Khalid’s arrest
Madam,
Police has arrested Indian student leader Umar Khalid, alleging his role in Delhi riots earlier in February. He has been booked under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The police has accused him of being part of a “premeditated conspiracy” that he allegedly hatched with Khalid Saifi of ‘United Against Hate’ and AAP councillor Tahir Hussain.
His name surfaced in the case back in March when BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted a clip of Khalid’s anti-CAA speech from Amravati where he asked people to come out in protest during US president Donald Trump’s visit to India. Malviya implied that the riots were pre-planned ahead of Trump’s visit.
The FIR against Khalid too alleges that he made “provocative speeches” at two different places and appealed to citizens to come out on streets and block the roads during Trump’s visit to spread propaganda at international level about how minorities in India are being tortured.
However, Khalid’s entire speech is now doing rounds on social media. “When Donald Trump comes to India on February 24, we will say that the prime minister and the government of India are trying to divide the country. They are destroying the values of Mahatma Gandhi, and the people of India are fighting against them. If those in power want to divide India, the people of India are ready to unite the country,” Khalid can be heard saying in the speech.
“We won’t respond to violence with violence. We won’t respond to hate with hate. If they spread hate, we will respond to it with love. If they thrash us with lathis, we keep holding the tricolour,” he says in his speech.
One hopes that with such glaring evidence, the case against Khalid will be dismissed soon. If police pursues this case, it will add strength to the perception that the government of India is crushing dissent against its policies by hounding critical voices.
Maria Shah,
Via e-mail.
Peace talks
Madam,
Afghan people have faced war and tragedies for more than 41 years. They have now pinned their hopes on peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Qatar. However, many Afghans, particularly women, have serious concerns.
The excesses committed by the Taliban against women during their 1996-2001 rule are still fresh in their memories. It is feared that a negotiated settlement rushed by Donald Trump may deprive Afghans of achievements that they have accomplished in the past 19 years.
Yet, there is still hope that the peace process will usher in a new era in Afghanistan. This hope won’t see the light of day without support from regional countries. These nations should utilise the peace process in Afghanistan to their advantage and promote trade and other cooperation. At the same time, Afghan people need to realise that they must have an enlightened approach. Never was the need to reconstruct relations with neighbours been greater than it is now.
Muzamil Ahmed,
Zhob, Balochistan.
Pandemic is not over
Madam,
We must keep reminding our fellow citizens that the coronavirus has not gone away. The numbers of positive cases are rising daily. Careless attitude demonstrated by public shows that they are not taking the virus seriously. Very few people are seen following SOPs, like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and sanitising regularly. It was good to know that education institutions were allowed to open on the strict condition that both students and teachers will wear masks. All of us should follow SOPs religiously.
Raza Ali,
Lahore
Police reform
Madam,
I am writing to you as a citizen of this country as I would like to register my protest over the statements made by Lahore’s CCPO Umar Sheikh. He said that the woman who was raped should not have ventured out alone on the motorway in the middle of night and should have checked whether there was enough petrol in her car. He even suggested that she could have taken GT Road. These remarks by a high ranking police officer are frightening for people who trust police for their safety. If this is the mindset of our law enforcement personnel, we must ask some tough questions about police in this country. We need police reforms to change the prevailing attitudes among our officers as well as the public.
Sobia Waqar,
Multan.
Law enforcement
Madam
The appalling incident involving the gang-rape of a woman on M-11 reminds us of the long list of heinous crimes of involving sexual violence.
Earlier this year, a child was raped in a seminary and though the report was made public, no one spoke about the issue after a few days of condemnations. Let me also remind you of the Kasur child abuse scandal and many more rapes and murder of children and women. Such violent crimes raise questions about our society, where it seems that behind the veil of piety and morality, there is only sheer brutality.
Who is to be blamed for this situation? The victims who are forced into such unfortunate circumstances? The police and the criminal justice system, which has failed to provide justice to the victims? Or do we blame state policy, which has demonstrated callous indifference to the plight of vulnerable women and children?
The latest rape incident of the woman with her children along the motorway has caused a furore all over the country. Why must we question the woman for travelling late? Why can’t women travel at their convenience?
We as a society need to develop stronger policies and mechanisms to cope with such heinous crimes. We need a more vigorous enforcement of the law.
Shaista Khan,
Faisalabad.