No vested interest in revoking Dileep's suspension: Mohanlal
Thiruvananthapuram, June 30: Superstar Mohanlal on Saturday said there was no vested interest in revoking the suspension of actor Dileep, an accused in the actress kidnap case, from Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
For the first time since the massive row broke out over the revoking of suspension of actor Dileep, superstar Mohanlal on Saturday broke his silence.
He said there was no vested interest and that they just followed the democratic principles adopted in any organisation. "We are, however, willing to look into the resignation of a few women members."
Dileep is an accused in the actress kidnap case that took place last year and was in jail for 85 days and now out on bail. He was suspended from AMMA last year.
Those who have resigned include the victim in the case, Rima Kallingal, Remya Nambisan and Geetu Mohandas, all of whom are leading lights in the Malayalam film industry.
Mohanlal was ordained as the president of artists body last Sunday, when he replaced CPI-M backed Lok Sabha member Innocent who stepped down after 18 years in that post.
In an email from London to the media, Mohanlal stated at the annual general body meeting that it was a unanimous decision the suspension of Dileep should be revoked.
"All what we did was to follow the accepted democratic practice that is taken in such circumstances and there was no other vested interests. I am deeply pained by the response against AMMA that has come out. We have always stood strongly behind the victim.
"What has to be noted is that we are an organisation with 485 members, of which more than 50 per cent find it difficult to go forward. We are giving a monthly pension to A137 of our members," wrote Mohanlal.
He further states it has to be noted that they have not even communicated the unanimous decision to Dileep as even before that there has been a huge opposition to it.
"We also saw that there have been differences of opinion raised by a few members who have announced that they are resigning from AMMA. We very well understand their emotions and the new office-bearers of AMMA are willing to take a re-look.
"Corrections, if it has to be there, will be done and let the differences of opinion amongst us be rectified and we will go forward. Let those who throw mud on us from outside do it , but we will stand together," Mohanlal added.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
