Human Rights

Guwahati, Jan 3 (PTI) Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday said the Congress will bring a resolution during the special one-day session of the Assam Legislative Assembly on January 13 to ensure that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not implemented in the state.

The resolution will make a plea to ensure that the Assam Accord is not violated or diluted in any way by the CAA which should not be implemented in the state, Gogoi told reporters here.

Kolkata, Jan 3 (PTI) Senior CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami on Friday accused the BJP government at the Centre of turning Kashmir into a virtual prison by locking up leaders of different political parties after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and by suppressing dissent.

Meerut (UP), Jan 4 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday visited Meerut to meet the families of those killed in violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh police had stopped Priyanka and her brother Rahul Gandhi from entering the town on December 24, citing prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC.

At least five people were killed during the protests in Meerut.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday justified its killing of a top Iranian general as an act of self-defense, trying to deflect accusations that it violated international law and concerns raised by legal experts and a senior U.N. rights investigator.

Qassem Soleimani, the 62-year-old commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was killed in the U.S. air strike in Baghdad overnight. The attack, ordered by President Donald Trump, sent tensions between the United States and Iran soaring, with Iranian officials promising revenge.

04 Jan 2019; MEMO: Democratic presidential contenders on Friday condemned the air strike that killed prominent Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, saying President Donald Trump’s decision was reckless and could lead the United States to another war in the Middle East, Reuters reports.

MEXICO CITY, Jan 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to be released from prison in London, urging an end to what he described as his “torture” in detention.

Assange, 48, is in a British jail for skipping bail when he sought asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he spent nearly seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape that were dropped in November.

PARIS (AP) — Global powers warned Friday that the American airstrike responsible for killing Iran’s top general made the world more dangerous and that escalation could set the entire Mideast aflame. Some U.S. allies suggested Iran shared in the blame by provoking the attack.

The deaths of Gen. Qassem Soleimani and several associates drew immediate cries for revenge from Tehran and a chorus of appeals from other countries seeking reduced tensions between Iran and the United States.

Srinagar, Jan 3 PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday released two PDP leaders who were under detention since August 5 last year, when the Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 and divided the state into two union territories, officials said.

They said the police guard at the houses of PDP leaders -- Ashraf Mir and Rafiq Mir -- was lifted on Friday morning and they can now resume their daily activities.

Ashraf was shifted from the MLA hostel in the last week of November but continued to remain under preventive detention at his house.

Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Jan 3 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the government will not budge an inch on its decision to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act despite the opposition criticism of the law.

Launching an awareness programme in support of the amended citizenship law, Shah accused the Congress and other opposition parties of running a misinformation campaign.

He said the amended law does not take away Indian citizenship from anyone but grants citizenship.

Duttapukur/Kaliaganj (WB), Jan 2 (PTI) Two women were allegedly gangraped in separate incidents in West Bengal's North 24 Paragans and North Dinajpur districts, police said on Thursday.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the two incidents, they said.

In North Dinajpur, a middle-aged woman was gangraped twice in Kaliaganj area on Wednesday -- once near the hotel where she is employed and again when she was returning home -- a police officer said, quoting the complaint lodged by her.