Myanmar frees two Reuters journalists in amnesty
Yangon: Two Reuters journalists who had been jailed for their reporting on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar walked out of prison Tuesday, freed in a presidential amnesty after a global campaign for their release.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were mobbed by media as they stepped out of Yangon's notorious Insein prison after their lengthy detention.
Their December 2017 arrests made them an international cause celebre and a sign of Myanmar's deteriorating press freedoms under Nobel laureate and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Wa Lone, 33, thanked people from "around the world" for advocating for their release and vowed he would return to work.
"I can't wait to go to my newsroom," he said. "I am a journalist and I am going to continue." Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said: "We are enormously pleased that Myanmar has released our courageous reporters".
"Since their arrests 511 days ago, they have become symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world. We welcome their return."
The two men waved and smiled broadly as they walked out of the jail.
The pair were convicted on charges of violating the official secrets act and sentenced to seven years each.
At the time of their arrest they had been reporting on a September 2017 massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslims in conflict-hit Rakhine state, where the Myanmar army forced some 740,000 of the stateless minority to flee over the border to Bangladesh.
The case prompted an outcry around the world and crushed what was left of Suu Kyi's legacy as a rights defender.
Reuters has said the two were imprisoned in retaliation for their expose. The army convicted soldiers for the massacre in a rare response to allegations of atrocities.
While inside, the duo missed numerous family milestones, including the birth of Wa Lone's daughter. But they were also showered with numerous awards and honours in response to their work. Last month, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo won the prestigious Pulitzer prize.
They were also featured earlier on the cover of TIME magazine as part of its person of the year coverage featuring journalists targeted for their reporting.
The case against them become a byword for the war against press freedom and prompted an international campaign that attracted the support of prominent rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
Rights groups and legal experts say the case against the reporters was riddled with irregularities.
A whistleblowing police officer testified during their trial that his superior had ordered his team to trap the reporters in a sting -- testimony the judge chose to ignore.
Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy party to victory in historic 2015 polls, ending decades of military-backed rule.
But the dreams of a new day for Myanmar were short-lived after the army's campaign against the Rohingya in Rakhine state, which UN investigators have said amounted to genocide.
Myanmar has denied the charges and said it was defending itself against Rohingya militants, who attacked and killed police officers in August 2017.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
