INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Half a million more may flee Afghanistan: UNHCR
The U.N. refugee agency is gearing up for as many as half a million people or more to flee from Afghanistan in a worse-case scenario in the coming months. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that the situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover last week remains uncertain and may evolve rapidly, with up to 515,000 new refugees fleeing. The agency said that would add to the 2.2 million Afghans who are already registered as refugees abroad nearly all of them in Pakistan and Iran. The upsurge of violence across the country and the fall of the elected government may have a serious impact on civilians and cause further displacement, the plan said. The agency cited estimates that 558,000 people have been internally displaced within Afghanistan due to armed conflict this year alone – four in five of them women and children. UNHCR estimates that the number of displaced will rise, both internally and across border, it said. Najeeba Wazedafost, CEO of the Asia Pacific Refugee Network, in an online UNHCR news conference on Friday, warned of coming darkness in Afghanistan amid a tragically intertwined series of crises. The U.N. agency is seeking nearly $300 million for its response plan for inter-agency requirements. Meanwhile, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said today that there was no clarity on ‘any entity’ forming a government in Afghanistan, Addressing a press conference, he observed that India was waiting to see how inclusive the next government in Kabul would be. The situation on the ground was uncertain, he noted. Currently, there is no clarity on any entity forming a government in Kabul. There have been a lot of stories going around about who will be represented in the government and whether the government will be inclusive, which is another question, and whether other elements of the Afghan polity will be represented in that, he stated. Explaining that India was aware of the dialogue currently underway on government formation in Kabul, he said that the issue of recognition of the Taliban amounted to jumping the gun in view of the fluid situation.
New urgency in evasituation
Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after a suicide bombing targeted the thousands of people desperately fleeing a Taliban takeover and killed more than 100. The U.S. warned more attacks could come ahead of next week’s end to America’s longest war. The U.S. said more than 1,00,000 people have been safely evacuated from Kabul, but thousands more are struggling to leave in one of history’s largest airlifts. President Joe Biden has pledged to continue the evacuation of Americans and others from Talibancontrolled Afghanistan, and the Pentagon said more than 12,000 people were airlifted from Kabul in the last 24 hours, as of Friday morning. More people hoping to flee arrived on Friday at the airport, though in one area Taliban fighters set up a cordon about 500 m away. Britain has evacuated almost 14,000 U.K. citizens and Afghans from Kabul in the two-week operation,but the final flights are departing on Friday. Hundreds of U.K. Troops at the airport are due to leave in the next few days. U.K. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said that about 1,000 Afghans authorized to come to Britain, and about 150 U.K. citizens, have not made it to the airport and will likely be left behind. Italy’s last evacuation flight from Kabul left Afghanistan on Friday, ending the country’s airlift operation, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said. The French European Affairs Minister, Clement Beaune, said the country will end its operation soon.
NATIONAL NEWS
Navjot Singh Sidhu’s adviser Malvinder Singh Mali quits
Under fire for his controversial comments on Kashmir, Malvinder Singh Mali on August 27 quit as adviser to Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. However, Mali did not term it as a resignation. In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Mali said, I humbly submit that I withdraw my consent given for tendering suggestions to Navjot Singh Sidhu. Mali, in another Facebook post claimed that the question of his resignation does not arise as he never accepted the post. Neither accepted any post, nor resigned from any post, Mali said in a post in Punjabi. Amid a power tussle in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had asked Sidhu on August 22 to rein in his advisers after two of them made atrocious comments recently on sensitive issues like Kashmir and Pakistan. AICC general secretary Harish Rawat, who is in charge of Punjab affairs, had also said that the two advisers need to go. Sidhu on August 11 had appointed Mali, a former government teacher and political analyst, and Pyare Lal Garg, a former registrar of Baba Farid University of Health and Sciences, as his advisers to seek their wise counsel. In a recent social media post, Mali had waded into the issue of revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He had reportedly said if Kashmir was a part of India, then what was the need to have Articles 370 and 35A. He had also said, Kashmir is a country of Kashmiri people. Garg, another adviser of Sidhu, had reportedly questioned the Chief Minister’s criticism of Pakistan. The Chief Minister had warned against such atrocious and ill-conceived comments that were potentially dangerous to the peace and stability of the state and the country.
Congress’s leadership crisis in Chhattisgarh continues; Rahul Gandhi to visit State next week
No clear announcement on the leadership question in Chhattisgarh was forthcoming at the end of a nearly four-hour-long parley between Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Baghel told the reporters at the end of the meeting that on his invitation, Gandhi has agreed to come to Chhattisgarh. He ducked questions on the reported assurance given by former Congress President Rahul Gandhi to Health Minister T S Singh Deo that the term of chief ministership would be split between him and Deo. Baghel claimed that this issue was clarfiied three days back by the state in-charge PL Punia. Our state in-charge PL Punia has already amply clarified the position on this issue. Once he has spoken, what else can I say, Baghel said. Punia on Tuesday had claimed that there was no discussion on a change of leadership in the state. But Punia’s assurance did little to settle the speculation. Baghel said that during the meeting both political and administrative issues of the state were discussed. At the end of the meeting, I requested Gandhi to visit the state to see our work and he gladly accepted the invitation. He will be coming next week, Baghel said. On the question of whether he will continue as the Chief Minister, Baghel said that he invited Gandhi in his position as the Chief Minister of the state. General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal and Punia were also present at the meeting. Sources said that on Tuesday, Vadra, who was not in Delhi, could not attend the meeting and Baghel was asked to return to the capital for another round in her presence. While Gandhi is bound by his reported promise to Deo, Vadra, senior leaders claim, is in favour of continuing with Baghel. Being the party’s lead OBC face, Vadra, according to sources, expressed the view that a change in leadership just ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls where each party is pursuing the OBC vote, would send the wrong message. Meanwhile, in a show of strength, 55 of the 70 Congress legislators who support Baghel are camping in Delhi and had two rounds of meeting with Chhattisgarh state in-charge PL Punia. By the evening, the legislators had moved to the party headquarter at 24 Akbar road. All day long the MLAs lobbied for him. On Thursday night, 26 MLAs supporting him arrived in a chartered airplane to the Capital. We went directly to Punia’s home at around 11:00 pm. He had already slept. We woke him up and told him that the decision on who should be the Chief Minister should be left to us since it is we who have to face elections and not any leader sitting in Delhi, one of the legislators said. Following the meeting between Baghel and Gandhi, the legislators have decided to return to Chhattisgarh. Gandhi is coming to Raipur and Bastar. So we have decided to return to prepare for his visit, Bilaspur MLA Devendra Yadav told.
Mekedatu dam: Tamil Nadu moves Supreme Court
The Tamil Nadu government has urgently moved the Supreme Court seeking judicial orders to restrain Karnataka from proceeding with any activity in regard to the proposed construction of a reservoir at Mekedatu across the inter-State Cauvery river. The application, drawn by advocate G. Umapathy, vetted by Tamil Nadu Advocate General R. Shanmugasundaram and filed by advocate D. Kumanan, stated that the planning of the Mekedatu project by Karnataka with a capacity of 67.16 TMC ft. and generation of 400 MW project worth ₹9,000 crore was in gross violation of the decision of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal of February 5, 2007, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court itself on February 16, 2018. The entire objective of the Tribunal’s final decision is to ensure that the pattern of the release of water to the downstream State to meet irrigation interests is not jeopardised, Tamil Nadu said. It submitted that Karnataka unilaterally, despite the Tribunal and apex court decisions, sent a feasibility report of the Mekedatu project to the Central Water Commission (CWC), which proceeded to entertain the proposal. The proposed reservoir would result in the impounding of the flows generated in the Cauvery river from the uncontrolled catchment of the Kabini sub-basin downstream of the Kabini reservoir, the catchment of Cauvery river downstream of KRS dam, uncontrolled flows from Shimsha, Arkavathy and Suvarnavathy sub-basins and various other small streams, which are the sources to ensure 177.25TMC at Billigundlu, the State application stated. The proposed construction of the reservoir by Karnataka would have a cascading effect on the daily and monthly inflows during the crucial months of June to September and prejudice the livelihood of lakhs of inhabitants of Tamil Nadu depending on the flows from the upstream in Karnataka, it said. Further any new scheme contemplated should be taken up only with the consent of the other basin States as they are vitally affected by the unilateral action of the upper riparian State, Tamil Nadu pressed. The State urged the Supreme Court to direct the CWC to reject and return the detailed project report for the proposed Mekedatu balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project filed by Karnataka on January 18, 2019. It also requested the court to restrain the Environment Ministry and its agencies from entertaining any application for clearance relating to the Mekedatu project.
SC urged to ‘expeditiously’ begin hearing pleas on Article 370 abrogation
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and spokesperson of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration M.Y. Tarigami has urged the Supreme Court to expeditiously begin hearing petitions challenging the Centre’s abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories (UTs), saying the government was taking irreversible actions that may render the pending case infructuous. Several petitions, including one by Tarigami, have been waiting in the Supreme Court for nearly two years. The petitions were referred to a five-judge Bench in August 2019 by the then Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi. The case was last listed before a Constitution Bench led by Justice Gogoi’s successor, Chief Justice S.A. Bobde (now retired), on March 2, 2020. The other four judges on the Constitution Bench are Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R. Subhash Reddy, B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant. The petitions challenged a Presidential Order of August 5 that blunted Article 370. The Article had accorded special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir since 1954 in accordance with the Instrument of Accession. The special status was bestowed by incorporating Article 35A in the Constitution. Article 35A was incorporated by an order of President Rajendra Prasad in 1954 on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet. Parliament was not consulted when the President incorporated Article 35A into the Constitution through a Presidential Order issued under Article 370. Following the abrogation, the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Act of 2019 came into force and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into UTs without a Legislative Assembly. Immediately after August 5, 2019, a strict security lockdown was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir that last over a year, along with a communication blackout and months-long Internet shutdown, Tarigami, represented by advocate P.V. Dinesh, submitted.
