Dad’s going to Gaza, this is last resort: Journalist Yusuf Omar tells son before boarding flotilla
London: Award-winning journalist Yusuf Omar has embarked on a humanitarian flotilla carrying essential supplies to Gaza, describing it as a “last resort” after months of global protests and appeals against Israel’s ongoing war on Palestinians.
In a video message recorded before boarding the vessel, Omar was seen speaking to his toddler child, explaining why he had chosen to risk his life to deliver food, water, and medicine to the besieged territory.
“Daddy’s gonna go to Gaza this week, okay? Because millions of people around the world are protesting for a free Palestine, because we are done with the genocide, because we are tired of a 77-year occupation and apartheid struggle,” Omar told his child. He added that after exhausting all other means — from social media campaigns to global demonstrations — direct action was the only way left to highlight the plight of Gazans.
Omar stressed that the mission was born out of deep frustration and urgency. “What else is there left to do but to get on this boat here to Gaza? I know the risks. I have two children. I want to be able to tell them that we did everything in our power to try and bring attention to this,” he said.
He emphasised that the suffering of children in Gaza should concern the entire world. “The way the children of Gaza are suffering today, children around the world could be impacted tomorrow. Violence denies basic human rights and global solidarity. We have to do more,” he remarked.
The journalist also said he hoped his action would inspire young people worldwide to stand in solidarity. “If I can get on that boat here, if I can inspire young people around the world to do the same, just imagine what would happen. What would Israel do? How would they act? How would they behave?” he questioned.
The flotilla, loaded with humanitarian aid, is part of a wider international effort to break the blockade of Gaza, where millions face severe shortages of food, clean water, and medical supplies amid the ongoing war.
Omar, who has reported from conflict zones in the past, acknowledged the personal danger of the mission but maintained that silence was no longer an option. “We have tried everything else. This is all that is left,” he said.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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