Mangaluru: Leaders of several communities call for national unity at martyr's condolence meet
The event was organised by B-Human and Hidayah Foundation
Mangaluru: B Human organisation of Mangaluru, in association with Hidayah Foundation Mangaluru, on Friday, Feb 22 organised a condolence meet at the town hall Mangaluru, for the martyrs of Pulwama attack.
The event was attended by several prominent personalities of the city along with officers from Naval and Military wings of Indian Army.
Chief Guest, Colonel Raj Mannar, Army recruitment officer of Mangaluru, during his address spoke about how such events, become source of inspiration and moral support for the soldiers fighting with enemies, after seeing their fellow colleagues die in numbers.
“They (soldiers) know that the nation will stand for them if they die in the war zone, they know that their families will be taken care of, by the whole nation, and that is a great source of mental support to a soldier” Col. Mannar said.
He further stressed upon, maintaining cordial relations among the communities, as India is a diverse country, “A soldier who fight on the border, doesn’t fight for a particular community, he fights for India. Not the India that is divided, but one India” he added.
Kemaru Matta Isha Vittala Das Swamiji, also advised people to rise above politics of hate and be united for the sake of nation. He stressed upon respecting farmers and the soldiers and added “The deaths of soldiers and farmers are the two most expensive loss we as a country can face, so we should value them as much as we can to avoid such loss”.
Swamiji also questioned how 350 kg of RDX went undetected by the security forces in a defense’s sensitive area, he recalled a incident to support his question and said “During the assembly election, when I was coming from Udupi towards Mangaluru, at a checkpost I was stopped for regular checking and although I wasn’t carrying anything illegal with me, my vehicle was searched and checked over three times by three different officers, with such officers in our forces how did 350 kg of RDX consignment passed undetected?”
Mangaluru DCP Law and Order Hanumantharaya, lauded the efforts of organisers and for bringing people of all community on one platform to mourn and condole the deaths of the brave soldiers who died in the Pulwama attack.
Manager of Shanti Prakashana, Mohammed Kunhi, during his address elaborated on the need of people of this country being united while also condoling the deaths of the martyrs. He also called it responsibility of every citizen to take care of the families of the martyred by standing against terrorism and in solidarity with the martyrs.
Prominent social activist of the city MJ Hegde, added that the external forces can attack a country only by exploiting their internal weaknesses and a country which is united internally cannot be attacked by external forces.
He appealed to the citizens to not fight over issues which are out of our hand that weaken the nation.
“People these days are fighting over what is happening in other countries, what do we get from it, why are we creating differences among ourselves from what is happening in other countries? This is when we become vulnerable to the threat of external threats” Hegde said.
S.B. Mohammed Darimi, in his address called on people to prioritise nation upon everything and that one’s caste, creed, religion should be secondary and his nation’s interests should be placed above all”.
Navy DPO, Gautam, Mansoor Ahmed, Abdul Rauf Puthige, Hidayat Addur and others were present on the dias during the event.
The event concluded with people paying homage to the martyrs by lighting candles and NCC cadets presenting NCC song in the leadership of head cadet Rohan of Aloysius college.
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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.
