said.
He was also asked about fellow Congress leader Shama Mohamed post on X on Friday on less number of tickets being given to women candidates.
"I have been for some time very much in favour of greater women's representation," he said.
"And I'm sorry to say, I do agree that when when women are half the population that they get only 9.8 per cent of the seats, is not fair. But again, those who made these decisions, and I'm not one of them, I'm not part of the selection process for candidates. But all I can say is that those who've done that must have taken all factors into account. And they claim that ultimately they were guided by winnability and that's a principal thing," Tharoor said.
"But when women's reservation comes, I think that'll be an end to these debates and we will see a fair opportunity to more hard working women leaders," he added.
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.
Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for doc's murder in hospital
_vb_42.jpeg)
Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.
Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.
It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.
"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."
"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.
After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
_vb_97.jpeg)
_vb_62.jpeg)